Chapter 4 - The Strike in the FoyerBefore Marcus Vane’s fingers could touch his holster, Adrian moved with surgical, lightning speed.
He caught Marcus by his lapels, driving his heavy frame down flat against the mahogany conference table with iron force, while Leo and six loyal captains drew their weapons, locking down every exit door in the foyer.
CLICK. CLICK.
Heavy steel handcuffs locked tightly around Marcus’s wrists.
"Adrian! Please!" Marcus shrieked, his face pressed hard against the wood. "I did it for the family! I did it to keep New York from taking our docks!"
"You poisoned my wife, Marcus," Adrian whispered into his ear, his baritone cold as Arctic ice, holding a terrifying, absolute fury that made every man in the room shudder. "You let my six-year-old daughters sleep beside a dying mother while you counted your blood money. You are not family. You are a parasite."
Adrian turned to Leo. "Take him to the lower holding cells at the docks. Turn him over to the federal prosecutors waiting at the precinct at sunrise."
"Yes, Don Mercer!" Leo replied, dragging Marcus Vane’s groveling, weeping frame out through the side entrance in heavy chains.
The tension inside the estate exploded into a quiet, breathless relief.
Adrian turned around, walking out of the dining room into the grand foyer, wiping his hands with a white handkerchief. He looked up toward the second-floor balcony where I stood holding Lily and Emma.
The dark, lethal focus that had covered his face vanished instantly, replaced by an expression of profound, weightless tenderness as he walked up the grand curved staircase toward us.
He stopped two steps below where I stood, looking at his daughters, then looking up into my hazel eyes.
"Are they safe, Claire?" Adrian asked softly.
"They're safe, Adrian," I answered, tears of relief burning behind my eyes as I offered him a warm, radiant smile. "Because their father protected them."
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Lily and Emma broke away from my skirt, throwing their small arms around Adrian's neck. He dropped onto his knees on the carpeted landing, pulling both girls tight against his broad chest, burying his face in their soft hair, letting out a long, shuddering sigh of pure, weightless relief.
Over his shoulder, his dark eyes met mine—holding an absolute, unshakeable vow of gratitude, respect, and rising love that lit up his handsome face.
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