Chapter 20 - The Final Reckoning
Nathan scrambled backward in absolute terror, his back hitting the stone fireplace.
He pulled a small Derringer pistol from his boot, aiming its trembling barrel directly at my chest.
"Stay back!" Nathan shrieked, his voice cracking hysterically.
"Stay back, you bitch!"
"I am a Vance!"
"You ruined my life! You took my company! You destroyed my family!"
I didn't stop walking.
I stepped right into the red laser beam of my team's rifles, stopping five feet in front of him.
I looked down at the man who had once ordered two hundred strikes against my back.
He was shaking like a leaf in the wind, sweating, weeping, and completely broken.
"You weren't a Vance, Nathan," I said softly, my voice cutting through the damp silence like a diamond blade.
"You were just another pawn they used."
"Victor Vance didn't rescue you from prison because he loved you."
"He used your remaining offshore codes to fund his own defense team in Zurich before discarding you on this rock."
Nathan's eyes widened in sheer, agonizing realization.
"No... no!" he whimpered, looking down at his trembling hand holding the gun.
"He promised me... he said we were going to take back the empire!"
"The empire is gone, Nathan," I said, stepping forward and reaching out my gloved hand.
"Give me the gun."
Nathan looked at the small silver barrel, then looked up into my eyes.
He saw no hatred.
He saw no anger.
He saw only the absolute, undeniable power of a woman who had outgrown his nightmare forever.
His fingers loosened.
The small pistol dropped from his hand, clattering uselessly against the stone hearth.
Nathan collapsed onto his knees, burying his face in his hands, weeping like a pathetic child in the dark.
My father stepped beside me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder as two officers moved in to secure Nathan in heavy steel transport restraints.
May you like
"Take him to the federal isolation unit in Florence, Colorado," my father ordered calmly.
"Permanent solitary confinement."
