Chapter 10 - MONSTERS AND MIRRORS
The quiet inside the warehouse was deafening.
Rain hammered against the corrugated tin roof, sounding like a million tiny drumbeats.
Sofia stared at the glowing monitor, her chest heaving as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"My niece..." Elena repeated softly, walking up behind the trembling girl.
"Arthur Sterling didn't adopt you out of love."
"He raised you as an insurance policy against my brother."
"He kept you close so Marcus would never cross him."
"And tonight, when he tried to burn you in that vault, he wasn't just killing an annoying daughter."
"He was wiping out Marcus's remaining bloodline so he could keep the entire Syndicate for himself."
Sofia dropped to the cold concrete floor, covering her ears with both hands.
"Stop it! Just stop talking!" she shrieked, breaking into violent sobs.
"My whole life is a lie!"
"My clothes, my money, my family... none of it is real!"
Elena knelt beside her, pulling Sofia’s hands away from her ears with firm, unyielding strength.
"Look at me, Sofia!" Elena barked.
Sofia looked up into Elena’s icy green eyes.
"It doesn't matter who your father was," Elena said, her voice dropping into a intense, low growl.
"It doesn't matter what dress you were wearing when you walked into that diner."
"What matters is what you do right now."
"You can sit here on this floor and cry about being a victim."
"Or you can stand up, grab a gun, and help me take back everything they stole from us."
Sofia stared at Elena, her wet, bloodshot eyes gradually shifting from sheer terror to a burning, dark rage.
The entitlement and arrogance she had possessed in the ballroom were gone.
Replaced by the cold, desperate fury of a trapped animal.
"What do we do?" Sofia asked, her voice suddenly steady and stripped of tears.
Elena smiled.
A true, terrifying smile that showed every teeth.
"First, we change your clothes," Elena said, standing up and walking toward the weapon racks.
"Then, we go to the board meeting."
She pulled down a tactical black suit, matching body armor, and two lightweight handguns.
She tossed them at Sofia’s feet.
"Arthur and Marcus are holding the emergency vote in two hours at the Grand Continental Hotel."
"They are going to declare us both dead and vote to divide the Syndicate's assets."
"We are going to crash that party."
Sofia picked up the tactical suit from the floor.
She looked at her reflection in a dark monitor screen.
Her long blonde hair was matted with mud.
Her face was smeared with soot and blood.
She ripped off the remaining rags of her expensive royal blue dress.
She threw the torn silk into the garbage bin without a single second of hesitation.
"Teach me how to shoot," Sofia said coldly.
Elena picked up a sleek black 9mm pistol from the rack, racked the slide, and handed it to her niece.
May you like
"Rule number one," Elena said, pointing toward the target range at the back of the warehouse.
"Don't miss."
