Four little boys in matching navy uniforms walked into a restaurant bathroom hours before my million-dollar engagement. Five minutes later, I stared into four identical versions of my own face.

"Put the drive on the floor, Julian," Marcus said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

I froze, the small black hard drive feeling like a live grenade in my hand. My mind struggled to process the betrayal. Marcus had been with me for five years. He had driven my children to the park. He had stood outside my office door.

"Marcus?" Mara whispered, her voice trembling. "What are you doing?"

"I’m retiring, Mrs. Vance," Marcus replied coldly. "Victor offered me ten million dollars and a new identity in South America. All I have to do is bring him that drive. I'm sorry, but loyalty doesn't pay out like that."

"He's going to kill you the second you hand it over," I said, slowly lowering my hands, trying to calculate the distance between us. "You know how Victor operates. He doesn't leave loose ends."

"I'll take my chances. Slide the drive across the floor. Now." Marcus cocked the hammer of his pistol, pressing the barrel closer to Mara’s temple.

My heart hammered against my ribs. Silas and his team were upstairs securing the lobby. We were entirely cut off in the subterranean vault. If I gave him the Ledger, Victor won. If I fought, Mara died.

I slowly knelt down, placing the black hard drive on the polished marble floor. I gave it a gentle push. It slid across the smooth surface, stopping a few feet away from Marcus’s boots.

Marcus kept his gun trained on Mara as he slowly crouched down to pick it up.

That was his mistake. He took his eyes off me for a fraction of a second.

"Mara, drop!" I roared.

Mara didn't hesitate. She threw herself flat on the floor.

I lunged forward, drawing the combat knife from my boot in one fluid motion. I tackled Marcus just as his gun went off, the suppressed shot shattering a glass display case behind us. We crashed onto the hard floor, a tangle of limbs and desperation.

Marcus was bigger and stronger, a former SEAL. He drove a brutal elbow into my wounded shoulder. I screamed in agony as fresh blood soaked my bandages, my grip loosening. He shoved me off him, raising the pistol toward my chest.

Before he could pull the trigger, a deafening CRACK echoed through the vault.

Marcus froze. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed forward onto the marble floor.

I gasped for air, looking past Marcus's body.

Mara was standing there, her hands shaking violently as she gripped a heavy, solid gold corporate award statue she had grabbed from a display pedestal. She had smashed it directly into the back of Marcus's skull.