Chapter 2

David's last word had barely faded when the back of the hall exploded into chaos. Dozens of fully armed Petro Crime Family hitmen surged forward like a wave, their guns blazing.

A storm of bullets tore through the room. The wine cabinet shattered. The crystal chandelier burst apart, raining glass down like hail.

Leo didn't move an inch. A cold, bloodthirsty gleam crossed his eyes.

When enemies come rushing at you, diving for cover is the worst thing you can do. Every real fighter knows the truth — the best defense is total destruction.

"You're all dead!"

Leo's roar cut through the noise as he switched his M4A1 to full auto and swept it across the room in a wide arc, orange flames pouring from the barrel.

The hitmen never even saw him move. They dropped like wheat cut by a scythe. Leo charged forward, boots hitting bodies still twitching on the ground, each step splashing blood.

"He's on the left flank! Surround him!"

A cruel smile tugged at Leo's mouth. His left hand shot to his tactical vest, pulled a flashbang, yanked the pin, and hurled it straight into the thickest cluster of men.

A blinding white flash swallowed everything. The deafening blast knocked several hitmen on the left side off their feet. They crumpled to the ground, clutching their bleeding ears.

Leo seized the moment. He closed the gap on one stunned hitman and drove the rifle stock hard into his throat, crushing it. Then a brutal side kick sent another man flying ten feet across the room.

This wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter.

In under five minutes, more than half of the Petro Crime Family's elite killers were dead on the floor.

The survivors fell apart. Staring at this blood-soaked figure who looked like something dragged up from hell, their legs shook uncontrollably. Every last shred of will to fight was gone.

The savage grin on David's face froze solid. What replaced it was a fear that reached all the way to his bones.

He grabbed Isabella by the hair and yanked her in front of him as a shield. His other hand trembled as he pointed toward an iron cage being dragged out by his men. Inside, four-year-old Emily was curled into a ball, her tiny body shaking.

"Stay back, Leo!" David screamed, his voice cracking. "One more step and I blow the explosives under that cage!"

Leo stopped.

"David, you think you're still in a position to make demands?" Leo kept his voice low, pressing down the fury building inside him. It came out like a rumble of thunder.

"Damn right I do! I've got the detonator!" David waved a black remote wildly. "Drop your weapons now! Or I take everyone down with me! Nobody walks out of here alive!"

Leo drew a slow breath, his eyes fixed on the cage like a hawk.

As Delta Force's top demolitions expert, he spotted the flaws in the so-called "explosives" in an instant. Those were cheap prop TNT blocks. The detonator was a fake too. David was too much of a coward to actually take anyone down with him. This was all bluster.

"You played the wrong hand."

Before the words finished leaving his mouth, Leo's combat knife flashed.

The blade sliced through the cage rope in the same instant Leo launched himself toward the stage. He was going to tear apart the man who dared to touch Isabella and Emily with his own hands.

"No! You're finished, Leo! I'm dragging you straight to hell!" David slammed his thumb down on the remote in desperation.

A gunshot cracked through the air.

David's wrist exploded in a spray of blood. The remote spun away across the floor.

Leo hit him like a thunderbolt, driving a kick straight into his chest. Ribs snapped with a sharp crack. David's massive body slammed into the wall and slid down it, blood pouring from the corner of his mouth. Not a trace was left of the mob boss who had ruled with such arrogance.

Leo didn't spare him another glance. He went straight to the cage and tore the cut door open with his bare hands.

"Daddy..."

Emily opened her swollen, tear-reddened eyes. She took one look at the blood-covered man in front of her and threw herself into his arms.

"Emily, I'm sorry I took so long."

Leo held her tight. One hand gripped his weapon, scanning for threats. The other rubbed slow circles on her back. The man who had just cut through an entire room of killers felt his eyes go hot.

"Leo! Behind you!"

Isabella's terrified scream came from across the room.

Somehow David had dragged himself back to his feet. He had a pistol raised, barrel pointed straight at the back of Leo's head.

"All of you can go to hell! I'll kill every last one of you!"

Leo didn't turn around. He swung the M4A1 back one-handed and pulled the trigger without looking.

He was Delta Force's finest. There was no way a move like that was ever going to land on him. His reflexes — pushed beyond what any normal person could reach — were the most lethal thing about him.

One shot. Clean headshot.

David's body went rigid. His eyes went blank. He fell straight back and hit the floor.

Silence crashed down over the entire hall.

Leo gave Emily one last gentle pat, then stood. He looked down at David's body without any expression and walked over.

"Leo!"

"Daddy!"

With his wife and daughter calling his name, Leo moved quickly through the room and stripped everything of value off David's body. Old habit from the job.

Then his hand caught on something unexpected — a chain around David's neck, alongside an iron box.

He yanked it off.

It was a strange piece. A round silver pendant engraved with a coiled serpent, its eyes two dark red gemstones. On the back, a small number had been etched into the metal: D-001.

Leo went still.

He had seen this exact piece before — on a classified mission in Colombia not long ago. Laurence had told him it was a pass token for some shadowy organization. So why did David, a Long Island mob boss, have a symbol belonging to a South American secret outfit?

This was not a coincidence.

Leo closed his fist around the pendant.

The South America mission. Isabella's kidnapping. Emily taken. On the surface it all looked like David getting payback — revenge for Leo destroying his drug operation in Mexico two years ago. But this pendant said otherwise. There was another hand behind all of it, one that had never shown itself.

David might have only ever been a blade in that hand. A pawn. Nothing more.

A harsh wail of sirens cut through his thoughts from outside.

"Leo, the police are here! We have to go!" Isabella ran over with Emily and grabbed his arm.

In the distance, a dozen squad cars were screaming toward the hall. Leo could already hear the thud of a SWAT helicopter somewhere above.

He tucked the pendant into his pocket, pulled Isabella close, lifted Emily into his other arm, and held them both against him.

"Let's move."

Leo swept a cold look around the perimeter of the hall. Police everywhere. But he knew the real enemy was still out there, hiding somewhere much deeper in the dark.

This war had only just begun.