The underground was quieter than it had ever been.
Not peaceful.
Heavy.
Siren's blood had already been cleaned, but her absence screamed from every corridor. My people moved slower. Their eyes followed me with the same loyalty as always, but something fragile had cracked beneath it.
Authority wasn't lost.
Something else was.
Liam was bound to the steel chair in the center of the room. Not beaten. Not bruised. Untouched.
That was deliberate.
I dismissed everyone with a flick of my fingers except one man stationed behind the glass wall, camera rolling. I wanted everything recorded. Every breath. Every lie.
I circled Liam slowly, boots silent against concrete.
"How did you know?" I asked calmly.
He lifted his head, lips curving into something that resembled a smile but didn't quite reach his eyes. "You mean… how I knew you were Mask?"
I stopped in front of him.
"You dated me for information," I continued evenly. "You knew exactly who I was pretending to be. So tell me how you knew who I really was."
His gaze flickered to my neck.
"The viper," he said.
I didn't move.
"Your last birthday dinner," he went on. "You leaned forward. Just for a second. The collar of your dress shifted." He swallowed. "A viper tattoo. Not decorative. Symbolic. Too precise."
I said nothing.
"You started disappearing more after that," Liam continued. "Long gaps. Burner phones. Meetings that didn't exist. So I followed you."
My jaw tightened.
"The restroom," he said quietly. "You thought you were alone. You covered it with makeup that matched your skin perfectly. Professional. Military grade." He exhaled. "That's when I knew."
I leaned closer, my voice a whisper. "And you didn't confront me."
"No," he said. "I studied you."
The word settled between us like poison.
"You never loved me," I said.
He met my eyes. "No. I needed to understand how a woman like you ruled territories men bled to control."
Silence.
"And Siren?" I asked.
His expression darkened. "She recognized the man I was impersonating. She hesitated—just long enough to die." His voice hardened. "I killed her because she would've exposed me."
My fingers curled slowly.
"How did you get in?" I asked.
"Your tunnels were mapped years ago," he replied. "I didn't enter as myself. I wore another man's face. One of your dead suppliers." His gaze sharpened. "You underestimate how much power The Patriot has."
There it was.
"You work for him," I said.
"Indirectly," Liam corrected. "He doesn't want you arrested. He wants you erased. You're proof that his empire isn't untouchable."
That explained Jessica's urgency.
As if summoned by thought, my earpod crackled.
"Boss," Jessica's voice said quietly. "We traced it. The Patriot launders money through 'relief funds.' War zones. Reconstruction projects. You destroyed four of his shells. That's why he wants you gone."
I closed my eyes briefly.
He wasn't a president.
He was a parasite.
"And Dante?" I asked Liam.
He laughed softly.
"That's the part you should be afraid of," he said. "He noticed you weeks ago. When your name crossed certain markets. He doesn't hunt loudly. He watches."
My spine chilled.
"He's not coming for you," Liam added. "He's waiting."
I straightened.
I didn't react immediately.
Instead, I tilted my head slightly, studying him the way predators study wounded prey.
"Does he know?" I asked quietly.
"Dante."
Liam's breathing slowed. For the first time since I'd walked into the room, something close to fear crossed his face.
"No," he said after a pause. "Not yet."
I stepped closer.
"He knows Mask girl, head of the Viper Empire,m," Liam continued. "He knows your patterns. Your territories. Your decisions." His voice dropped. "But the face beneath it? The woman?"
He shook his head once.
"Only you and I know that."
Something inside my chest loosened—just slightly.
"And if he finds out?" I asked.
Liam looked up at me, eyes sharp, almost reverent.
"Then the world doesn't get a war," he said. "It gets an extinction."
I straightened, my expression unreadable.
"Good," I said calmly. "Then we're still ahead."
"Record everything," I said to the man behind the glass. "Send it directly to me."
Liam's smile faltered. "You're not killing me?"
"No," I replied. "You're more useful breathing."
I turned and walked away.
I didn't go back to my place. I was tired—bone-deep tired—and my parents' house was closer. Safer. Quieter.
For now.
As I entered the car, my phone vibrated once.
A single encrypted message.
Nice mask girl.
— D
I stared at the screen.
Then I smiled.
"If they're watching," I murmured to myself, "let them learn."