Chapter 11: Face to Face
Marcus slowly stood up from behind the kitchen island, his gun raised, his breathing shallow and ragged.
The cabin was silent. The remaining mercenaries were either dead or waiting in the shadows. He backed away from the breached front door, positioning himself squarely in front of the cast-iron stove where Lily was hidden.
He checked his magazine. Five bullets left.
"Marcus..."
The voice drifted through the darkness of the cabin, echoing off the wooden walls. It was soft, sweet, and dripping with a venomous familiarity that made Marcus's stomach violently turn.
"Cassandra," Marcus growled, scanning the shadows.
She stepped out from the hallway leading to the back bedrooms. She looked like a ghost—pale, disheveled, covered in dirt, holding a heavy silver revolver with shaking hands.
"You always were paranoid about security," Cassandra said, stepping cautiously into the dim ambient light of the laptop screens. "But you forgot that I lived with you. I saw the tax blueprints for this place. You have a secondary basement hatch by the woodpile."
Marcus kept his gun trained on her chest. "You killed Elena."
Cassandra laughed—a dry, humorless sound that lacked any of the charm she once possessed. "Elena was a thief. She stole from very bad people, Marcus. I was just doing a job. It was nothing personal."
"Nothing personal?" Marcus's voice trembled with absolute, blinding fury. "You poisoned my life. You tortured my daughter. You made her eat from a dog bowl while you smiled in my face."
"She was a brat!" Cassandra screamed, her finger tightening on the trigger. "She was a constant reminder that you still loved a dead woman! I gave you everything! I played the perfect fiancé, I smiled for your stupid charity boards, and you were going to throw me in prison!"
"You belong in hell," Marcus spat.
"Where is the drive, Marcus?" Cassandra demanded, taking a step closer, her eyes darting frantically around the room. "Give me the ledger. Viktor will let me live if I bring it to him. Give it to me, and maybe I'll make your death quick."
"I don't have it," Marcus lied, his heart pounding. "It's gone."
"Don't lie to me!" she shrieked, aiming the revolver directly at his head. "I know you have it!"
Marcus didn't flinch. He lowered his gun slightly, a cold, grim smile spreading across his face.
"You're right. I have it," Marcus said smoothly. He reached back with his left hand, tapping the spacebar on his laptop. The screen flashed bright red, illuminating the dark cabin with an eerie, blood-like glow.
"What is that?" Cassandra asked, her voice faltering.
"It's a dead man's switch," Marcus explained, locking eyes with the monster who ruined his family. "If my heart rate drops, or if I don't enter the bypass code in the next ten seconds, the entire Petrov Syndicate ledger gets mass-emailed to the FBI, the CIA, and the media. If you shoot me, Cassandra, Viktor's entire empire falls."
Cassandra froze, the color draining completely from her face. She looked at the red flashing screen, then back to Marcus.
"You're bluffing," she whispered.
"Ten seconds," Marcus said coldly. "Nine. Eight."
"Stop it!" Cassandra yelled, her hands shaking violently.
"Seven. Six."
"I'll kill you!"
"Five. Four." Marcus raised his gun back up, aiming directly between her eyes. "If I die, Viktor loses everything. And who do you think he's going to blame, Cassandra?"
"Three. Two."
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Cassandra let out a blood-curdling scream of frustration and terror. She didn't shoot Marcus. Instead, she spun around, aiming her revolver directly at the heavy cast-iron stove.
"If I can't kill you," Cassandra hissed, "I'll take what you love."
