Chapter 3 - Shadows of Brighton Beach
"If you go near my house, Victor," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a register that was deadlier than a fired bullet, "I will personally skin you alive in front of your family."
"Ah, the famous Vale temper," Volkov sighed, sounding thoroughly amused. "Relax, Dominic. I have no interest in killing a dying woman. That would be messy and unprofitable. But I do have something you want. You see, when you started hacking into the regional bone marrow databases this morning, my tech guys noticed. And it just so happens that the Volkov family operates several... private medical research facilities in the motherland. We keep a very thorough genetic profile of all our personnel and prisoners."
Dominic stood up, his chair scraping violently against the hardwood floor. "What are you saying?"
"I’m saying I ran your wife’s HLA markers through our private database," Volkov said, his tone turning sharp and transactional. "And I found a perfect match. A young woman, currently residing in one of my secure facilities near Newark. A cousin of one of my lieutenants. She’s a 10 out of 10 match, Dominic. A miracle, really."
Dominic didn't believe in miracles, especially not ones delivered by Victor Volkov. "What do you want for her?"
"The Boston ports," Volkov replied instantly. "You cede all control of the northern shipping lanes to me. You sign over the shell companies that hold the docking licenses, and you withdraw your enforcement teams from Massachusetts entirely. Do that, and the girl enters a legitimate hospital under a false name, donates her marrow, and your wife lives. Refuse... and well, accidents happen in Newark every day."
It was a total surrender. Giving up Boston meant crippling the Vale empire’s primary revenue stream and showing immense weakness to every other syndicate in the country. It would invite a civil war. But Dominic didn't hesitate for a single second.
"I want proof of the match," Dominic said. "Send the laboratory blood analysis to Dr. Samuel Reed’s private server. If he confirms the tissue compatibility, you get the ports."
"Pleasure doing business with you, Dominic. You really are a romantic at heart," Volkov sneered and hung up.
Dominic immediately called Dr. Reed back to the house. When the doctor arrived, looking disheveled and terrified of Dominic’s guards, Dominic dragged him into the study and pointed at the screen.
"A file is coming through," Dominic told him. "Analyze it. Tell me if it's real, or if Volkov is feeding me a forgery to steal my territory."
Dr. Reed sat at the desk, his fingers flying across the keyboard as the encrypted file downloaded. He spent twenty minutes cross-referencing the genetic markers with Evelyn’s biopsy results. Dominic stood over him like a specter, his shadow cast long across the room.
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Finally, Reed looked up, his face filled with a mixture of awe and deep concern. "It's a perfect match, Mr. Vale. If this person exists, she can save your wife’s life. But... who is this donor? Why is she listed under an alphanumeric code?"
"She’s a hostage," Dominic said, his eyes darkening. "And I’m about to commit corporate suicide to buy her freedom."
