Chapter 5

The second orderly didn't hesitate. He pulled the trigger.

Crack-crack-crack.

Two electrified prongs shot out of the taser, trailing thin copper wires, flying straight toward Kinsey's chest.

Kinsey dropped. She executed a perfect, tight tactical roll across the Persian rug. The prongs hissed past her shoulder, embedding themselves into the drywall behind her. Blue sparks showered down onto the floor.

As Kinsey came out of the roll, her hand brushed against the glass coffee table. Her fingers locked around the base of a heavy, solid bronze replica of David's head.

She didn't even stand up fully. From a crouched position, she hurled the heavy bronze statue like a cannonball.

It flew across the room and smashed directly into the center of the orderly's face.

A sickening crunch of shattering cartilage echoed through the penthouse. The orderly screamed, dropping the taser. Blood exploded from his ruined nose, spraying across his white shirt. He collapsed backward, clutching his face, writhing on the floor.

The doctor screamed, his legs giving out. He fell to his knees, dropping the syringe, trembling violently.

Clemence's face turned purple with rage. He couldn't comprehend how his fragile niece had just dismantled two professional enforcers in five seconds. Blinded by anger, he charged at her, pulling his fist back to punch her in the face.

Kinsey didn't step back. She raised her left forearm, blocking his clumsy strike with bone-jarring force. At the exact same moment, she drove her right fist deep into his soft stomach.

Clemence's eyes bulged out of his skull. All the air left his lungs in a violent whoosh. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach, violently dry-heaving onto the expensive rug.

"You little bitch!" Loretta shrieked. She lunged at Kinsey, her long, manicured acrylic nails aimed straight for Kinsey's eyes.

Kinsey planted her feet. She swung her arm back and delivered a brutal, open-handed slap directly across Loretta's heavily contoured face.

The sound was like a gunshot.

The force of the blow spun Loretta around. She crashed face-first into the leather sofa. The side of her face swelled instantly, turning a dark, angry red. She spat a mouthful of blood and a chipped veneer tooth onto the cushions.

In the corner, Analia let out a terrified squeal. Her phone slipped from her shaking hands and shattered on the marble floor.

Kinsey slowly turned her head. She locked eyes with her cousin.

Kinsey took a step forward. The heavy soles of her tactical boots crunched over the broken glass of Analia's phone screen. The sound was deafening in the quiet room.

Analia backed up until her spine hit the wall. Tears streamed down her face, ruining her mascara. "P-please... Kinsey, please..."

Kinsey reached out. She grabbed Analia's jaw, her fingers digging hard into the soft flesh of her cheeks.

"Keep your mouth shut," Kinsey whispered, her breath cold against Analia's face. "Or I'll rip it off."

She let go, letting Analia slide down the wall in a sobbing heap.

Kinsey walked back to where Clemence was still gasping for air on the floor. She grabbed him by his expensive silk tie and hauled him halfway up. He gagged as the silk tightened around his throat.

Kinsey picked up the thick medical evaluation report from the table. She slapped the heavy stack of papers hard against Clemence's sweaty cheek.

"This penthouse, the trust fund, the assets-they are already gone, Clemence. Transferred offshore. You have nothing," Kinsey said, her voice dripping with venom. "If you ever step foot in my territory again, I won't just break your bones. I will end you."

She shoved him backward. Clemence scrambled away like a beaten dog.

Kinsey walked over to the crystal bar cart. She poured herself three fingers of neat whiskey. She took a sip, letting the alcohol burn down her throat, settling the adrenaline spikes in her blood.

"Take your trash and get out," Kinsey commanded, not looking at them.

Clemence, coughing and clutching his stomach, leaned heavily on a sobbing Loretta. The doctor dragged the bleeding orderly toward the door. They piled into the elevator, their faces pale with terror. None of them dared to say a word.

The elevator doors slid shut.

Kinsey downed the rest of the whiskey. She set the glass down with a hard clack. The physical war had started.

She pulled her phone out and opened a secure Tor browser. She dialed a number she had memorized from her past life-a top-tier private investigator operating on the dark web.

"I need a job done," Kinsey said when the line clicked open. "I want a sworn affidavit from the middleman who arranged the hit on my parents, along with offshore bank records showing the exact payment transfer from a shell company linked to Clemence. I need it in twenty-four hours."

She hung up. She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the city. She needed to bleed Clemence dry before he could strike back.