Chapter 27 - Face to Face with the Serpent
"Julian," I said softly, stepping forward into the stateroom, raising both hands empty to my chest. "Look at me. Look at what you've become."
The cabin rocked violently as a massive wave slammed against the hull. The overhead lights flickered, casting grotesque shadows across Julian's manic expression. His pupils were dilated to the edges of his irises, his jaw twitching uncontrollably from the drugs coursing through his system.
"You took everything from me!" Julian screamed, saliva flying from his lips. "My inheritance! My status! My respect! I built Vance Holdings just as much as you did! You had a baby, and suddenly I was invisible! You expected me to sit in a hospital room smelling of bleach while my life slipped away?!"
"You didn't build a single brick of this family, Julian," I said, my voice steady, cool, and cutting like a scalpel. "You were a parasite who fed on my father's kindness and my loyalty. When our son was struggling to breathe thirty-one hours after being brought into this world, you were sipping margaritas on a yacht in Saint Martin with that pathetic woman."
Victoria whimpered in the corner, pressing herself deeper against the bulkhead. "Julian... she has private soldiers outside... Kane left us... please just give her the baby!"
"Shut up, Victoria!" Julian roared, briefly glancing back at her with unbridled fury. "You said your father would protect us! You said the private jet was fueled! Now Kane takes off and you want me to surrender?!"
That split-second distraction was all I needed.
I took two silent, lightning-fast strides across the soaked carpet, closing the distance between us.
"Julian," I whispered, capturing his bloodshot eyes again. "Noah is sick. He has a fever. Can't you feel his skin burning through that blanket?"
Julian looked down at the tiny bundle in his arm. Noah whimpered, a fragile, pitiful sound that broke my heart into a thousand jagged pieces.
"He's my leverage," Julian muttered, though his hand began to tremble violently. "He's the only thing keeping your snipers from blowing my head off."
"He's not leverage, Julian," I said, tears finally spilling over my eyelashes, mingling with the rain on my cheeks. "He's your son. The only innocent thing you ever touched in your miserable life."
For a fleeting second, a flicker of human grief flashed behind Julian's psychotic eyes. The revolver wavered, dropping an inch away from Noah's head.
May you like
And in that fraction of a second, the lioness inside me struck.
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