Chapter 2 - THE SISTER'S SHIELD
The headlights of Nora’s SUV cut through the dark like twin sabers.
She didn't even wait for the car to fully stop before jumping out.
She ran toward me,
her face a mask of fury and concern.
“Get in the car,
Lena,”
she commanded,
not leaving any room for argument.
She took Ava from my arms with a practiced gentleness,
shielding her from the downpour.
I climbed into the passenger seat,
my muscles finally giving out.
The heater was blasting,
but I couldn't stop shaking.
Nora climbed back in,
staring at the guard through the windshield.
“I should run him over,”
she muttered.
“He’s just a pawn,
Nora,”
I said,
leaning my head against the cool glass.
“Grant is the king who thinks he’s safe behind his walls.”
Nora put the car in reverse,
the tires spitting gravel as we sped away from the gates.
“I told you he was a snake,
Lena.”
“I told you the day you met him at that charity auction.”
“I know,”
I whispered.
“But I wanted to believe in the fairy tale.”
“I wanted Ava to have a father.”
Nora glanced at the sleeping baby in the back seat.
“She has a mother,”
she said firmly.
“A mother who owns half the city.”
“She’ll be fine.”
We drove in silence for a few miles,
the city lights of Chicago flickering in the distance.
Nora’s house was a fortress in its own right,
a penthouse overlooking the lake.
As soon as we walked inside,
she handed me a warm robe and a glass of water.
“Rachel is on her way over,”
Nora said.
“She’s bringing the physical files.”
I sat on the velvet sofa,
watching the rain streak against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Grant.
“I hope you’re comfortable,
Clara.”
“The house feels so much better without your constant rules.”
“Don’t bother coming back.”
“The locks stay changed.”
I stared at the screen.
He had used my middle name,
Clara.
He only did that when he was trying to assert dominance.
I didn't reply.
There was no point in talking to a man who was already dead in the eyes of the law.
I looked at my hand,
where my wedding ring used to be.
I had left it on the nightstand in the hospital.
I had known even then that the marriage was a hollow shell.
Rachel arrived twenty minutes later,
sopping wet and carrying a heavy briefcase.
She didn't offer any platitudes.
She just opened her laptop and placed a map on the coffee table.
“Grant’s specialist failed,”
she said,
a hint of a smile on her face.
“The vault didn't open.”
“Instead,”
“the Level Five lockdown activated the soundproof shutters.”
“He can’t get out,
Lena.”
“And the cell signal inside that house is now completely jammed.”
I took a sip of the water,
feeling the coldness settle in my chest.
“He’s trapped?”
“Trapped,”
Rachel confirmed.
“With enough oxygen for forty-eight hours.”
“And only the water in the taps.”
I looked at the map.
The hidden blueprints my mother had left behind weren't for a treasure.
They were for a panic room that encompassed the entire basement.
My mother was a woman who knew that wealth brought enemies.
She had prepared me for this day without ever saying a word.
“Now,”
I said,
May you like
my voice steady,
“let’s talk about his mother in Miami.”
