Chapter 18 - Into the Iron Foundry
The old iron foundry in Newark was a rusted monolith of industrial decay. Rain poured through the collapsed corrugated roof, creating puddles of orange, rusty water on the concrete floor.
Dominic walked through the main hangar, his footsteps echoing intentionally. He wanted Julian to know he was there. He held his hands away from his sides, showing he was unarmed—or so it appeared.
"Julian!" Dominic’s voice boomed through the hollow structure. "I'm here. Show yourself!"
From the upper catwalk, Julian appeared, holding a detonator in his hand. Below him, suspended in a rusted steel cage over an open pit filled with jagged industrial debris, were Claire and Harper. Claire was breathing heavily, her face covered in sweat, her contractions coming closer together. Harper was crying silently, clinging to her mother.
"Look at you," Julian laughed maniacally, his eyes wide with unstable fury. "The great Don, begging for the lives of his family. You ruined me, Dominic! You took my birthright!"
"The empire was a curse, Julian," Dominic said, trying to keep his cousin talking while his fingers subtly manipulated a small tracking transponder hidden in his watch. "Look around you. It brought nothing but death. Let them go, and you can take whatever is left of the Rossi funds. Thousands of millions, Julian. Enough to disappear forever."
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"I don't want money, I want to see you suffer!" Julian screamed, his finger tightening on the detonator.
Suddenly, Claire cried out in pain—a sharp, agonizing scream that echoed through the foundry. The baby was coming. The urgency reached a fever pitch. Dominic knew he had seconds to act before his wife and unborn child died in the ruins of his past.
