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BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 78: A STORM BREWING
Carrick stepped out of the grand hall, his breathing heavy, his side aching where Domino’s bullet had grazed him. The hallway was eerily silent, the scent of blood thick in the air. Bodies of Zachary’s men were strewn across the floor, testaments to the war that had just unfolded inside.Victor’s voice crackled in his earpiece again. “Carrick, are you clear?”Carrick wiped the blood off his lip with the back of his hand. “Yeah. Where is she?”“Safehouse. Northside. She’s shaken up, but she’s okay.”A weight lifted off his shoulders. He had worried that Zachary would use his mother as leverage. They had taken everything from him, but they wouldn’t take her.Not again.“Stay there,” he ordered. “I’ll be there soon.”Before Victor could respond, a new voice interrupted..Erebus.[You have completed the Family Reckoning Quest.][Rewards: 10,000 System Points, Increased Physical Endurance, Tactical Precision Upgrade.]Carrick barely reacted. The system had been his greatest asset, but now?
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 79. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
The road stretched endlessly before them, bathed in the eerie glow of streetlights. Inside the SUV, the silence was thick, broken only by the occasional hum of the tires against the asphalt. Carrick sat in the passenger seat, his fingers tapping against his thigh as he turned the flash drive over in his hand. The weight of it felt heavier than it should have.Victor stole a glance at him. “Are you going to tell me what’s on that thing, or are we just going to pretend like it doesn’t exist?”Carrick didn’t look away from the drive. “I don’t know what’s on it yet.”Victor scoffed. “Then why the hell did you take it?”“Because Zachary doesn’t play empty hands,” Carrick muttered. “If he went through the trouble of handing this over instead of dying with it, it means something.”Victor clenched his jaw. “You had him, Carrick. You could’ve ended him.”Carrick’s fingers stopped moving. “And what if this changes everything?”Victor exhaled sharply, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Or it
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 80. UNRAVELING THE TRUTH
The drive back to the Zenith Family estate was quiet, but not because there was nothing to say...because there was too much. Carrick sat in the back seat, flipping the flash drive between his fingers, his thoughts racing.Victor, sitting beside him, finally spoke. "We should check that thing somewhere safe. If Zachary gave it up so easily, there's no telling what’s on it."Carrick didn't take his eyes off the drive. "It might be the last piece of the puzzle."Victor scoffed. "Or another trap.""I'll take that risk."Victor sighed but didn't argue. Instead, he turned to the driver. "Get us to the safehouse. No stops."The driver nodded, and the car sped through the city streets.Carrick closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think past the chaos in his head. Domino’s words still echoed."Zachary isn’t the only one with insurance."What did that mean? Was there another hidden threat waiting for the right moment to strike?He gritted his teeth. If there was, he’d deal with it.The car p
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 81. ENVELOPED IN BETRAYAL
Carrick’s mind was a storm, but outwardly, he was ice. The flickering glow of the laptop screen did nothing to warm the cold rage seeping through his veins.Domino had been plotting against him all along.Victor was pacing now, his fists clenched. "That son of a bitch! We should take him out tonight. No waiting, no games. We strike first."Carrick exhaled sharply, closing the laptop. "We can’t act impulsively. Not yet."Victor stopped, glaring. "What the hell do you mean, ‘not yet’? The bastard's selling you out! He said it himself.”"I know," Carrick said, voice steel. "But I need to know exactly how deep his reach goes. If he’s working with someone powerful, then just killing him won’t solve the problem. It might make things worse."Victor ran a hand down his face, breathing heavily. "So what do we do?"Carrick turned to Elias. "Get every single one of my men on high alert. I don’t want anyone making a move without my direct orders. If Domino so much as breathes wrong, I want to kno
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 82. THE HUNT
Carrick stormed out of the meeting room, his mind razor-sharp with fury. The echoes of gunfire still rang in his ears. His men had subdued the traitors who fought back, but Domino...that bastard...had escaped.Victor was already barking orders into his phone as he walked alongside Carrick.“He couldn’t have gone far,” Victor muttered. “We have men stationed at every exit...he’s either hiding inside the estate or trying to break through security.”Carrick’s jaw clenched. “He’s not hiding. Domino’s too arrogant for that. He’ll be making a run for it.”Elias approached, his expression grim. “We’ve checked all the surveillance footage. He’s headed toward the garage.”Carrick’s eyes darkened. “Then he’s planning to steal a car and vanish before we can track him.”Victor cursed under his breath. “We should have killed him when we had the chance.”Carrick didn’t respond...there was no point in dwelling on what should have happened. Right now, he needed to make sure Domino didn’t escape.His
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 83. A DEVIL’S BARGAIN
Carrick’s grip tightened around the gun in his hand. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to pull the trigger and end Domino’s life.But his mind… his mind hesitated.She had suffered at the hands of the Gale family for years. If Domino had even the slightest bit of information that could change things...could reveal something Carrick didn’t already know...then killing him now would be a mistake.Victor stepped forward, his face a mask of disbelief. “Carrick, you can’t be serious.” His gun remained aimed at Domino’s head, his fingers twitching near the trigger. “We’ve chased this bastard through the city, risked our lives, and now you’re telling me we’re keeping him alive?”Carrick didn’t take his eyes off Domino, who was still sprawled on the ground, breathing hard. Blood dripped from a gash on his forehead where he had hit the pavement. And yet, despite being at gunpoint, he was smiling.That smug bastard.“I’m saying,” Carrick said coldly, “that he might have something useful.”
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 84. A GAME OF CHESS
Carrick sat in his office, staring at the empty glass in his hand. His mind buzzed with too many thoughts, each one tangled with frustration and the weight of new revelations.His mother had a hidden fortune.Zachary had been searching for it.And now, the only person who could help him find it was Domino.He exhaled sharply, tossing the glass onto the desk with a dull thud. The liquor in his throat did nothing to numb the rage simmering inside him. If anything, it only fueled it.A knock on the door snapped him from his thoughts.Victor stepped inside, followed by Elias. Both men looked serious.“He’s locked up,” Victor said. “Two guards on him at all times, just as you ordered.”Carrick nodded but didn’t respond.Victor leaned against the desk. “You still think keeping him alive is the right move?”Elias folded his arms. “He’s dangerous, Carrick. The moment he sees an opening, he’ll take it.”Carrick let out a slow breath. “I know.”Victor studied him. “Then why not just end it now?
BANG BANG BANG CHAPTER 85. THE TRUTH BENEATH THE LIES
Zachary’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. It never did. His gaze held the same cold amusement he always carried, the look of a man who knew he was in control...or at least, thought he was.Carrick didn’t move as his father took slow, measured steps down the stairs of the Gale estate. His men tensed behind him, their hands itching towards their weapons, but Carrick lifted a finger...a silent command to stand down.He wanted answers before blood.Zachary finally stopped a few feet away, his hands still clasped behind his back. He studied Carrick like he was a piece of artwork...something to be admired but never quite accepted.“You’ve changed,” Zachary mused, tilting his head. “There’s a sharpness in your eyes that wasn’t there before.”Carrick didn’t blink. “Almost dying tends to do that to a person.”Zachary chuckled. “Ah, yes. The unfortunate misunderstanding.”Carrick’s jaw clenched. “A misunderstanding? You ordered my death.”Zachary sighed dramatically. “Now, now. Let’s not dwell on
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CHAPTER 156: SALT IN THE VEIN
The rain came down in ragged sheets, slicing the dark city like a surgeon’s scalpel. Steam roiled from grates as if the underworld itself were exhaling. Inside an armored car weaving through the back alleys of East Parish, Luka Vuković sat silently between Marco and Alessia.Neither had spoken in ten minutes.Finally, Luka broke the silence. “You all talk about him like he’s a god.”“He thinks he is,” Marco muttered. “But gods bleed. I’ve seen it.”Alessia didn’t smile. “Not easily, though.”Luka’s gaze drifted to the window. “You’re hoping I’ll help you kill him.”“No,” Alessia said softly. “We’re hoping you’ll understand why he needs to die.”“And then kill him,” Marco added, blunt as stone.Luka looked down at his hands. His knuckles still bruised, his palms trembling slightly. “What if I said no?”Marco didn’t even blink. “Then you become a liability. To him and to us.”Alessia shot him a sharp glance. “What he means is...we’d find another way. But you’d never be safe again.”The
CHAPTER 155: BORROWED BLOOD
The safehouse above the old garment district was a crumbling relic—three floors of rusted stairwells, boarded windows, and the distant sound of trains howling like ghosts beneath the streets. Alessia stood at the cracked window, watching steam rise from the sewers. The city was moving again. Grinding. Shifting. Ready to break.Marco was downstairs, hunched over maps and documents. He hadn’t slept since the Continental burned.“Marco,” Alessia said, descending the stairs, “you need to rest.”He didn’t look up. “We’re too close. If we stop now, he’ll disappear.”“We’ve shaken him. Maybe even scared him.”“Not enough,” he said, voice hollow. “Carrick doesn’t feel fear like we do. He files it away, weaponizes it, then sells it back to you with interest.”She crossed the room and slapped the table, scattering blueprints. “You’re becoming him.”Marco blinked.She leaned in, voice quieter now. “I watched you torture that man at the docks. I saw your eyes when you cut Silvano’s throat. You’re
CHAPTER 154: THE DEVIL'S DEBT
The smoke from the Continental Club still hung low in the city’s lungs when the next move was set into motion.In a decrepit warehouse along the waterfront...abandoned since the union strikes of ’94...Marco stood before a long wooden table stained with oil, blood, and something darker. Alessia leaned against the far wall, arm wrapped in gauze, her eyes vacant. Silas knelt in the shadows, checking blueprints spread out on a crate beside a small black case of syringes and tools.Viktor Strain arrived without a word, stepping in from the alleyway, rain hissing off his coat like steam from a kettle.“We rattled Carrick,” Marco said, voice hoarse. “But he didn’t fall.”“He won’t,” Viktor replied. “Not unless you cut his spine, not just his skin.”Silas glanced up. “We’ll need to go deeper. Into his personal network. His past.”Marco frowned. “What past? The man was born in fire. Raised in war.”“No,” Silas said, pulling a photo from a dossier and tossing it on the table. “Everyone has root
CHAPTER 153: VEINS OF FIRE
The storm broke over the city at midnight.Rain fell like ash, heavy and constant, drumming against glass and stone as if the heavens themselves were mourning what was to come. Lightning arced across the sky, casting jagged shadows over the decaying skyline. Beneath the storm, in the blood-slick streets and alleyways, the game moved again.In the basement of an abandoned church near the Eastside slums, Marco stood beside his new ally—a man known only as Viktor Strain."You brought the girl?" Viktor asked, his voice an icy drawl, laced with a foreign accent that hinted at Eastern Europe.Marco nodded. "She'll be here soon."Viktor studied him, eyes pale as frost, skin stretched tight over sharp bones. He had the look of a man who'd seen too much death and made peace with it. On his belt hung twin pistols custom-machined for him in Prague, and every inch of his long coat seemed stitched with menace."Carrick won't go down easy," Viktor said."He shouldn't. The bastard has claws. But if
CHAPTER 152: THE BLACK LEDGER
Rain hammered the rooftop like war drums. The night was soaked in shadows, the kind that made men forget their names and remember their sins.Carrick stood inside a derelict warehouse on the waterfront, the metal walls creaking with every gust of wind. Maps and surveillance photos were pinned to rusted boards. Red lines connected hideouts, cash routes, weapons caches. They all led to one place...Lucien’s last known fortress: an underground vault hidden beneath the facade of a wine cellar in Oldtown.Logan adjusted the strap of his rifle as he studied the layout."You really think he’s there?" he asked.Carrick nodded once. "Intel came from someone inside. Anonymous, encrypted. Could be a trap."Marco strode in behind him, rainwater dripping from his trench coat. "If it’s a trap, we spring it on our terms. I’m tired of playing defense."Victor, bruised and stitched, leaned against a crate with his arms crossed. "And what happens if Delilah’s there?"Carrick's eyes darkened. "Then we fi
CHAPTER 151: TERMS OF WAR
The morning after the ambush, the city felt like a carcass picked clean by vultures. Smoke clung to the skyline, and the streets buzzed with a violence that no longer tried to hide itself. In the ruined conference room of what once was the Montrose Hotel, Carrick Gale leaned over a scarred table, maps and dossiers spread out like a battlefield. Marco arrived late, limping slightly, Victor and Silas flanking him like angry hounds. The air between the two leaders crackled. "You called for this meeting," Marco said, voice like gravel. "You better have something worth my time, Carrick." Carrick didn't look up right away. He tapped a folder at the center of the table. "Lucien," Carrick said. "And his pet ghost, Delilah Blackthorn. They're not just gunning for you anymore." Marco snorted, stepping closer. "No shit." Carrick finally met his gaze. His eyes were sharp, glacial. "They're coming for all of us." Silence stretched. Victor shifted, resting his hand on the butt of his p
CHAPTER 150 BLOOD IN THE STREETS
The first firebomb hit just after midnight.Carrick Gale stood on the balcony of the north wing of his estate, cigarette dangling from his lips, when the sky bloomed into angry red in the distance.Another explosion rumbled seconds later, closer this time.He ground the cigarette under his boot and turned on his heel, face hardening.Marco’s war had just escalated ... and it was bleeding into Carrick’s world.A knock rattled the door."Come," Carrick barked.Logan stepped in, breathless. His shirt was stained with soot and blood, his left sleeve shredded."They hit the Yarrow warehouse," Logan said. "Took out two guards. Set the whole place ablaze."Carrick’s eyes narrowed."And the DeSantis armory?"Logan hesitated."Gone," he said quietly. "Blew it sky-high twenty minutes ago. They're targeting every asset we have in the west sector."Carrick paced the room, the polished wood floors creaking under his boots."Marco’s desperation stinks like a dying dog," he muttered. "But this... th
CHAPTER 149: SMOKE AND MIRRORS
The smoke hadn’t even cleared from the ambush site when Marco slammed his fist onto the table back at the safehouse."Goddamn it!" he roared, sending a stack of blueprints flying.Victor stood nearby, a fresh gash bleeding across his brow, jaw set tight with anger.Silas limped in, clutching his side. "It was a setup," he rasped. "He knew every move we made."Marco’s face was carved from stone."He’s inside our circle," he said. "Somebody’s talking."Victor cursed low. "I’ll start running checks. Every man, every comm line.""No," Marco said, voice colder than steel. "I'll do it myself."He turned to Silas."Get patched up. You're no good to me bleeding out."Silas opened his mouth, thought better of it, and nodded, leaving the room.Only Victor stayed."You really think one of ours flipped?"Marco didn't answer right away. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, hands steady even though his gut boiled."Not just flipped," he said finally. "They sold their soul."Victor’s mouth tightene
CHAPTER 148: BLOOD IN THE SHADOWS
The first sign that something was wrong came with the silence.The war room was usually a hive ... phones ringing, men shouting, maps shifting. But tonight, there was nothing. Just an eerie, unnatural stillness.Marco paced the edge of the table, feeling the weight of it press down on his chest."Where’s Jax?" he snapped, glancing at Victor.Victor, frowning, checked his watch. "He should’ve reported in an hour ago."Silas lit a cigarette with trembling fingers. "Maybe he ran into heat. Cops, Carrick’s leftovers..."Marco shook his head. "Jax doesn’t miss check-ins. Not unless he’s dead."The word hung heavy in the air.A phone rang ... sharp and shrill.Everyone jolted.Victor grabbed it."Yeah?" His face paled almost instantly. "Boss... you need to hear this."Marco snatched the phone from him."Marco," a voice rasped. Jax’s voice ... barely recognizable, slurred and broken."It’s... a trap... he knew... he knew we were coming..."Gunshots crackled in the background. Screaming. Then
