FORGED IN ASHES: THE UNBROKEN BLOODLINE

Nathan stepped in front of Clara and Toby, his sidearm leveled squarely between the stranger's amber eyes. "Step three feet away from my father right now, or you will not survive to draw your next breath."

The man in the wool overcoat didn't flinch. He leaned casually on his silver walking cane, looking down at Arthur, whose chest was rising and falling in shallow, labored gasps. A dark bruise was blooming across the old man's temple.

"He's alive, Major. Barely," the man said smoothly. "Concussion from a blunt blow. I needed him conscious enough to listen."

"Who are you?" Nathan demanded, his finger resting on the trigger with feather-light pressure.

"My name is Julian Sterling," the man replied, lifting a gloved hand in a theatrical mock salute. "Marcus Vance was my subcontractor. Evelyn was my accountant. And Arthur Blackwood was my business partner for thirty-five years—until he decided to grow a conscience and try to destroy my entire network."

Arthur groaned on the ground, his eyes fluttering open. When he saw Sterling, the old man tried to push himself up on an elbow, his face contorting in pure, venomous hatred.

"Sterling..." Arthur croaked, spitting blood onto the gravel. "You bastard... you swore you'd never come near my family..."

"You broke our covenant, Arthur," Sterling said softly, his amber eyes chillingly devoid of humanity. "You stole the cipher ledger from our Zurich vaults forty-eight hours before your fake stroke. You thought giving it to federal intelligence would protect your legacy. But you forgot one simple fact: I own the men who run those agencies."

Nathan’s jaw set hard. "Director Sloane."

Sterling smiled a wide, predatory grin. "Ah, Catherine. A wonderful actress, isn't she? Handing you an envelope of old declassified garbage to make you feel safe, while her tracking beacon in that manila folder broadcast your exact GPS coordinates to my strike team."

Nathan felt a sharp prickle of cold rage. The sealed envelope Sloane had given him was still resting on the kitchen counter inside the burning house. He had brought the wolves straight to his family's doorstep.

"The ledger isn't here, Sterling," Nathan said coldly. "Kill us, and you'll never find the Zurich access keys."

"Oh, but it is here, Nathan," Sterling purred, tapping his silver cane against the gravel. "Arthur is a sentimental fool. He never trusted digital drives or offshore vaults. He always hid his greatest treasures in plain sight."