I Paid My Wife $150,000,000 To Divorce Me So I Could Marry My Ex—3 Years Later, One Photo Of Her Flower Shop Exposed The Dark Secret I Left Behind! / Chapter 24 / 100

Chapter 24 - Blood on the Timber

"You'll never touch him," Alexander said softly.

Julianna’s eyes narrowed. "Hand him over. Now. Or I paint these rocks with your precious ex-wife’s brains."

"You want the heir?" Alexander asked.

With a swift, calculated motion, Alexander ripped the wool blanket away, hurling the bundle straight at the two armed guards standing beside Julianna.

Instead of a crying four-year-old child, the blankets unraveled in mid-air to reveal an industrial marine flare, already struck and hissing with blinding magnesium fire, wrapped tightly around an aerosol canister of high-grade boat engine degreaser.

"Down, Elena!" Alexander roared.

A deafening *CRACK* split the night before the guards could even raise their weapons. From the high catwalk fifty yards away, Gabriel’s high-caliber rifle barked. The lead guard took a round directly to the chest, his body flying backward into the side of the Suburban with a dull metallic crash.

The flare hit the slush near the rear bumper and ignited the pressurized canister. A blinding wall of white fire and concussive sound erupted across the dock, disorienting the second guard and lighting the stormy sea in a terrifying crimson glare.

Elena, driven by pure motherly instinct, didn't hesitate. Bound though her hands were, she threw her entire body weight backward into Julianna’s shins. Julianna shrieked in shock, tumbling down onto the icy planks of the pier, her silver pistol clattering across the frozen wood.

"Elena!" Alexander sprinted forward, covering the distance in desperate, lung-tearing strides.

The remaining armed mercenary recovered, swinging his rifle toward Elena. Alexander didn't stop. He threw himself into a sliding tackle, slamming his shoulder into the guard’s knees. The wood groaned under the impact, and both men went crashing into the iron bollards near the edge of the pier.

Alexander drove his elbow into the mercenary's throat, wrestling for the rifle. The mercenary was younger, heavier, and combat-trained; he threw Alexander off with a savage punch to the ribs, drawing a serrated combat knife from his tactical vest.

"Alexander, watch out!" Elena cried, struggling to her feet on the slick timber.

The blade sliced down, catching Alexander along his forearm. Warm blood instantly soaked through his jacket sleeve, steaming in the freezing air. Ignoring the searing pain, Alexander locked his hands around the man's wrist, twisted with all the adrenaline surging through his veins, and drove his knee upward into the man’s groin. As the mercenary gasped, Alexander grabbed the back of his tactical harness and hurled him violently over the low wooden rail.

A frantic scream vanished into the darkness, followed seconds later by the sickening crunch of waves on rock far below.

Panting, clutching his bleeding arm, Alexander spun around.

Julianna was already back on her feet, scrambled inside the driver’s seat of the Suburban. The engine roared to life with a deafening growl. The heavy tires spun against the wet planks, throwing plumes of ice and sparks.

"Alexander!" Gabriel yelled from his vantage point over the radio. "She’s cutting the wheel! Move!"

Julianna reversed violently, the heavy bumper clipping the wooden railing, then swung the massive SUV around to flee down the narrow coastal track. Alexander lunged toward Elena, wrapping his good arm around her waist and pulling her against the shelter of an iron winch just as the vehicle’s mirror tore past, missing them by inches.