The fact that these intruders had bypassed everything meant only one thing.
Someone on the inside had given them the keys to his kingdom.
The bedroom door opened wider.
Footsteps approached the closet.
Elena pressed Vincent deeper into the shadows, her body shielding him as expensive fabric rustled around them.
Then a voice cut through the silence.
Cold.
Familiar.
“Check every room again.
He should have been here by now.”
Vincent’s blood turned to ice.
That voice belonged to his nephew, Marcus.
The boy Vincent had raised after his brother’s death.
The young man he had groomed to inherit pieces of his empire.
The family member he had trusted with his life.
Elena’s eyes reflected the same shock Vincent felt.
She had recognized the voice, too.
But her expression shifted from surprise to something else.
Knowledge.
As if this betrayal was not news to her.
Another voice joined Marcus in the bedroom.
“Maybe he changed his plans.
The old man’s getting paranoid in his age.”
“No,” Marcus replied, his tone sharp with the authority Vincent had taught him.
“He’s coming.
Tony confirmed he left the warehouse an hour ago.
Vincent never deviates from his routine.”
Through the crack, Vincent saw Marcus’s silhouette move to the window, pulling back the heavy curtains to peer into the night.
The same window where Vincent had stood countless times, surveying his domain, believing it was impenetrable.
Elena shifted slightly, and Vincent noticed something that made his pulse quicken.
She was armed.
A small pistol pressed against her hip, concealed beneath her simple black dress.
The maid who had served him coffee every morning for 3 years was carrying a weapon in his own home.
“The safe’s clean,” a 3rd voice called from across the room.
“Nothing but cash and some jewelry.”
Marcus laughed, a sound that held no warmth.
“He keeps the real secrets somewhere else.
We need him alive long enough to tell us where.”
Vincent’s hands clenched into fists.
The empire he had built, the legacy he had protected, was being dissected by his own blood.
But the deeper horror was realizing how long this had been planned.
How many conversations had Marcus overheard?
How many family dinners had been reconnaissance missions?
Elena pressed her lips close to his ear.
“There’s something else you need to know,” she whispered, her voice carrying a weight that made Vincent’s chest tighten.
“This isn’t just about money or territory.”
