Chapter 2 - A Sister’s Poison
The temperature in the nursery seemed to drop ten degrees.
Declan turned slowly to face his older sister. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't draw the weapon hidden beneath his tailored jacket. The silence between them was far more dangerous than a gunshot.
“You did this to my children,” Declan said, taking a slow step toward her.
Meredith took a sip of her tea, her hand perfectly steady. “I did what was necessary for the family, Declan. You’ve become weak since Sarah died. You spent eighty million dollars on legitimate tech investments last year. You were planning to step down from the Syndicate board.”
“They are six years old!” Declan roared, the sudden explosion of his voice rattling the glass in the windows.
Grace and June stirred in their sleep, but Emma quickly covered their ears, pulling them closer to protect them from the storm raging in the room.
Meredith didn't flinch. She set her teacup down on a nearby side table with a delicate clink. “A grieving, frantic father cannot run an international crime syndicate, Declan. For two months, you were so distracted by their screaming that you gave up three shipping docks in New Jersey to Julian and me. You signed over the board voting proxies to us last Tuesday just so you could fly in another useless sleep specialist from London.”
Emma stared at Meredith in absolute disgust. “You tortured little girls for voting proxies?”
Meredith glanced at Emma, her lip curling into a sneer of utter contempt. “Shut your mouth, maid. You were hired to clean toilets, not give opinions.”
“She is more of a human being than you will ever be,” Declan growled. He raised his hand, pointing a finger directly at Meredith’s face. “You are going to give back every proxy, every contract, and every dock you stole from this family. And then you are going to leave this country. If I ever see your face in North America again, Meredith, I will forget we share the same blood.”
Meredith let out a cold, mocking laugh. “Oh, Declan. Always so dramatic. Do you really think I came upstairs alone tonight?”
Suddenly, the heavy mahogany doors of the nursery were shoved open.
Julian—Meredith’s husband and a senior captain in the Shaw Syndicate—stepped into the room. Behind him stood four heavily armed men wearing dark tactical gear, their submachine guns raised and aimed directly at Declan and Emma.
Emma’s heart leaped into her throat. She instinctively threw her body over the sleeping twins, shielding them with her own frame.
Declan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Julian. “Treason, Julian? Inside my own home?”
“It’s not treason if the board supports it, Declan,” Julian said smoothly, stepping into the room with a silver-plated pistol in his hand. “The doctors have been documenting your erratic behavior for weeks. We have video of you screaming at staff, losing your temper, missing crucial Syndicate meetings. Tonight, when the news breaks that Declan Shaw had a complete psychotic break, killed his maid, and had to be relieved of command by his own family… no one in Chicago will question it.”
“Julian!” Meredith snapped, her eyes flashing with sudden panic. “Not in front of the children!”
“The children will be taken to our estate in Vermont, Meredith,” Julian said coldly, his eyes showing no mercy. “They will be raised properly. Away from Declan’s soft influence.”
Emma looked around the room. Declan was unarmed, surrounded by four men with automatic weapons. There was no escape through the second-story windows.
Declan slowly raised his hands, stepping between the armed guards and the bed where Emma and his daughters lay.
“Take me, Julian,” Declan said, his voice flat and steady. “Let the maid take the girls and walk out. She knows nothing about the business.”
“No loose ends, Declan,” Julian replied, raising his pistol toward Declan’s chest. “The maid dies tonight too.”
Emma’s mind raced. Her eyes darted around the bed, landing on the heavy brass reading lamp resting on the nightstand beside her.
Meredith stepped forward, holding out her hand to Julian. “Give me the gun, Julian. I’ll do it myself. He ruined my life when our father gave him the family throne instead of me.”
May you like
As Meredith reached for the weapon, Julian hesitated for a fraction of a second.
That fraction of a second was all Declan Shaw needed.
