Chapter 2 - Shadows in the Apartment
Thirty minutes later, an unmarked black SUV tore through the streets of Brooklyn, escorted by two lead vehicles.
In the back seat, Liam and Lucas were strapped into newly installed child safety seats, eating juice boxes while Marcus sat in the front passenger seat reviewing live camera feeds from his tablet.
"Boss," Marcus said, turning his scarred face toward me. "My team just breached the Elm Street apartment. The front door was forced open. Lock picked from the outside. No sign of Ms. Vance."
My jaw clenched until my teeth ached. "Signs of a struggle?"
"Negative. It was clean. Professional," Marcus reported flatly. "Whoever took her knew what they were doing. But we found something else. The apartment was swept for electronic bugs three hours ago. Someone was monitoring her."
I looked out the tinted window at the rain beginning to streak across the glass. Emma wasn't stupid. She was a brilliant architect with a sharp, analytical mind. If she realized she was being tracked by Victor’s men, she wouldn't have brought the boys to my office just to surrender them to me—she brought them to me because Miller Meridian Tower is the most secure private structure in North America. She knew I could protect them when she couldn't protect herself.
"Take the boys to the penthouse in Tribeca," I commanded Marcus. "Put twelve men on the perimeter. No one goes in or out without my biometric scan. You stay with them."
"And you, Mr. Miller?" Marcus asked, eyeing me carefully. "Where are you going?"
"To have lunch with my uncle."
Ten minutes later, I slammed open the double mahogany doors of the Metropolitan Club’s private dining room.
Victor Miller was sitting at a corner table, cutting into a rare filet mignon with a silver knife. He didn't look up as I approached, merely taking a slow sip of his red wine.
"Jason," Victor said smoothly, dabbing his mouth with a linen napkin. "You missed the acquisition meeting. The board was... disappointed. There are rumors you've suffered a sudden lapse in focus."
I didn't sit down. I leaned across the white tablecloth, slamming both palms down with a force that rattled the crystal wine glasses.
"Where is she, Victor?" I whispered, my voice laced with lethal intent.
Victor raised an eyebrow, entirely unfazed. "I have no idea what you're talking about, nephew. If this is about your quarterly numbers—"
"Emma Vance," I interrupted, leaning closer until I could see my own furious reflection in his gold-rimmed glasses. "Your Vance Global goons picked her up from Brooklyn this morning. If so much as a hair on her head is harmed, I won't just vote you off the board, Victor. I will burn every asset you own to the ground and make sure you spend the rest of your pathetic life in a federal penitentiary."
Victor set his knife down with a soft clink. The smug smile faded from his face, replaced by a cold, calculating sneer.
"You always were emotionally compromised when it came to that girl, Jason," Victor sneered quietly. "You thought you buried her five years ago to save your career. But you didn't know she left with fifty million dollars' worth of proprietary architectural blueprints for the Meridian Data Centers, did you?"
I froze. "What?"
"She didn't just leave you, Jason," Victor lied smoothly, leaning back. "She stole from the company. My security team was simply executing a lawful recovery of stolen corporate assets."
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"You're lying," I snarled. "Emma never touched corporate files."
"Check the Meridian server logs from five years ago, nephew," Victor whispered, a cruel smirk touching his lips. "She took the keys to your entire infrastructure. And now... she's going to trade them back to me to keep those two bastard boys of yours out of foster care."
