Chapter 2 - The Sanctuary
Within twenty minutes, the Maybach swept through the iron security gates of a heavily fortified estate in the northern suburbs. The vehicle descended directly into a subterranean private garage.
Silas carried Chloe out of the car and through a private elevator that led straight to his penthouse medical suite. A discreet, middle-aged physician named Dr. Vance was already waiting with an open trauma kit, having been summoned by an encrypted emergency ping during the drive.
“Severe fracture of the radius and ulna, Boss,” Dr. Vance assessed swiftly, gently cutting away the wet sleeve of Chloe’s jacket to inspect the swelling deformity of her arm. “We need to set it immediately, and she’s showing signs of severe hypothermia and shock.”
Chloe let out a low moan as the doctor touched her arm, her eyes fluttering open in a panic. “No... please, don't...”
“Chloe, look at me,” Silas ordered, sitting on the edge of the medical cot and taking her uninjured hand in his. His grip was firm, grounding, and absolute. “You are safe. No one is ever going to touch you again. Look at me.”
She locked her watery gaze onto his dark, piercing eyes. The panic in her chest slowly began to recede, anchored by the sheer force of his presence.
“I’m right here,” Silas said quietly. “Dr. Vance is going to set the bone. It’s going to hurt, but I’m not letting go.”
As the doctor manipulated her arm with clinical precision, a sharp cry tore from Chloe’s throat, and she squeezed Silas’s hand with supernatural strength. Silas didn't flinch. He absorbed every ounce of her pain, his gaze never leaving her face until the bone clicked back into alignment and the splint was locked securely into place.
Exhausted by the pain and trauma, Chloe’s eyes drifted shut, and she slipped into a deep, medicated sleep.
Silas stood up slowly, releasing her hand. He pulled a black silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped a smudge of mud and blood from his thumb.
“Keep her stable,” Silas instructed Dr. Vance without turning around.
“She’ll need rest, fluids, and a few weeks of strict immobilization,” the doctor replied. “And boss? Those old bruises on her ribs and wrists... this wasn't an isolated incident.”
Silas’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. He walked out of the medical suite and down the corridor to the security monitoring room, where Bruno was waiting.
May you like
“We found him, Boss,” Bruno said, pointing to a live camera feed on the wall.
In the center of the syndicate’s subterranean holding room, Derek was tied to a metal chair, shivering in a puddle of rainwater and sheer terror as two enforcers stood guard.
