The Carter estate was a fortress, its stone walls rising high against the storm. But even fortresses had cracks and Fowler Reddington had always known where to strike.Rain soaked his torn shirt and streaked through the blood on his face, but he pressed forward, rifle steady, eyes locked on the mansion glowing against the night.Raven moved beside him, silent and precise, her pistol raised, her body language coiled with lethal intent. Behind them, Marcus Hale limped heavily, every step drenched in pain, yet his presence was immovable.Lightning seared across the sky, illuminating the rows of guards fanning out on the estate grounds. Their rifles glinted as they took aim, orders barked above the storm.Fowler didn’t slow. The first burst of gunfire tore through the rain. Bullets screamed past, striking mud and stone.Fowler dove forward, rolling into cover behind a low stone wall as Raven returned fire, her shots snapping through the dark with terrifying precision. Two guards dropped b

The gunfire erupted like a second storm. Fowler’s instincts snapped into command before thought caught up.He shoved Selene down behind the desk, throwing his body over hers as bullets tore into the study, splintering wood and cracking marble.The storm outside howled through shattered windows, wind fanning the acrid smoke of burning powder. “Raven!” Fowler barked.Already moving, she slid behind a toppled chair, returning fire with ruthless precision. Two black clad assailants dropped, their bodies jerking violently before they hit the floor.But more poured in through the blasted door, disciplined, coordinated, their firepower cutting through the Carter estate guards as though they were paper.Damon scrambled to cover, blood streaming from his mouth, his rage undiminished. “They’re not mine!” he spat, his words swallowed by the chaos.“Then whose are they?” Fowler’s roar was almost lost under the thunder of rifles. No answer came.Selene’s breath came in panicked gasps beneath him,

Selene Carter had never known fear like this. Not when she signed the divorce papers. Not even when she had walked through prison walls to sever herself from the man she thought had ruined her life.No fear was now, bound hand and foot, shoved into the back of an armored SUV that smelled of oil and iron, surrounded by men who didn’t speak, didn’t breathe like ordinary men, didn’t even flinch when lightning split the sky.Their visors glowed faint green, casting monstrous shadows in the cramped space. She tried to read their faces through the tinted lenses, but there was nothing human there. Only reflection. Only void.Every bump in the road jarred her bones. Her wrists throbbed raw where the cuffs bit too deep, her throat sore from screaming into the storm.No one had answered her cries. No one but the memory of Fowler’s roar as the doors slammed shut. Fowler.Her chest tightened. She had seen him bloody, broken, yet alive. Her husband. Her ex-husband. Her protector, her betrayer, the

The cold steel kissed her temple. Selene’s breath hitched, the muzzle pressed so hard she could feel her pulse throb against the barrel.Rain streamed down her face, mingling with blood, hair plastered to her skin. Around them, the forest burned, flames hissing against the storm.The SUV lay on its side, fire crackling from the wreck. Smoke and gunfire painted the night in chaos. But all she could see were those eyes.The squad leader’s visor had cracked in the explosion, revealing the man beneath sharp lines of a face she almost recognized, eyes like obsidian, unyielding, merciless. A Carter face. Her blood.“No,” she whispered, horror twisting her gut. “You can’t be”“Silence.” His voice rumbled like thunder. The barrel dug deeper into her temple. “Orders stand. Package compromised. Neutralization authorized.”Her hands shook, fingers bloodied from breaking the cuff, the golden pin slick with her own blood. Freedom had been close, so close. Now it dangled on the edge of a trigger pu

The world froze. Selene’s lips parted, the word tasting like ashes. “Father…”It couldn’t be. Her father had been buried years ago, beneath marble and tears, the coffin lowered with military precision and a thousand salutes.She had stood there, black veil drawn, mourning a man whose secrets had shadowed every corner of her childhood.And yet, here he was.Victor Carter stepped into the storm as if it parted for him, rain sliding off his coat, firelight etching his features into stone. Older, yes.Lines carved deeper into his face. But his eyes, those ruthless Carter eyes burned with the same cold brilliance she remembered from her youth.The shadows obeyed instantly, rifles lowering, movements sharp as blades. Soldiers who had just been merciless executioners now stood at rigid attention, waiting like hounds for their master’s hand.Selene’s knees threatened to give. Her voice cracked. “You’re… you’re dead.”Victor’s gaze slid to her, unwavering, calculating. “I was.” His voice was a