Chapter 38 - Bloodline
The sound of the heavy pistol clattering onto the dock echoed through the cavernous boathouse.
Serena paused, her gun still trained on Lily’s head, looking up at Alexander for confirmation.
Alexander laughed, a dry, grating sound that cut through the sound of the churning lake water. "Take you? Why would I want you, Victor? You are a traitor to this family. You chose morality over power. You chose weakness over legacy."
"I hold the master encryption keys to the Blackwood offshore trusts," Victor said, his voice measured, every syllable calculated to buy seconds. "One hundred and forty billion dollars spread across Swiss, Panamanian, and Singaporean vaults. You don't have the biometric access to unlock those accounts, Alexander. Even with your ghost key, the moment you attempt a transfer of that scale, the Zurich board freezes every cent. You need my pulse. You need my retina."
Alexander’s eyes narrowed. The greed that had always defined his older brother flashed across his scarred face.
"You think money can buy your family's lives?" Alexander asked coldly.
"I know it can," Victor replied, taking a slow step closer to the dock’s edge. "Because without that capital, your 'Iron Cradle' syndicate collapses before the week is out. You spent everything you had just to buy Serena out of federal custody and mount this assault. You're broke, Alexander. You have an army of mercenaries who demand payment in twenty-four hours, and right now, you can't even afford the fuel for that yacht waiting beyond the reef."
Alexander leaned heavily on his cane, descending the metal spiral staircase leading from the catwalk down to the dock. Each step clanged with metallic finality.
"You always were sharp with numbers, little brother," Alexander sneered as he reached the wooden boards. He stopped six paces away from Victor. "Very well. A simple exchange. You authorize the global transfer of the Blackwood trust into my shell corporation in Dubai. The boy stays with me. You and the girl can take the speedboat and vanish. If I ever see your faces in Europe or the Americas again, I will hunt you down and skin you alive."
"Victor, no!" Lily cried out, tears streaming down her soot-stained cheeks. "Don't give him Ethan! I’d rather die right here! Do you hear me? I’d rather die!"
"Shut up!" Serena screamed, stepping closer and raising the pistol to strike Lily across the face with the heavy steel frame.
That was the mistake.
The split second Serena turned her attention toward Lily, Victor didn't move toward his brother. He didn't dive for his gun.
He looked directly at Lily.
*Now,* his eyes commanded.
May you like
Lily didn't cower. She didn't flinch. In a split-second motion born of pure, desperate maternal instinct, she swung the heavy iron wrench she had been concealing behind her hip with all the force in her body.
The solid iron struck Serena directly across the kneecap with a sickening, audible crunch of shattered bone.
