Adrian
"You have to let me help."
Ava's voice cut through my rage like a blade. I was pacing the safe house, trying to think, trying to plan. Dante was gone. Taken by Malric as revenge for the attack on his warehouse.
"No. You're staying here where it's safe."
"Safe? There's no such thing as safe around you." She stood in front of me, forcing me to stop pacing. "Dante helped me when I was prisoner in your mansion. He was kind to me. I won't just sit here while he's being tortured."
"What exactly do you think you can do?"
"I'm a medical student. If Dante's hurt, he'll need treatment."
"He might be dead already."
The words came out harsher than I intended. Ava flinched but didn't back down.
"Then we need to hurry. Adrian, please. Let me help."
I looked at her, really looked at her. She was bruised and exhausted, still wearing the black dress Malric had put on her. But her eyes were determined.
This woman should hate me. Should want nothing to do with my world. Instead, she was volunteering to walk back into danger.
"Fine. But you stay behind me at all times. You do exactly what I say. Understand?"
She nodded.
Zarek called twenty minutes later with Dante's location. An old meat processing plant on the edge of the city. Malric wasn't even trying to hide.
"It's a trap," Zarek warned. "He wants you to come."
"I know. Send everyone we have."
We assembled at a warehouse two blocks from the plant. Thirty men, all armed, all ready to die if necessary. Dave was there too, checking his weapons with practiced ease.
Ava stuck close to me. Martha had given her dark clothes to blend in, but nothing could hide how out of place she was among my soldiers.
"Listen up," I addressed my men. "Dante is in that building. We get him out alive. Anyone who stands in our way dies. No mercy. No prisoners. Questions?"
Silence. These men knew what to do.
"Dave, take five men and circle around back. Zarek, you're with me. The rest of you, cover all exits. I want that building surrounded." I paused. "And protect Ava. If anything happens to her, you'll answer to me."
We moved out.
The plant was dark, abandoned. But I could see guards on the roof. More at the doors. Malric had fortified his position.
"This is suicide," Dave whispered.
"Probably. Do it anyway."
The attack was swift and brutal. My men hit the building from three sides simultaneously. Gunfire erupted, lighting up the darkness.
I went through the front door with Zarek and Ava. Bodies fell around us. My men were better trained, better armed. But Malric had numbers.
"Second floor," Zarek said, pointing up a staircase.
We climbed, stepping over dead guards. The sounds of fighting echoed through the building. Somewhere, someone was screaming.
We found Dante in a large room. He was tied to a chair, his face a mass of bruises. Blood covered his shirt. But he was alive.
"Adrian," he croaked. "It's a trap."
"I know."
Ava ran to him immediately. "We need to get these ropes off."
She worked on the knots while Zarek and I covered the doors. Too quiet. Where was everyone?
The answer came when Malric walked in, flanked by ten armed men.
"Adrian. You came. How touching." He smiled. "And you brought the girl. Even better."
"Let my brother go."
"Why would I do that? I finally have what I want. You, helpless, watching while I take everything you love." Malric gestured to his men. "Kill them all. But keep Blackwood alive. I want him to watch."
Gunfire exploded. Zarek went down, hit in the shoulder. I fired back, dropping three of Malric's men. But more flooded in.
Ava screamed. I turned and saw a guard grabbing her. Without thinking, I charged him. Slammed my fist into his face. Again. Again. Until he stopped moving.
"Adrian, behind you!"
Dante's warning saved my life. I spun and shot the man aiming at my back.
But we were surrounded. Outnumbered. This was the end.
Then the windows shattered. Men in black dropped through on ropes, firing precision shots. Malric's guards fell like dominos.
"Who the hell are they?" Zarek gasped.
I had no idea.
Within seconds, every one of Malric's men was dead. The new arrivals turned their weapons on us.
A woman walked in. She was tall, elegant, with silver hair pulled back in a severe bun. She looked at me with cold assessment.
"Adrian Blackwood. Finally, we meet."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Emma Voss. I represent a group that has been watching your family for generations." She gestured to her soldiers. "We have a proposition for you."
"Not interested."
"You will be." Emma walked closer. "Your father made a deal with us years ago. Protection and resources in exchange for certain services. He died before fulfilling his end of the bargain. That debt has passed to you."
"I don't honor my father's debts."
"You will honor this one. Or everyone in this room dies. Including your brother and your little doctor." Emma smiled, and it was worse than Malric's had been. "We own you, Adrian. You just didn't know it yet."
Malric, who had been watching all this in shock, tried to run. One of Emma's soldiers shot him through the head without even looking.
"Problem solved," Emma said casually. "Malric Dane was becoming inconvenient anyway."
"What do you want from me?"
"Simple. You continue running your operations. But now you work for us. We provide protection from your enemies. You provide access to your networks." Emma pulled out a folder. "Sign the contract, and you all walk out of here alive."
I looked at the folder. At Emma's cold eyes. At my brother bleeding in a chair. At Ava, terrified but trying to be brave.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I kill everyone you love. Starting with her." Emma pointed at Ava. "Pretty thing. It would be a waste."
My hands clenched. I'd fought my whole life to be free of my father's shadow. To build my own empire. And now this woman was telling me I'd never been free at all.
"Give me the contract."
Emma handed it over. I read through it quickly. Detailed terms about operations, territories, profit sharing. I would still run everything, but now I'd have masters.
I signed.
"Excellent. Welcome to the organization, Mr. Blackwood." Emma turned to leave. "Oh, one more thing. The girl. She's seen too much. She'll need to be eliminated."
"No." I stepped between Emma and Ava. "She's under my protection."
"She's a liability."
"She's mine. Touch her and our deal is over."
Emma studied me for a long moment. "Interesting. You care about her. That could be useful." She smiled. "Very well. Keep your pet. But she belongs to us too now. Remember that."
Emma and her soldiers vanished as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving us alone with the dead.
Dave rushed over. "Boss, we need to move. Police will be here any minute."
"Get Dante to a doctor. And get Ava somewhere safe."
"Where are you going?"
"To find out who the hell Emma Voss really is."
Zarek, clutching his wounded shoulder, shook his head. "Adrian, don't. Organizations like that, you don't investigate them. You just survive them."
"I won't be anyone's puppet."
"You don't have a choice anymore." Zarek's voice was heavy. "None of us do."
We evacuated the building minutes before sirens arrived. Dante was taken to a private clinic. Ava tried to come with me, but I sent her back to the safe house with Martha.
"I need to handle this alone."
"Adrian, we should talk about what just happened—"
"Not now." I couldn't look at her. Couldn't let her see how furious and helpless I felt. "Just go."
I spent the next twelve hours investigating. Called every contact. Searched every database. Emma Voss didn't exist in any public record. But whispers led me to a truth I didn't want to believe.
The organization she represented had been manipulating my family for three generations. My grandfather had made the original deal. My father had continued it. And now it was my turn to serve.
They were called the Syndicate. A shadow government that controlled organized crime across three continents. They'd orchestrated wars, manipulated markets, destroyed anyone who threatened their power.
And I was now their newest asset.
I returned to the safe house at dawn. Exhausted. Defeated. I found Ava waiting in the kitchen, drinking coffee.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Neither could you, apparently." She gestured to the chair across from her. "Sit. Talk to me."
I sat because I was too tired to argue.
"I sold my soul tonight," I said finally. "Signed my life away to people I can't fight. Can't escape."
"Because of Dante?"
"Because of you." I met her eyes. "Emma would have killed you if I refused. I couldn't let that happen."
Ava was quiet for a moment. "So you're trapped because you saved me. Just like I'm trapped because I saved you. We're even."
"This isn't a game, Ava."
"I know. But we're in it together now." She reached across the table and took my hand. Her touch was warm, gentle. Everything I didn't deserve. "You're not alone, Adrian."
Looking at her, I realized something terrifying. Somewhere between kidnapping her and fighting wars for her, I'd fallen in love.
With a woman who should hate me.
With someone so far out of my reach she might as well be on another planet.
And now we were both trapped in a web spun by people more dangerous than I'd ever imagined.
"Ava, there's something you need to know about the Syndicate—"
The door burst open. Dave stumbled in, blood covering his face.
"Boss, we have a problem. It's Martha. She's been working for the Syndicate this whole time."