Chapter 15 - The Gathering of ShadowsThe Kane penthouse in Manhattan was the crown jewel of the empire, a glass fortress suspended fifty stories above the city. The twelve elders of the council sat around the familiar mahogany table, but the atmosphere was completely different from the Chicago meeting.
Fear hung so thick you could taste it.
Lorenzo Kane sat at the head of the table, his silver cane resting against the glass window behind him. He had bandages wrapped around his neck from the ammonia burns, making him look even more monstrous.
“Roman Kane has brought ruin to our operations,” Lorenzo stated, his raspy voice amplified by the room’s acoustics. “He attacked my men. He used chemical weapons in our own city. He is a liability. I propose we dissolve his regency and appoint me as the Supreme Protector of the Kane trust.”
Lord Harrison stood up, his hands resting on his cane. “The trust belongs to the daughter, Lorenzo. The law is absolute.”
Lorenzo smiled, a terrifying, slow expression. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a live video feed on a cellular device, throwing it onto the table.
The video showed a hidden camera angle of our Brooklyn bunker.
Two of Lorenzo’s elite assassins were standing right outside the heavy steel door where Clara Victoria was being hidden by a skeleton crew of guards.
“The law only matters if the heir is alive to collect it, Harrison,” Lorenzo whispered. “Vote now. Or the child dies before the clock strikes midnight.”
The elders looked at each other, their resolve crumbling. They were business men at heart; they didn't want to die for a baby they had never met. One by one, they began to raise their hands in favor of Lorenzo.
“I vote yes,” the first elder said.
“I vote yes,” whispered another.
Before Harrison could be forced to vote, the elevator doors at the end of the penthouse lounge dinged.
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The doors slid open to reveal Roman and me. We weren't wearing armor or carrying rifles. We were dressed in formal wear—Roman in a sharp tuxedo, and me in a flowing emerald dress that hid the bandages on my abdomen.
And in my arms, wrapped in her signature pink blanket, was Clara Victoria.
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