Chapter 10 - Wings to ZurichThe private Gulfstream G650 sliced through the stratosphere at 41,000 feet, leaving a thin, feathery contrail against the velvet-black canvas of the night sky.
Below us, the Atlantic Ocean stretched out like an endless sheet of dark obsidian.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was a million miles away from the blood and gunfire of Chicago.
Mateo, Leo, Lucas, and Noah were fast asleep across the plush white leather divan, curled up beneath cashmere blankets, their breathing soft and even. Elena sat across from them, reading a leather-bound book, sipping chamomile tea with a quiet, satisfied smile resting on her lips.
I sat at the mahogany desk in the aft cabin, my laptop open, reviewing the satellite schematics of the Aegis Genentech medical facility in Zurich.
My phone buzzed against the desk.
An encrypted text from my European asset handler: Target facility secured by our local extraction team. Perimeter cameras disabled. The guard shift changes at 0400 local time.
I typed a single word back: Proceed.
A shadow fell over my desk. I looked up.
Elena stood there, holding a fresh cup of black coffee. She set it down gently beside my laptop, her eyes warm and understanding.
“You’re really going to bring her back, aren't you?” she asked softly.
I looked back down at the schematic, tracing the perimeter wall with my index finger.
“She made mistakes,” I said, my voice steady. “She lied to me, she hid my children, and she ran away. But she did it to keep them breathing in a world where I was surrounded by wolves.”
I looked across the cabin toward the four sleeping boys, whose chests rose and fell in perfect synchronization—my blood, my future, my legacy restored.
May you like
“When we land in Zurich,” I continued, a slow, determined smile touching the corners of my mouth, “we’re going to collect their mother. And then, we’re going to teach Marcus Vance what happens when you try to steal a Moretti’s family.”
The jet banked smoothly toward the east, chasing the sunrise across the Atlantic, carrying a resurrected king and his children toward a reckoning the world would never forget.
