Adriana's POV
Vincent Moretti's nightclub sat in the worst part of Brooklyn, where even cops didn't go after dark.
I stood outside at 11 PM, rain soaking through my jacket, trying to convince myself this wasn't the stupidest thing I'd ever done.
"You don't have to do this," Dominic said beside me. He'd insisted on coming despite my protests. "We'll find another way."
"There is no other way. Elena has Emily. We have less than twelve hours." I looked at him. "Stay in the car. Vincent said to come alone."
"I'm not letting you walk in there by yourself."
"Dominic—"
"Five years ago, I made a choice to protect you by pushing you away. I'm not making that mistake again." His jaw was set. "We do this together or not at all."
Part of me wanted to argue. The other part—the part that had missed him every single day for five years—was grateful not to face this alone.
"Fine. But let me do the talking."
The club's door was guarded by two men the size of refrigerators. They patted us down, took our phones, then led us through a hallway that smelled like cigarettes and expensive cologne.
Vincent's office was at the back. Leather furniture. Dark wood. A man sitting behind a massive desk who looked like he could kill you with his pinky finger.
Vincent Moretti hadn't changed much in seven years. Still had those cold, dead eyes that saw right through you. Still moved like a predator, even while sitting still.
"Adriana Vale." He smiled without warmth. "The prosecutor who destroyed my empire. I've thought about this moment for a long time."
"I put you away because you were guilty," I said, forcing my voice steady.
"I was. Doesn't mean I forgive you." Vincent's eyes shifted to Dominic. "And you brought the traitor. How touching."
"Call me whatever you want," Dominic said. "We're here because we need your help."
Vincent laughed. "My help? After you two cost me seven years of my life?" He stood, walked around the desk. "Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you both right now."
"Because Elena Vasquez has been operating in your territory for fifteen years," I said. "Bribing your judges. Controlling your cops. Making deals with your competitors. She's been undermining you the whole time you were in prison."
Vincent's expression didn't change, but something dangerous flickered in his eyes. "Continue."
"She's kidnapped an innocent girl. Marcus Chen's sister. We need to find her before Elena kills her. And you have the resources we don't—informants, connections, people who see everything that happens in this city."
"And why would I help you save some random girl?"
"Because Elena's network has been stealing from you for years. The judges she controls? They've been giving lighter sentences to your enemies. The cops she owns? They've been looking the other way while rival gangs move into your territory." I stepped closer. "Help us destroy Elena, and you destroy the people who've been weakening you."
Vincent studied me for a long moment. Then he smiled. A real smile this time, which was somehow more terrifying.
"You always were smart, Adriana. I almost killed you once for that." He moved back to his desk. "But you're right. Elena has been a thorn in my side. And I do enjoy removing thorns."
Hope flared in my chest. "So you'll help us?"
"For a price."
Of course. "What do you want?"
"Simple. When this is over, when Elena's dead and her network is destroyed, you owe me a favor. Any favor. No questions asked. No matter what I ask."
My stomach dropped. "That's—"
"Non-negotiable." Vincent's eyes were like ice. "You want my help finding this girl? That's the cost. Your word that when I call in the favor, you'll do whatever I ask."
Dominic grabbed my arm. "Adriana, don't. You don't know what he might ask for."
"I know exactly what he might ask for." I looked at Vincent. "You might ask me to help you commit a crime. To hurt someone. To betray everything I believe in."
"Possibly. Or I might just ask you to water my plants while I'm on vacation." Vincent shrugged. "The point is, you won't know until I call."
It was a deal with the devil. Literally. Vincent could ask me to do anything, and I'd have to do it. Could ask me to help him destroy lives, break laws, become the very thing I'd spent years fighting against.
But Emily's terrified face flashed in my mind. An innocent girl who'd done nothing wrong except have a brother brave enough to help me.
"I'll do it," I said.
"No!" Dominic stepped between us. "I'll make the deal. Ask me for the favor instead."
"Dominic—"
"You've already sacrificed enough because of me. I won't let you sacrifice your soul too." He faced Vincent. "Change the terms. I owe you the favor. Leave Adriana out of it."
Vincent looked amused. "How noble. But I don't want you, Mr. Cross. You're a prosecutor. You have rules, ethics, lines you won't cross. Adriana?" He looked at me. "She put me in prison even though it destroyed her relationship with half the legal community. She does what needs to be done, consequences be damned. That's the kind of person I want owing me."
"Then we both owe you," I said. "Two favors. Double the power."
Vincent considered this. "Tempting. But no. One favor. From you. That's my price."
I looked at Dominic. Saw the desperation in his eyes. The guilt. He'd already lived five years hating himself for the choice he'd made to save me. I wouldn't let him add this to that burden.
"Deal," I said, before Dominic could stop me.
Vincent smiled and extended his hand. "Then we have an agreement."
I shook it. His grip was cold and strong and felt like signing away my future.
"Now," Vincent said, releasing my hand. "Let's talk about finding Elena Vasquez. I have some ideas about where she might be hiding."
He pulled out a map of New York, marked with red X's. "These are properties owned by shell corporations connected to her network. Most are obvious—too obvious. She won't be there. But this one..." He tapped a location in the Bronx. "An abandoned hospital. Purchased six months ago by a company that doesn't exist. My sources say there's been unusual activity there lately. Armed guards. Medical supplies being delivered. Someone's using it."
"That's where she has Emily," Marcus said from the doorway.
We all spun around. Marcus stood there, looking terrible—eyes red, face pale, but determined.
"How did you get in here?" I asked.
"I followed you. Waited outside. One of Vincent's guys let me in when I said I was with you." Marcus walked to the desk, staring at the map. "That has to be where my sister is. It makes sense. Elena's injured from the explosion. She'd need medical equipment to treat herself."
"Could be a trap," Dominic warned.
"Definitely a trap," Vincent corrected. "Elena knows you'll come for the girl. She'll be waiting."
"Then we need a plan," I said. "Something she won't expect."
Vincent pulled out his phone, made a call. Spoke in rapid Italian. Hung up.
"I have twelve men ready to move. Former military, heavily armed, completely loyal. They'll assault the hospital, draw Elena's attention and firepower. While she's focused on them, you four slip in the back, find the girl, get out."
"You four?" I asked.
"You, Cross, the hacker, and my best infiltration specialist." Vincent pressed a button on his desk. The door opened and a woman walked in.
She was maybe thirty, lean and dangerous-looking, with a scar running down her left cheek.
"This is Sophia," Vincent said. "She can get into anywhere, past any security. She'll get you inside."
Sophia nodded at us. Didn't smile. Didn't speak. Just watched us with the eyes of someone who'd killed before and would again without hesitation.
"We move in one hour," Vincent said. "That gives you time to prepare. Sophia will provide weapons and equipment. My men will create the distraction at exactly midnight. You'll have maybe ten minutes to find the girl before Elena realizes what's happening."
"And if we don't find her in ten minutes?" Marcus asked.
"Then you die. Elena kills you, kills the girl, and I lose some soldiers. That's the risk." Vincent looked at each of us. "So I suggest you make those ten minutes count."
One hour later, we were in a van three blocks from the abandoned hospital. Sophia had given us guns, body armor, communications equipment. She'd drawn maps of the hospital layout from memory, marking guard positions and likely locations Elena might keep a prisoner.
"Two guards at the front entrance," Sophia said, voice flat and emotionless. "Four on the roof. At least six inside, maybe more. Elena herself will be somewhere secure—probably the old surgical wing. That's where you'll find her and the girl."
"How do you know all this?" Dominic asked.
"Because I used to work for Elena. Before Vincent made me a better offer." Sophia checked her gun. "I know how she thinks. How she operates. She'll keep the girl close, use her as a human shield if necessary. You'll need to be smart."
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
I opened it and my blood ran cold.
It was a live video feed. Emily, tied to a hospital bed, crying. And standing over her, bandaged and burned but very much alive, was Elena Vasquez.
"Hello, Adriana," Elena said into the camera. "I know you're planning a rescue. I know Vincent Moretti is helping you. I know everything." She smiled. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to come to me. Alone. Unarmed. In the next thirty minutes. Or I kill Emily right now, on camera, while you watch."
She pulled out a knife. Held it to Emily's throat.
"Thirty minutes, Ms. Vale. Tick tock."
The feed cut out.
Everyone stared at me.
"It's a trap," Sophia said unnecessarily.
"I know." I stood up, started removing my body armor. "But I'm going anyway."
"Adriana—" Dominic grabbed my arm.
"She'll kill Emily if I don't. You know she will." I met his eyes. "Five years ago, you chose to save me by sacrificing yourself. Now it's my turn."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"No. You're going to wait exactly fifteen minutes, then come in with Sophia and Marcus. While Elena's focused on me, you three find Emily and get her out."
"And leave you with Elena?" Dominic's voice broke. "I can't—"
"You can. You will." I touched his face gently. "Because this time, I'm the one making the hard choice. And you have to let me."
I kissed him. Quick, fierce, five years of wanting packed into one moment.
Then I walked away before he could stop me.
The hospital loomed ahead, dark and forbidding. I walked through the front entrance, hands raised, no weapons.
Guards searched me. Pushed me down a hallway. Up stairs. Through doors that probably led to my death.
Finally, we reached the surgical wing.
Elena waited inside, sitting in a wheelchair, bandaged and burned. Emily was tied to a bed beside her, sobbing.
"Adriana Vale," Elena said. "Right on time. I knew you'd come. That's your weakness, you know. You actually care about saving people."
"Let Emily go. Your fight's with me."
"Oh, I will. After you do one small thing for me." Elena held up a gun. "There's a single bullet in this gun. You're going to put it to your head. Pull the trigger. If you survive, Emily goes free. If you don't..." She shrugged. "Well, at least she'll have watched you die."
She held out the gun.
My hands shook as I took it.
Behind me, I heard footsteps. Dominic, Marcus, and Sophia had arrived early.
Elena's eyes shifted past me. She smiled.
"Perfect. An audience. This will make it even better."
I looked at Dominic. Saw the horror in his face.
"Adriana, don't," he begged. "Please."
I looked at the gun. At Emily. At Elena's triumphant smile.
And I put the gun to my temple.
"Stop!" a voice shouted.
Everyone froze.
Victoria Cross stood in the doorway, holding a gun of her own. Pointed at her former partner.
"Hello, Elena," Victoria said coldly. "We need to talk about my son."