Chapter 8 - The Trap Springs
Leah’s brain worked in frantic overdrive.
She looked at Julian’s sharp, dangerous face, then at Gabriel standing five feet behind her with his hand hidden inside his coat pocket.
If she screamed traitor right now, Gabriel would pull his gun before Julian could react. They were in a narrow stairwell, and Matteo was sleeping twenty feet away in an unlocked room.
Leah forced her body to stop shaking. She swallowed hard, putting on the same meek, nervous demeanor she had used for years when dealing with angry banquet captains at the hotel.
“I... I just felt dizzy,” Leah stammered, leaning slightly against Julian’s broad arm. “My blood sugar drops when I don't eat enough. I was coming down to get some tea.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed with concern. He immediately wrapped a strong arm around her waist, supporting her full weight without a single sign of strain.
“Gabriel,” Julian ordered, not taking his eyes off Leah. “Tell Martha to bring the tea and some warm soup up to my private study.”
“Of course, boss,” Gabriel replied smoothly, bowing his head before turning and walking down the corridor toward the kitchen.
The moment Gabriel vanished around the corner, Leah grabbed Julian’s lapels with both hands, pulling his ear down to her mouth.
“Gabriel is working with Sable,” she whispered frantically, her voice trembling violently. “I just heard him on the phone in Matteo’s room. He’s setting an ambush for you at the Aurelia on Friday, and he’s turning off the estate security so Sable’s men can come here and kill Matteo and me!”
Julian went utterly, terrifyingly still.
The air around him seemed to drop twenty degrees. The warm, protective man vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced by the apex predator who ruled the city’s underworld.
He slowly looked toward the hallway where Gabriel had walked away.
“Are you certain?” Julian whispered, his voice a low, gravelly vibration against her ear.
“I swear on my nephew’s life!” Leah choked out tears. “He said he would turn off the outer perimeter alarms when you leave for the city!”
Julian looked down at Leah. He reached up, his long fingers gently wiping a tear from her cheek.
“Good girl,” Julian murmured softly. “You did so well, Leah.”
He led her quickly into his private study, locked the heavy oak door behind them, and walked over to his grand mahogany desk. He pulled a silver key from his vest, opened a hidden drawer beneath the desk, and pulled out a small, red satellite communicator that was completely separate from the estate’s main network.
He typed a rapid sequence of codes.
“What are you doing?” Leah asked, hugging her arms tightly around herself.
“Gabriel thinks he controls my network,” Julian said coldly, his amber eyes burning with lethal intelligence. “He forgets that I built it. He’s been leaking information for three months. I knew there was a mole in my inner circle, but I didn't want to believe it was him.”
He looked up at Leah, his expression grim.
“We are not going to wait for Friday,” Julian said. “We strike tonight.”
“Tonight? But Matteo’s surgery—”
“Will happen tomorrow morning as planned,” Julian promised, walking over to her and taking both her hands in his. “Because by dawn, Sable and Gabriel will no longer exist.”
He picked up his desk phone, pressed a single speed-dial button, and spoke in a cold, commanding tone that chilled the room.
May you like
“Marcus,” Julian said into the receiver. “Initiate Plan Omega. Gabriel is compromised. Surround the estate silently. Do not let anyone leave.”
Five minutes later, the lights across the entire Vance Estate suddenly went out, plunging the grand mansion into pitch-black darkness.
