Chapter 9 - The Extraction
Victor held Julian’s terrifying gaze for a long, tense moment, the air between them thick with unspoken violence. Then, slowly, Victor’s lips curved into a thin, tight smile, and he took a step back, raising his hands in mock surrender.
"Just a friendly warning about mountain roads in the dark, Julian," Victor said smoothly, his eyes lingering on me with a chilling promise. "Drive safe."
He turned and melted back into the shadows of the corridor leading toward the ballroom.
"Don't look back," Julian murmured to me, his arm wrapping securely around my shoulders as he kept Emma shielded against his chest. "We move now."
We didn't take the main exit. Julian led us down a narrow, windowless service hallway lined with industrial piping and commercial refrigeration units, flanked by two of his personal security detail who had materialized from the side doors like ghosts.
Within two minutes, we pushed through heavy double doors out into the cool night air of the private loading dock.
A sleek, matte-black armored SUV idled against the curb, its engine humming with silent power. One of the bodyguards opened the rear door instantly, shielding our entry with his broad frame.
We piled inside. The heavy doors slammed shut with a satisfying, airtight thud, cutting off the outside world entirely.
Inside the quiet sanctuary of the vehicle, Emma finally let out a small yawn, her little eyelids fluttering heavy with exhaustion. "Mommy, I'm sleepy..."
"Sleep, baby," I whispered, pulling a soft wool blanket over her shoulders and holding her tight against my heart as the SUV glided smoothly away from the hotel curb and into the rain-slicked Boston streets.
Julian pulled out a secure satellite phone, his face carved from stone as he dialed a direct line to his head of security.
May you like
"Track Victor Vance's vehicle," Julian commanded into the phone. "And I want a 24-hour perimeter detail locked down around our estate. Nobody gets within a mile of my family."
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