Chapter 31 The truck traveled over rough roads, jostling the crates along with them. The air in it was stale and heavy with the scent of old wood and damp metal. Lena hunched in the corner, her muscles wound tight.They'd escaped the ship, but they were far from safe.Noah jammed his head into a gap in the truck's door. His jaw was clenched. "Inland. Sounded like an area of warehouses."Damien leaned against a crate. "Better than open roads. Fewer eyes."Evelyn crossed her arms. "Or more places to get trapped."Lena was thinking fast. They had to come up with a plan—fast.Noah turned to her. "Do we jump now or wait?"Lena frowned. If they jumped too soon, they'd be exposed. But if they waited too long, they might end up in a bad place.A sharp turn made the truck lurch, then, Lena made up her mind. "We jump when it slows."The others nodded, waiting, muscles coiled like springs.Minutes passed. The truck slowed as it entered an intersection.Lena moved first. She reached for the door
Chapter 32The train rattled through the underground tunnels, the dim lights flickering. The scent of metal and damp concrete filled the air. Lena leaned against the cold window, watching as the city blurred by.They had escaped. For now.Damien wiped blood from his temple, breathing hard. "That was close."Evelyn snorted. "Too close."Noah said nothing, his jaw tight. He was thinking, planning—as always.Lena knew what was inevitable. They couldn't keep fleeing. Kane would not give up. They needed to put an end to this.She faced the group. "We can't hide forever."Noah nodded. "Agreed."Damien lifted an eyebrow. "So what's the plan?"Lena breathed out, thinking fast. "We strike back."The train began to slow down as it approached the next station. They had to have some place safe where they could regroup.Noah snatched his phone, scrolling rapidly. "There's an empty building two blocks from here. No cameras, no security. We hole up there, figure our next move."Evelyn stood up. "Let
Chapter 33 The city felt changed since last night.Lena stood at the rooftop, watching the glow of the burned docks in the distance. There was still smoke rising into the night. They had struck first.Kane wasn't a lick-wounds kind of guy, though.He would come back stronger.She released her breath, clutching the frozen railing. Down on the streets below, life buzzed with activity—people living their lives, unaware that war had begun.Noah stood beside her, his face neutral. "We hurt him."She nodded. "But it's not over."Noah's jaw worked. "It's just beginning."The news traveled fast. The sabotage of the docks was not just an economic hit—it was a message.But Kane sent his message back.Three of their acknowledged friends were killed by morning.Shot. Stabbed. One of them was left hanging from a bridge.Lena read the report, her hand clenching tighter on the paper."Kane's striking back." Evelyn slapped a phone onto the table. "His men are out on the streets, hunting."Damien chu
Chapter 34 Lena knew Kane wouldn't keep quiet. Their attack on Inferno had been a personal slap in the face. They'd beaten his soldiers, burned his sanctuary, and left one of his lieutenants bleeding in the streets. Now they waited. She sat in the dimly lit safe house, drumming her fingers on the wooden table. Gunpowder and dust filled the air. They had attacked first, but Kane was not a man to let things heal. He would counterattack with revenge. Evelyn leaned against the wall, greasing her gun. "He's going to make his move soon. You know it, don't you?" Lena exhaled. "Yeah." Noah looked at his phone. "I hate waiting." Damien smiled. "Then let's go get him." The reply came quicker than anticipated. Malcolm, the detective Ethan had dispatched, crashed in through the door, face ashen. "It's bad." Lena wound herself tight. "What happened?" He dropped a phone onto the table. The screen cycled a video. Lena made it start playing. It rolled out: mobile camera, da
Chapter 35 The fire continued to burn behind them as they sped from the docks. The explosion had been so loud that it had awakened the entire city. Sirens were blaring in the distance, but Lena knew the police wouldn't arrive in time. Kane would.She gripped the steering wheel, eyes on the highway. They had taken everything from him tonight—his guns, his warehouse, his secrets. Now, he had nothing to lose.Evelyn sat next to her, loading her weapon. "He's coming for us."Lena didn't look up. "Let him."They arrived at the safehouse just before morning. It was a dilapidated apartment above an old auto repair shop, the sort of place nobody would give a second glance. An ideal hideaway—until the present.Damien locked the door behind them. "We need a plan before Kane moves."Noah tossed the purloined files onto the table. "We have his secrets. He'll come to retrieve them."Evelyn crossed her arms. "And we make sure he walks away from this place no more."Lena studied the documents. Vinc
Chapter 36 The safe house was quiet, but no one slept. The air was thick with tension. Kane was down, but Mercer was still a threat. A bigger one.Lena sat by the window, her stitched-up shoulder throbbing. Outside, the city was waking up, unaware of the war happening in its shadows.Evelyn handed her a cup of black coffee. “You’re thinking too much.”Lena drank, bitterness steadying her. "We're not out of it yet."Noah sat at the table, flipping through Kane's stolen files. "Mercer's been careful. No direct links, no obvious weaknesses."Damien lit a cigarette, eyes sparkling. "Then we get him to stumble."Lena glanced over the files again. Mercer wasn't just leading operations—he was stringing people along. Politicians, police officers, judges. Kane had been his attack dog, but Mercer pulled the strings.Evelyn leaned against the wall. "If we take him out, the whole system starts to crumble."Lena nodded. "But first, we need to know where he's going to strike next."The knock at th
Chapter 37 Lena's heart pounded in her ears. The photo of her brother sat between her and Mercer, a silent threat.Her fists tightened. She had been so cautious. Hidden him. But Mercer had found him."You have a choice," Mercer said, leaning back. "Leave, and he lives."Lena kept her face expressionless. "And if I don't?"Mercer snarled. "Then I send you his head next.".The room felt smaller, the walls tightening in. He was trying to play her, as he did with everybody. But she was not everybody.She met his gaze. "You're afraid."Mercer's eyebrow rose. "Of you?""Yes." She leaned forward, her voice lowering. "Kane was your attack dog, and we brought him down. You thought that would scare us off. It didn't."Mercer laughed, his head shaking. "Brave. But stupid."She saw it then—a flicker of irritation behind his poised façade. He wasn't used to being contradicted.Her earpiece crackled. Evelyn's whispered warning: "Lena, we have a problem."Lena didn't look away from Mercer. "What is
Chapter 38 Lena sat at the table, her hands tracing over the stolen files. Names, dates, locations—everything they would need to start tearing down Mercer's empire. But it didn't matter if they couldn't find her brother.She looked up. Noah, Damien, and Evelyn waited."We struck his second-in-command," she said. "Tonight."Damien smiled. "I like the way you think."Noah, always the fretter, leaned forward. "Mercer will expect us to retaliate. We need an edge."Lena placed a finger on the page. Jonas Vega. Mercer's second-in-command. The one who handled the money, the bribes, the secrets. Take him down, and Mercer starts to hemorrhage.Evelyn exhaled. "Vega's got cover. He won't go down easily."Lena glanced at her mother. "He's not supposed to."Noah frowned. "What does that mean?""is mean," Lena explained, "we don't kill him. We use him."Damien reclined. "To what end?"Lena balled up the paper in her hand. "To undermine Mercer from within."Vega operated out of a high-end club dow
Chapter 58 – The Heist at Warehouse 14The air stank of salt and rust. The docks were quiet, the city lights distant against the black water. Warehouse 14 stood at the end of the pier, metal doors shut, guards at each corner.Lena crouched behind a stack of shipping containers, taking in the scene with binoculars. The Russians were here, just as Ivanov had said.They brought additional muscle," Marco muttered from beside her.Luca's voice came through the earpiece. "Sniper in position. Provide the signal."Lena slowly exhaled. This had to be fast and neat. No mistakes."Noah, Michael, move into position," she said. Lena had split the team into three groups.Noah and Michael would make a diversion at the north entrance, drawing the guards off.Luca would take out the rooftop sentries.Lena and Marco would enter through the side entrance, bringing the shipment safe.They had a ten-minute window until backup arrived.Lena said into her earpiece. "Go."Noah strolled toward the north gate
Chapter 57 The scent of smoke still clung to Lena's clothes. The Russian piers had burned throughout the night, and at dawn, the news had reached every corner of the city. The message was loud and clear—she wasn't surrendering.But the war was never solely about destruction. It was about control.Lena stood in her office, the city stretching out past the glass windows. Marco, Michael, Luca, and Noah sat around her. A map of the city lay on the table, red lines and black crosses crossing it."They'll strike back," Marco stated, his voice determined.Lena nodded. "Let them."Luca leaned forward, elbows on the table. "We hurt them, but we didn't break them. The Russians still control the east side, and their allies aren't giving up yet."Michael folded his arms. "Then we take their allies away from them."Lena smirked. "Exactly."She nodded to a name on the map—Gregor Ivanov. A top-level Russian supplier, the one that kept their wheels turning. If they eliminated him, the Russians would
Chapter 56 – Fire and BloodLena occupied the head of the table, her drumming fingers on the glass top. Around her, the inner circle waited. Marco leaned back in his chair, arms folded. Michael stood near the window, watching the streets below. Noah spun a knife between his fingers, his smirk never wavering.Luca was the last to speak. "The Albanians are in chaos. Fifty percent of their men demand vengeance. Fifty percent demand to fall in line."Lena nodded. "And the Russians?"Michael spun around. "Quiet. Too quiet."Bad. Quiet meant planning. Quiet meant threat."They're waiting, observing to see if we stumble," Marco said to her.Lena met his eyes. "We won't."The attack came sooner than anticipated.Lena had driven the car back up to the estate when Michael's voice crackled into the earpiece."Lena. Take out."She did not debate it. She pulled open the door, twisting over onto the road as the car blew up behind her.The blast resounded down the road. Shattered glass echoed off th
Chapter 55 – The Queen's Move The city was quiet. So quiet that one can hear the sound of a dropped pin, but not enough to distract Lena and her team. Lena stood in the window of her new office, gazing out at the skyline. It still smelled of gunpowder. Romano's body wasn't even cold before his empire was sold. People were standing by, observing, unsure what the next move would be. She wasn't sure, either. "Report," she said without glancing around. Michael braced in the doorframe, arms folded. "Luca's rallying the lieutenants. Some aren't happy, but they won't move." "They should." Noah filled the gap, dropping a folder onto the desk. "Romano's companies, contacts, offshore accounts. All yours now." Lena snapped the folder open. Money. Power. A crime empire at her fingertips. Marco finally spoke. "They'll fight you." She smiled. "Let them." The first fight came sooner than she'd expected. Luca called a meeting. Not just a meeting—a reception by the most powerful
Chapter 54 The air was thick with the smell of burned paper and gasoline. Lena sat at the table, her gaze on the stolen documents. The room was still, except for the occasional groan of a chair as Michael shifted."We hit him hard," Noah said, pushing his hair behind his ear. His knuckles were bruised from the fight. "But Romano will not let this go."Marco leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "He'll retaliate. Hard and fast."Lena snapped a finger against the table. "We need to strike before him."Michael frowned. "We just got out of that club alive. We don't even know his motive."Lena's lips puckered into a line. "We know what he'll do. He'll strike at our supporters. He'll try to cut us off."She gestured towards the papers."These files don't just expose his crimes. They expose his weaknesses. The men he relies on. Take them away first, and he'll be alone."Marco nodded uncertainly. "You're talking about dismantling his entire operation."Lena's gaze was glacial. "Ye
Chapter 53The shelter house stank of gunpowder and sweat. Noah wrapped the gushing area on the kitchen table. Michael leaned against the wall, his jaw clenched in thought.Lena sat across from them, holding the burner phone. Marco's last words recurred in her mind. He's afraid.Romano was not used to being fearful. He was used to mastering. That they had gotten into his head was a sign that one thing—they would strike back worse.Lena exhaled. "We need to get going."Michael's gaze went slanted to hers. "Where?""Right to the heart of his operations," she replied. "We don't let him gather steam."Noah smiled and yelped as he pulled tight the final knot. "I like the thought."Michael frowned. "We barely made it out last time."Lena met his eye. "That was in self-defense. Now we attack."Michael sighed but nodded. "What is the target?"She glanced at Marco, seated mutely in the corner. He had heard and watched. He was a man who understood how and when to voice an opinion.Now, he did.
Chapter 52 The night crawled after Lena had left the club. Every second tested their patience, wondering if Marco Benedetti would betray Romano or them.Lena slept at the kitchen table of the safe house, drumming her fingers on the wood. The air was thick with the smell of burnt coffee and gunpowder. Michael leaned against the counter, arms crossed, while Noah cleaned his gun beside her."We give him 24 hours," Michael said. "If he doesn't call, we assume he's being faithful."Lena nodded. "And if he is faithful, we cut him down."Noah smiled. "I like this side of you."Lena didn't smile. She wasn't in the mood.Then, the burner phone rang.The three of them froze.Lena picked up. "Speak."A deep breath. Then Marco's voice. "Meet me at the old train station. One hour."The phone line went dead.Michael frowned. "It could be a setup."Lena stood up, her fingers around her gun. "Then we put it straight back again."The vacant station was on the edge of town, left to the ravages of time
Chapter 51 The city felt different outside of the docks. The air was heavy, the streets quiet. It was as if the night had engulfed the gunfire and only tension remained. Lena sat in the backseat of the vehicle, staring out at the black horizon.Michael drove in silence, his jaw set. Noah rode beside him, his arms crossed. No words were spoken, but the tension of what had just happened weighed on them. Romano had lived again.Lena exhaled slowly, forcing the anger down. He won't keep escaping.They pulled up at the safe house, a battered building in a barren part of town. The three of them entered quickly, locking the doors behind.The air inside reeked of gunpowder and aged wood. There was one table in the middle of the room, maps and papers strewn about.Noah threw his gun on the table. "We misjudged him."Michael stroked his hair. "We should have expected it."Lena planted herself on the chair, her elbows on the table. "Romano expected us to utilize Leo. He played us."Noah let out
Chapter 50 The night was cold, the air thick with the promise of violence. Lena stood in the alley behind an abandoned factory, shrouded in the darkness. Her breath came evenly, her hands loose at her sides, but inside she was a storm.Leo had taken the bait. All they had to do now was track him.Michael crouched beside her, his eyes scouring the street. "He's not slowing down."Lena nodded. "He's scared. He thinks he was lucky to escape."Noah adjusted the earpiece in his ear. "Or he knows it's a trap and is attempting to lead us into one."Lena's lips curled into a cold smile. "Either way, we win."Across the street, Leo ducked into a black sedan that had been waiting for him. The car pulled away, disappearing into the city.Michael tapped his radio. “We follow from a distance. No risks.”Lena exhaled, watching the taillights fade. Romano, I’m coming for you.Their own car slid into traffic, smooth and silent. Michael drove, his focus sharp. Noah kept his eyes on the tracker they h