Chapter 10 - THE STANDOFF AT 74TH STREET
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The air inside the townhouse was cold and stale. Victoria didn't reach for the light switch. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the faint glow filtering in from the streetlamps outside.
Julian was standing near the grand mahogany staircase, his clothes filthy, his hands covered in road grime, his suit jacket torn at the shoulder. In his right hand, he held a snub-nosed .38 revolver pointed directly at her chest.
"You look terrible, Julian," Victoria said evenly, taking two slow steps into the foyer and closing the front door behind her. "Did the NYPD van hit a bump?"
"Shut up!" Julian barked, his voice cracking with hysteria. His hand was shaking so badly the barrel wobbled in small, erratic circles. "Shut your arrogant mouth! You ruined everything! You took my money, you took my reputation, you put Elena in Rikers!"
"Elena put herself in Rikers when she agreed to sleep with a coward who couldn't even manage his wife’s company without embezzling," Victoria countered, her voice ice-cold. "And that was never your money, Julian. You didn't build this. You married it."
Julian let out a manic, strangled laugh. "It doesn't matter anymore! I have the passport. I have the bonds from the safe. All I have to do is put a bullet through your forehead, walk out the back garden exit, and catch a freight ship out of Jersey!"
"Go ahead then," Victoria said, taking another step forward.
Julian flinched, stepping back toward the bottom stair. "Don't come any closer! I swear to God, Vicky, I will pull this trigger!"
"Then pull it," Victoria dared him, her eyes locking onto his with terrifying stillness. "You couldn't even look me in the eye when you poisoned my tea, Julian. You had to wait until I was unconscious in an ICU bed to whisper your pathetic little threats. You don't have the stomach to kill someone who’s looking right at you."
Julian’s finger tightened on the trigger. Sweat stung his eyes. "You think I’m weak?!"
"I know you're weak," Victoria said softly. "And I know that gun has been empty since 2018."
Julian blinked in confusion, his eyes darting down to the cylinder of the revolver for a split second.
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That split second was all Victoria needed.
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