Chapter 25
Before Ryan could pocket the letter, the encrypted satellite phone on his chest vibrated violently. It wasn't Victor. It was the private panic-line routed directly to the master suite of his New York estate.
He answered instantly. "Emily."
The line crackled with the sharp, unmistakable thunder of automatic rifle fire and deafening concussive detonations.
"Ryan!" Emily’s voice came through, strained, breathless, but razor-sharp with focus. "We are under heavy attack! A convoy of three armored vehicles rammed the north estate gates ten minutes ago. They knocked out the municipal grid and fired RPGs into the ground floor!"
Ryan’s blood ran cold, the grief in his chest instantly transforming into absolute, terrifying adrenaline. "Where are Sarah and Lily?"
"They’re inside the titanium safe room with me," Emily shouted over the deafening rattle of gunfire vibrating through the walls. "I sealed the blast doors the second the perimeter alarms tripped. Your private security team held the grand foyer, but the attackers have heavy ordnance. They’re taking the stairs!"
Ryan realized the trap with sickening clarity. Enzo Falcone’s stand in Chicago had not been an offensive—it had been a distraction. Marcus had established a secondary contingency before his death, hiring an elite mercenary cadre to strike the estate the moment Ryan moved his primary forces out of state.
"Listen to me, Emily," Ryan said, his voice dropping into a hard, unbreakable cadence. "Do not open that blast door for anyone. Not even my men. The panic room has independent air filtration and reinforced ballistics. I am boarding the chopper to the runway right now. I will be on the ground in New York in eighty minutes. Hold the line."
"I have two sidearms from the nightstand safe," Emily replied, her voice remarkably steady despite the violence tearing through her home. "If they cut through these doors before you get here, Ryan, they will find out exactly who I am. I will protect our daughters with my life."
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The transmission cut out with a burst of static as an explosion shook the master wing.
Ryan turned to Victor, his eyes blazing with a feral, terrifying intensity. "Recall the strike team. Get the jet on the tarmac. Overclock the engines. If anything happens to my family, I will burn this entire country to the ground."
