PART 2: Three bullets tore into my body because I threw myself between a gunman and the six-year-old heir to New York’s most feared billionaire mafia family. M1

The crystalline glass of the optical drive shattered into a thousand glowing blue fragments, scattering across the slick marble floor of the vault like crushed diamonds.

"NO!" Elias screamed in pure, unadulterated rage.

Eleanor’s cold composure shattered in an instant. Her face twisted into a mask of demonic fury as she stepped forward. "You stupid, arrogant brat!"

In that split second of total chaos and distraction, Marcus moved with terrifying speed. He grabbed the barrel of Elias's revolver, twisting it violently out of his hand while driving a heavy tactical elbow straight into Elias’s jaw.

CRACK.

Elias was thrown backward into the row of metal safety deposit boxes, his weapon clattering across the floor.

Marcus pulled a concealed secondary sidearm from his ankle holster and fired three rapid shots into the Sovereign operatives standing in the doorway. Two of them dropped instantly, their armor failing against the point-blank range.

"RUN, AMELIA! TAKE CALEB AND GO!" Marcus roared, sweeping his arm to clear the doorway.

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the leather notebook from the drawer, snatched Caleb into my arms, and lunged past the falling bodies of the mercenaries.

"Kill her! KILL HER!" Eleanor shrieked behind us, her pristine voice breaking into a hideous screech.

Gunfire exploded through the enclosed space of the vault, deafening and terrifying. Bullets ricocheted off the heavy steel walls, sending white sparks and deadly shrapnel raining down around us.

Marcus stood like a human wall in the narrow doorway, firing his sidearm until the slide locked back empty. A heavy round caught Marcus in the upper thigh, dropping him to one knee, but he gritted his teeth and shoved a heavy steel vault cart into the path of the remaining operatives, delaying their pursuit.

"Get out of here, Amelia!" Marcus spat out blood, pulling a secondary grenade from his vest. "I'll pull the pin on this entire room!"

"Marcus, no!" I screamed, turning back.

"PROTECT THE BOY!" Marcus yelled, his eyes holding mine with absolute, unyielding clarity.

He pulled the ring on the grenade and threw his body against the heavy vault door controls, releasing the manual hydraulic emergency lever.

The massive twenty-ton steel vault door began to swing shut with terrifying speed, sealing Marcus inside with my mother, Elias, and the remaining mercenaries.

Through the narrowing gap of the steel door, I saw Marcus look at me one last time, a grim, heroic smile on his bloodied face as he dropped the pinless grenade right at Eleanor’s feet.

"MARCUS!" I screamed.

BOOM.

The muffled explosion detonated inside the sealed vault, vibrating through the thick marble floors. The heavy steel door slammed completely shut with a deafening, final metallic thud, locking the nightmare away in the dark forever.

Smoke began to pour through the ventilation grates above. Silence fell over the grand, empty lobby of the bank.

I stood on the marble stairs, holding a weeping Caleb against my chest, my body shaking violently from shock, exhaustion, and blood loss. My hands were stained with dirt and blood, clutching my father's leather notebook to my ribs.

They were gone. Marcus. Eleanor. Elias. The entire dark heritage of the Vance and Mercer families lay buried twenty feet beneath the earth in a vault of steel and sins.

"Amelia?" Caleb’s small, quiet voice broke through the deafening ringing in my ears. "Is it over?"

I looked down at the boy, my eyes burning with tears. "I... I think so, Caleb. I think so."

"It's never over in this business, Miss Vance," a familiar, deep voice rasped from the shadows near the front bronze doors of the bank.

My heart plummeted. I reached instinctively for the weapon at my belt, but my hands were so weak I could barely unholster it.

Out of the rainy shadows of the foyer stepped a tall man, leaning heavily against a marble pillar. He was wearing an oversized black trench coat, his side soaked in dark, dried blood, his face covered in bruises and soot.

Dominic.

I dropped my weapon, my knees buckling beneath me as tears spilled uncontrolled down my face. "Dominic..."

Dominic stumbled forward, his legs barely holding his massive frame, but his dark eyes were bright, filled with a fierce, unbelievable life. He reached out his arms just as I ran across the marble floor with Caleb.

We collapsed into each other near the center fountain, Dominic dropping to his knees, wrapping his long, powerful arms around both Caleb and me, pulling us tight against his broad chest.

Caleb sobbed hysterically into his father's neck. "Daddy! You came back! You came back!"

"I promised you, buddy," Dominic choked out, his voice raw and raspy, his head buried in Caleb’s soft hair. "I promised I'd never leave you."

Dominic looked up, his dark eyes meeting mine. He reached out a hand, his thumb gently catching the tears falling down my cheek. His grip was warm, strong, and real.

"How did you survive?" I whispered, my voice breaking. "The boat... the mercenaries..."

"Coast Guard cutter... intercepted us right after you jumped," Dominic explained, a faint, exhaustion-filled smile touching his bruised lips. "Marcus... called them in before we hit the mudflats. They pulled me out of the water."

He looked around the empty, silent lobby, his eyes settling on the heavy, sealed vault doors down the staircase. "Where are Marcus and your family?"

My breath hitched in my throat. I lowered my head, the pain of loss washing over me like a wave. "Marcus saved us. He... sealed the vault from the inside. Elias... Eleanor... they're all gone, Dominic. The drive is destroyed."

Dominic was silent for a long moment. He closed his eyes, a heavy, profound grief settling over his sharp features as he processed the sacrifice of his most loyal friend.

"He fought like a Mercer," Dominic whispered softly, his hand squeezing mine gently. "He died protecting his family."

"What do we do now?" I asked, looking down at the leather notebook in my lap. "The Sovereign... they still have agents out there. Your estate is gone. Your business is compromised."

Dominic stood up slowly, bringing Caleb up into his arms, resting his son against his hip. He held out his hand to me, helping me stand up off the cold floor.

"Blackthorne House was just brick and mortar, Amelia," Dominic said, his dark eyes locked onto mine with an absolute, unwavering certainty that sent a deep warmth through my cold, exhausted body. "Mercer Global was just numbers on a screen. None of it mattered."