Chapter 15 - The Rebel Daughter
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Inside the safehouse, the adrenaline crash had left me restless. I paced the small, concrete room while Daniel meticulously cleaned his weapons at the small table. He had stripped off his bloody shirt, wrapping a clean bandage around his bicep.
“My father is going to kill him, isn't he?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“If he finds Sergei? Yes,” Daniel replied without looking up from his pistol. “It will be quick, and it will be brutal.”
“I’m tired of hiding, Daniel,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I spent my entire life trying to be invisible so this exact thing wouldn't happen. And it happened anyway. The Russians didn't care that I worked at a nonprofit. They only cared about my last name.”
Daniel paused, setting the gun down. He looked at me, his dark eyes filled with a heavy, protective sorrow. “You can't escape your bloodline, Elena. I told you that the night of the gala. The only way to survive in this world is to embrace the power it gives you.”
The heavy steel door of the safehouse suddenly buzzed.
Daniel grabbed his weapon, aiming it at the door, but a customized rhythmic knock followed—a clearance code. Daniel relaxed slightly and opened the door.
My father stood in the doorway, flanked by four heavily armed guards.
He looked exhausted, his silver hair slightly messy, but the moment he saw me standing there unharmed, the hardened mafia boss melted entirely. He crossed the room in three massive strides and pulled me into a crushing embrace.
“I’m okay, Dad,” I whispered, hugging him back, burying my face in his familiar cologne. “Daniel got me out.”
My father pulled back, gripping my shoulders tightly. He looked at Daniel, offering a single, profound nod of gratitude that spoke volumes more than words ever could.
“We have Sergei’s location,” my father announced, turning back to me. “He is fortified in the abandoned Hale shipping yards on the south river. I have a tactical team assembling right now. We are going to end this tonight.”
“I want to go with you,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
Both my father and Daniel froze, staring at me as if I had lost my mind.
“Absolutely not,” my father snapped immediately. “You are staying here under heavy guard. This is a siege, Elena, not a field trip.”
“I am not hiding in a bunker while you fight a war started over me!” I argued, my voice rising fiercely. I stepped forward, refusing to back down. “Preston used me because he thought I was weak. Sergei used me because he thought I was bait. I am done being the helpless daughter. I am a Carter. And I want to see the man who tried to kill me fall.”
My father stared at me, completely taken aback by the sheer, unyielding steel in my voice. He looked for the frightened girl who used her mother’s maiden name to hide from the world, but she was gone. Standing in front of him was a woman finally accepting her inheritance.
He looked at Daniel. Daniel offered a slow, respectful nod, confirming what he already knew—I wasn't going to be kept in a cage anymore.
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“Fine,” my father said, his voice dropping into a low, proud rumble. “But you stay in the armored command vehicle. And Daniel does not leave your side for a single second. Understand?”
“Understood,” I replied, my heart hammering a violent, terrifying rhythm of anticipation.
