Chapter 15 - THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS LOYALTY|
Adrian refused to go to the warehouse alone.
He also refused to tell Sera where he was going.
That decision lasted approximately eleven minutes before she confronted him in the garage.
“You promised we would face this together.”
“I promised we would deal with the truth together. This is different.”
“How?”
“Because the person holding your father knows exactly how to use you against me.”
Sera stared at him.
“And your solution is to disappear without telling me?”
“My solution is to bring Daniel home.”
“Then let me help.”
Adrian looked exhausted.
“If anything happens to you—”
“You don't get to finish that sentence every time you're afraid.”
He fell silent.
Sera stepped closer.
“I love you. That doesn't mean I want you to make every decision while I wait somewhere safe. If we're going to survive this, you have to trust me.”
For a long moment, Adrian looked torn between fear and the instinct to protect her.
Finally, he handed her a copy of the warehouse address.
“Marcus will take you to the command center. You stay there, and you follow his instructions.”
She accepted the paper.
“That's not the same as trusting me.”
“No,” he admitted. “It's me trying to learn.”
At midnight, Adrian entered the abandoned warehouse with the recording in his coat pocket.
The building was dark except for a single light above a metal table.
Daniel sat tied to a chair.
And beside him stood Marcus Reed.
Adrian stopped.
“Marcus?”
His closest adviser held a gun.
“I'm sorry, sir.”
Adrian's expression turned cold.
“You arranged the breach.”
“I had no choice.”
“Everyone has a choice.”
Marcus flinched.
“Vincent has my brother. He said he'd kill him if I didn't deliver the ledger.”
“You should have come to me.”
“And what would you have done? Threatened him? Negotiated? Vincent doesn't honor agreements.”
Adrian looked at Daniel.
“Let him go.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“I have spent fifteen years cleaning up the messes your family made. I watched your father destroy people, watched your mother die, and watched you pretend that controlling everything was the same as fixing it.”
Adrian said nothing.
Marcus lowered the gun slightly.
“I thought if I helped Vincent, I could get my brother back. I didn't realize he'd planned to eliminate both of us.”
A metallic click echoed from the darkness.
Vincent's voice emerged from a speaker.
“Touching. Truly.”
Lights flooded the warehouse.
Armed men appeared along the upper walkway.
Vincent stepped into view.
“Give me the recording, Adrian.”
Adrian reached into his coat.
Then he stopped.
“You said you wanted the recording.”
“I do.”
“Then why bring so many men?”
Vincent smiled.
“Because the recording is only part of the problem.”
He looked toward the warehouse entrance.
“And because your beloved Sera has just arrived.”
Adrian's blood turned cold.
Across the room, a door opened.
Sera stood between two armed guards.
May you like
Vincent spread his hands.
“Now, shall we discuss the future of our family?”
