Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF THE CROWN
Two days passed,
and the estate felt like it was haunted by a ghost.
The floors stayed dirty,
the air grew stale,
and the phantom pain returned with a vengeance that left me gasping for air.
Luke came into my study on the third night,
his expression grim.
"Elias moved on the warehouse in Cicero,"
he said,
dropping a folder on my desk.
"We lost three men,
and he's demanding a meeting at the old cathedral."
"Then give him the meeting,"
I said,
my mind barely registering the loss of the warehouse.
"There's something else,"
Luke added,
hesitating for the first time in our long history.
"We found out where the girl went."
I froze,
my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Where?"
"She went back to the diner,"
Luke said.
"But Elias's men have been seen watching the place.
He knows she's the one you protected."
My blood turned to fire,
and the paralysis that usually defined my existence seemed to vanish under the heat of my rage.
"Get the cars ready,"
I commanded,
my voice echoing through the fortress.
"We're going to the diner."
"Danny,
you can't,"
Luke protested.
"It's a trap.
He's using her to draw you out."
"I don't care if it's the gates of hell,"
I growled,
reaching for the heavy coat that hung on the back of my chair.
"No one touches what belongs to me."
As we drove through the rain-slicked streets of Chicago,
I checked the magazine of my pistol,
the familiar weight of the weapon providing a cold comfort.
I had pushed her away to keep her safe,
but I had underestimated the cruelty of a man like Elias.
He didn't just want my territory;
he wanted to see me broken.
We pulled up to the diner just as a group of men in long coats were entering.
I didn't wait for Luke to help me;
I used my arms to swing myself into the chair and hit the motor,
racing toward the entrance with my men following close behind.
Inside,
the scene was chaos.
Tables were overturned,
customers were screaming,
and there,
behind the counter,
was Emma.
Elias was holding her by the hair,
a jagged piece of glass held to her throat.
"I knew you'd come,
Danny,"
he shouted over the din of the rain.
"The monster finally left his cave for a little bird."
I stopped my chair in the middle of the diner,
my gun leveled at his chest.
"Let her go,
Elias,"
I said,
my voice a deadly whisper.
"This is between us."
"Oh,
it is,"
he laughed,
pressing the glass harder against Emma's skin.
"But I want to see what happens when the king loses his crown and his queen in the same night."
Emma looked at me,
her eyes wide with terror,
but through the fear,
I saw a flicker of the same defiance that had first caught my attention.
"Don't,"
she mouthed,
tears streaming down her face.
I realized then that I would give up everything—the money,
the power,
the empire—just to see her walk out of that diner alive.
"I'll give you the docks,"
I said,
my hand steady despite the chaos.
"I'll give you the Cicero warehouse,
the city,
all of it.
Just let her walk away."
Elias paused,
his greed warring with his malice.
May you like
In that split second of hesitation,
I saw my chance.
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