Chapter 4 - The Fortress in the Snow
Three days later, we arrived at the Vance Estate.
Located deep in the snowy pine forests of upstate New York, the estate was less of a house and more of a modern medieval castle. High stone walls, thermal security cameras, and heavily armed guards patrolling the gates made it clear that this was Elias’s true stronghold.
For the first time in my life, I had a room bigger than the entire apartment I used to share with Marcus. The nursery attached to my bedroom was filled with hand-carved cribs, soft wool rugs, and organic clothes. A team of private nurses and doctors, vetted personally by Elias, checked on Lily and Rose every morning. They were gaining weight, their cheeks turning a healthy pink.
Yet, despite the luxury, I couldn't relax.
Every night, Elias would return to the estate late, smelling of cigar smoke, gunpowder, and rain. The war between the Vance syndicate and the Marcone family was escalating rapidly. Marcone had launched attacks on Elias’s shipping docks, while Elias had systematically gutted Marcone’s illegal gambling rings.
One night, unable to sleep, I walked down the grand mahogany staircase in my silk robe. I found Elias sitting in his dimly lit study, staring at a massive tactical map laid out on a heavy oak desk. A glass of scotch sat untouched beside a pile of financial ledgers.
"You should be resting," I said quietly, stepping into the room.
Elias glanced up, his tired eyes softening as he saw me. He leaned back in his leather chair and gestured for me to enter. "The babies sleeping?"
"Like angels," I smiled, walking over to stand beside his desk. I looked down at the map, which was covered in red and blue markers indicating territories, warehouses, and strike zones. "You're losing ground in the East Harbor."
Elias raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed. "You understand shipping logistics?"
"My father was a dock worker before he passed," I explained, leaning over the map. "Marcus used to brag about how Marcone smuggled contraband. He always used the southern slipways because the customs inspectors there were on his payroll. If you cut off his access to the southern slips, his supply lines will choke in forty-eight hours."
Elias looked at me, a fascinating mixture of surprise and admiration playing on his face. "Marcus didn't realize what kind of asset he had in you, did he?"
"Marcus only looked at women as things to be owned or beaten," I said, a faint bitterness in my voice. "He never thought to listen."
Elias stood up, walking around the desk until he was standing right in front of me. The tension in the room shifted, turning warm and heavy. He reached out, his thumb gently tracing the healing bruise on my jawline.
"He was an idiot," Elias said softly, his voice thick with unsaid emotions. "A blind, pathetic idiot."
My heart did a strange, fluttery flip in my chest. For days, I had tried to ignore the growing attraction I felt toward this dangerous man. He was a criminal boss, a man of violence, yet toward me and my daughters, he had shown nothing but gentleness, respect, and terrifying loyalty.
"Elias..." I whispered, my eyes falling to his lips.
"Ava," he replied, his thumb brushing over my lower lip. "You don't have to owe me anything. I don't expect—"
"I don't do this out of obligation," I cut him off, reaching up to lay my hand over his chest, feeling the steady, powerful thud of his heart. "I’ve spent my whole life being saved or abused by men. With you... I feel like I'm finally breathing."
Elias’s eyes darkened with raw desire. He cupped the back of my neck, pulling me gently toward him, but before our lips could meet, a sharp knock on the study door broke the spell.
Viktor stepped in, looking grim. "Boss. We have a problem. Marcone just put out a hit contract on the street. Fifty million dollars for Ava’s head—dead or alive. And he’s hired the Blackmask Syndicate to fetch her."
Elias froze, the romantic warmth instantly evaporating, replaced by the deadly aura of the Vance syndicate ruler.
"Blackmask," Elias repeated cold tone. "They don't care about territory. They're mercenaries."
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"They've already crossed into the state," Viktor added. "And Marcus is guiding them. He knows the secret supply roads to this estate from his old smuggling days."
Elias turned back to me, his eyes blazing. "It seems your ex-husband is determined to die by my hand."
