Chapter 13 - SIX MINUTES
The timer showed six minutes.
Victor lifted Ethan.
Lily struggled to stand.
Her shoulder burned from the fall.
“I can walk.”
Victor put one arm around her.
“Then walk.”
Cole shouted directions.
“East tunnel.”
They ran.
Behind them, Michael’s men fired from the upper corridor.
Victor’s guards returned fire while retreating.
Ethan cried against Victor’s chest.
“Lily.”
“I’m here, baby.”
She stayed beside him.
Five minutes.
They reached a junction.
The east tunnel had been blocked.
Concrete and steel filled the passage.
Cole swore.
“Other route.”
Lily looked left.
“No.”
Everyone stopped.
“What?”
“The old drainage tunnel.”
She pointed toward a rusted gate.
“It exits near the river.”
Cole examined it.
“It’s locked.”
Victor fired at the chain.
The gate opened.
Four minutes.
They moved into darkness.
Cold water covered the floor.
Lily slipped.
Victor caught her.
“Keep moving.”
Three minutes.
Behind them, footsteps echoed.
Michael appeared at the junction.
“Victor.”
Victor turned.
Michael stood alone.
His weapon pointed directly at them.
“You always take everything.”
Victor slowly handed Ethan to Lily.
“Take him.”
Lily backed away.
Victor faced his brother.
“I never took anything from you.”
“Our father chose you.”
“You betrayed him.”
“He loved you more.”
“You gave him every reason not to trust you.”
Michael’s face twisted.
For the first time, Victor saw what had always lived beneath his brother’s charm.
Jealousy.
Not ambition.
Not money.
Jealousy.
“You got the name.”
Michael shouted.
“The business.”
“The family.”
“And now the child.”
Victor stared at him.
“You could have had your own life.”
“I wanted yours.”
Michael raised the weapon.
Two minutes.
Then Serena appeared behind him.
Her dress was torn.
Her face was streaked with dirt.
“Michael.”
He turned.
She was holding the second phone.
“You forgot something.”
Michael frowned.
Serena threw the phone into the water.
He reacted instinctively.
Victor moved.
He slammed Michael against the wall.
The weapon skidded away.
Serena ran toward Lily.
“Take me with you.”
Lily stared at her.
This was the woman who had hurt Ethan.
The woman who had threatened her.
The woman who had helped kidnap the child.
But Lily still reached for her.
“Come on.”
One minute.
Victor and Cole dragged Michael into the drainage tunnel.
Thirty seconds.
Everyone ran.
The exit appeared ahead.
Ten seconds.
Victor shoved Lily and Ethan through first.
Cole followed with Michael.
Serena stumbled.
Victor grabbed her arm.
They cleared the tunnel.
The explosion erupted behind them.
The ground shook.
Windows shattered.
Flames burst through the abandoned depot.
Lily covered Ethan with her body.
Victor dropped beside them.
“Ethan.”
The baby was crying.
But he was alive.
Victor pulled him close.
For several seconds, the most feared man in Chicago could not speak.
Then Ethan reached toward Lily.
She touched his cheek.
“We’re okay.”
Police vehicles surrounded the depot.
Federal agents moved in.
Michael lay on the pavement in handcuffs.
His empire of revenge was finished.
But Serena was staring at Lily.
Something strange had appeared in her expression.
Not gratitude.
Not regret.
Fear.
She leaned closer.
“There’s one thing Michael never told Victor.”
Lily frowned.
Serena whispered.
“He wasn’t the one who ordered Ethan taken from the mansion.”
Lily’s blood went cold.
“Who did?”
May you like
Serena looked toward the arriving police.
“Someone Victor still trusts.”
