Chapter 7 - The Battle for Control
Chaos erupted in the warehouse.
Before Dominick’s men could open fire, Nathaniel drew his concealed weapon with terrifying speed, firing two shots that took out the snipers on the upper left catwalk.
"Brutus, attack!" Nathaniel shouted.
With a thunderous bark, the massive mastiff launched himself forward like a cannonball, charging up the wooden stairs toward the catwalk. Julian panicked, firing wildly, but Brutus tackled him over the railing, sending both of them crashing onto the wooden crates below.
Nathaniel lunged across the floor, grabbing Wren by the waist and pulling her behind a heavy steel shipping container just as a hail of bullets riddled the space where she had been standing.
"Are you insane?!" Nathaniel yelled over the deafening gunfire, his heart hammering against his ribs in sheer terror for her safety. "I told you to stay at the house!"
"Your house guards were compromised!" Wren gasped, clinging to his jacket. "Dominick bribed them! If I didn't bring that ledger, the Council would have executed you on the spot!"
Nathaniel looked at the ledger in her hands, then at her pale, determined face. Admiration and fierce love surged through him. "You are the most stubborn, incredible woman I have ever met."
"Save the compliments for when we're alive!" she yelled back.
Outside, the screech of tires tore through the night. The heavy warehouse doors were smashed open as Nathaniel’s true loyalists—led by his head of security—flooded the building, heavily armed and outnumbering Dominick’s traitors.
The Council members, realizing Dominick’s treason had been exposed, immediately laid down their weapons and surrendered to Nathaniel’s loyal guards.
Hearing his men fall, Dominick attempted to flee through the rear emergency exit, clutching a briefcase full of bearer bonds. But as he reached the metal door, a towering shadow blocked his path.
Nathaniel stepped out of the fog, his gun lowered, his eyes dark with absolute judgment. Beside him stood Brutus, bloody but victorious, and Wren, holding the evidence of his betrayal.
"It's over, Uncle," Nathaniel said softly.
Dominick backed away, his hands trembling as he looked at the Council members standing behind Nathaniel. "Nathaniel... please. We're blood. Your father wouldn't want this."
"My father trusted you," Nathaniel replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "And you betrayed him. You tried to destroy everything he built."
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Nathaniel signaled his men, who stepped forward and seized Dominick, dragging the screaming traitor away into the dark night to face the Council’s severe justice.
The warehouse fell quiet, save for the rhythmic sound of rain falling against the metal roof.
