Chapter 7 - The Wrath of the CEO
The black executive sedan carrying Grant Holloway tore through the iron gates of the Lincoln Park estate at eighty miles per hour, ignoring the snowbanks piled high along the cobblestone driveway.
The rear door flew open before the car had even come to a complete stop.
Grant vaulted out into the freezing snow, his wool coat billowing behind him like a dark cape. Behind him, two armored SUVs carrying six heavily armed security specialists screeched to a halt, doors flying open as men spilled out into the courtyard.
"Status!" Grant roared, grabbing his encrypted radio as he sprinted toward the main entrance.
“Intruders in the main family wing, boss!” Leo’s voice crackled through the earpiece, breathless and laced with static. “They bypassed the outer gate using a cloned security pass. Mrs. Gable is engaging them in the conservatory!”
Grant’s blood turned to liquid nitrogen.
He didn't head for the front door. He knew every architectural secret of the historic manor—including the private ground-floor service tunnel that led directly beneath the conservatory floorboards.
He sprinted around the side of the manor, shattering a small glass pane on the cellar access door, reached inside, and threw the manual latch.
Inside the mansion, the air was dead and cold.
Grant moved through the service corridor with the silent, terrifying speed of an apex predator. He didn't carry a gun—he didn't need one. His bare hands, driven by an absolute, incandescent rage, were weapon enough.
He reached the base of the hidden spiral staircase leading up into the conservatory.
Above him, he heard Marcus Vance’s voice echoing off the glass panes.
"...last chance, old woman. Drop the gun or I'll put a bullet through the kid hiding in that bookcase."
Grant froze.
Maya was in the room.
His chest heaved with a breath so deep and cold it burned his lungs. He took the steps two at a time, his fingers wrapping around the brass handle of the hidden wall panel behind the bookcase.
BANG!
A gunshot echoed through the conservatory.
Mrs. Gable let out a sharp cry as a bullet grazed her shoulder, sending her crashing against the marble floor, her weapon skittering across the tiles.
Marcus stepped forward, lowering his pistol toward the wooden bookcase where Maya and Ellie were hiding.
"Let's see what kind of leverage a dead girl buys us," Marcus muttered, raising the barrel.
Before his finger could tighten on the trigger, the heavy wooden bookcase exploded inward as if hit by a battering ram.
Grant Holloway stepped through the splintered wood like a demon rising from the underworld.
Before Marcus could turn his head, Grant’s fist connected with the man’s jaw with a sickening CRACK that fractured bone and sent Marcus flying across the polished marble floor to smash headfirst into a stone planter.
The two remaining tactical guards raised their submachine guns, but before they could acquire their targets, Leo and three security specialists burst through the main double doors, tackling both men to the ground in a flurry of tactical gear and heavy thuds.
The fight was over in less than six seconds.
Silence rushed back into the conservatory, broken only by the howling wind outside and the sound of heavy breathing.
Grant didn't look at the unconscious men on the floor. He dropped to his knees in front of the broken bookcase, tearing away the remaining wooden slats with his bare hands, his fingers bleeding from splinters he didn't feel.
"Maya?" Grant called out, his voice cracking with raw, desperate fear. "Maya, are you okay?"
The small access panel slid open.
Maya crawled out, clutching little Ellie tightly against her chest. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with shock, but she wasn't crying.
She looked up at Grant, her lower lip trembling slightly.
"You came back," she whispered.
May you like
Grant reached out, his massive hands trembling as he pulled both girls into his arms, crushing them against his chest, burying his face in Maya’s dark hair as the remaining tension in his body finally gave way.
"I told you," Grant choked out, his voice thick with unexpressed emotion as tears finally spilled over his lashes. "I told you nobody is ever going to touch you again."
