Chapter 6 - Bloodline and Blackmail
Ten minutes later, the engine of a blacked-out Range Rover roared to life as Julian smashed through the wooden barrier arm of the hotel's side exit, bursting out into the rainy, neon-lit streets of Manhattan.
Sarah sat in the back seat, her body trembling violently as she held Leo in her lap. The toddler was sobbing now, terrified by the dark and the violent noise, his small hands clutching Sarah’s black dress. She rocked him frantically, tears streaming down her soot-streaked face as she kissed his forehead over and over again.
Up front, Julian drove with reckless, terrifying skill, weaving through the heavy evening traffic, his eyes darting continuously to the rearview mirror. His dark suit was torn at the shoulder, his knuckles bruised and bloody from the fight in the garage.
"That was your father's team," Sarah rasped from the backseat, her voice tight with betrayal and exhaustion. "He tried to kidnap his own grandson in the dark!"
"He doesn't view Leo as a grandson," Julian spat, his voice laced with bitter hatred as he slammed his foot on the accelerator, blowing through a red light on 5th Avenue. "He views him as a biological threat to his empire. If my father controls Leo, he controls my voting shares. He was going to use him as collateral to force me back into line."
Julian reached into his jacket, pulling out a encrypted satellite phone and tossing it into Sarah's lap. "Call Dr. Evans. Hit speed dial one. Tell him we are executing Protocol Omega at the Tribeca safehouse."
Sarah picked up the phone, her fingers shaking as she dialed. "Julian... what is Protocol Omega?"
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Julian met her gaze in the rearview mirror, his dark brown eyes filled with an absolute, uncompromising resolve that terrified and reassured her all at once.
"It's the total liquidation of my family's assets," Julian said softly. "By midnight, I am going to release eighteen years of corporate espionage, illegal drug trials, and blackmail files belonging to Arthur Sterling and the Vance family to the Department of Justice. We aren't running anymore, Sarah. We are going to burn their empire to the ground."
