Chapter 7 - Forty-Eight Hours
Sadie ran.
She made it six steps before her ribs forced her to stop.
Roman caught her before she hit the wall.
“Let me go.”
“Sadie.”
“He’s gone.”
“I know.”
“You said this house was safe.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“You said—”
“I know.”
The second time was louder.
Not at her.
At himself.
Carter arrived with two security officers.
“The east service camera looped for eleven minutes. Dr. Evans says Ben told her he needed air. Somebody texted him from Sadie’s old number.”
Sadie froze.
“My phone.”
“Cloned,” Carter said.
She closed her eyes.
Ben had believed she was calling him.
“What did the message say?”
Carter hesitated.
“Come outside. Don’t tell Roman.”
Sadie’s anger turned inward.
“He thought I was trying to get him out.”
Roman released her slowly.
“We will get him back.”
“How?”
He looked at the threat photograph.
“By giving them what they asked for.”
Sadie stared.
“Me.”
“No.”
“That’s what it says.”
“I said no.”
“You also said I’m not a prisoner.”
Roman’s eyes flashed.
“This is not the time.”
“It is exactly the time.”
Carter stepped between the argument and whatever came next.
“Vane wants leverage. If he kills Ben, he loses it.”
Sadie looked at him.
“You’re telling me my brother is safe because he’s useful.”
“For now.”
The phrase from the alley came back.
Forty-eight hours.
That was how men like Tommy measured fear.
Roman moved into action.
Phones.
Cars.
Contacts.
But Sadie watched something different this time.
He did not bark orders.
He asked questions.
He checked every assumption.
He made Carter repeat locations.
He told one man, “Nobody fires unless Ben is in immediate danger.”
That mattered.
At 4:10 p.m., a burner phone rang.
It had been delivered to the estate gate inside a florist box.
Roman placed it on speaker.
Marcus Vane’s voice came through.
Smooth.
Educated.
Almost friendly.
“Roman.”
“Marcus.”
“I hear your house is becoming crowded.”
“Return the boy.”
“Boy? He is twenty-nine.”
“To Sadie, he is still her little brother.”
Vane paused.
“So she is listening.”
Sadie stepped closer.
“I’m listening.”
“My condolences for what happened in the alley, Ms. Mercer. Tommy is overenthusiastic.”
Sadie’s hand curled.
“You say that like he spilled wine.”
Roman looked at her.
Vane chuckled.
“You have spirit.”
“People keep saying that when they mean I won’t shut up.”
“I can see why Roman likes you.”
Roman’s face changed.
Sadie ignored it.
“What do you want?”
“The ledger. The flash drive. Daniel Mercer’s letter. And Roman will sign over three waterfront properties my companies have been attempting to purchase.”
Roman said, “No.”
Vane sighed.
“Then Benjamin develops a breathing problem.”
Sadie went cold.
Roman’s voice became lethal.
“If you touch him—”
“There he is. Anthony’s son.”
Sadie looked at Roman.
Vane continued.
“Always pretending he built something new while standing inside his father’s house.”
Roman went silent.
“Tomorrow,” Vane said. “Nine p.m. Hail Grand Hotel. Your charity gala is still scheduled, yes?”
Carter mouthed something.
Roman nodded.
“It is.”
“Good. Public places encourage manners. Bring the documents. Sign the transfers. Sadie comes with you.”
“No.”
Sadie said, “Yes.”
Roman turned.
Vane laughed softly.
“Wonderful. I’ll send instructions.”
The line disconnected.
Roman looked at Sadie.
“You are not going.”
“My brother is.”
“Your brother is already there.”
“You know what I mean.”
Roman’s control finally cracked.
“I pulled you half-dead out of an alley four days ago. I am not walking you into Marcus Vane’s hands.”
“And I am not sitting in this room while Ben pays for my safety.”
“He is paying for his own decisions.”
Sadie flinched.
Roman immediately regretted it.
“That’s true,” she said. “He made terrible choices. He lied. He gambled. He stole something to sell. But Tommy used me to punish him. Now Vane is using him to punish us. At some point somebody has to stop accepting the rules.”
Roman stared at her.
“What are you proposing?”
Sadie looked at Daniel’s notebook.
“A gala full of donors, reporters, cameras, lawyers, and city officials.”
Carter understood first.
“You want Vane to expose himself publicly.”
“I want him to think he controls the room.”
Roman shook his head.
“He will have security.”
“So will you.”
“He may have bought mine.”
“Then stop relying on men with guns.”
Roman looked almost offended.
Sadie continued.
“Eleanor Price. The federal prosecutor.”
Carter smiled slowly.
Roman did not.
“You want to bring federal agents into my hotel.”
“I want you to decide what kind of man owns that hotel tomorrow.”
The words landed.
Later that night, Roman found Sadie on the covered terrace.
Rain fell beyond the stone railing.
She wore a coat over her sling and stared at the gardens.
“You should be asleep,” he said.
“You should find a new opening line.”
He stood beside her.
For several minutes they watched rain silver the dark lawn.
Finally Roman said, “I was there the night my father learned Daniel was dead.”
Sadie looked at him.
“He broke a glass against the fireplace. Then he sat on the floor.”
Roman’s voice changed, losing its practiced distance.
“I had never seen him sit on the floor.”
Sadie listened.
“He kept saying, ‘I promised him.’ Over and over.”
“Why didn’t he go after Vane?”
“I think he intended to.”
“But he died.”
“Yes.”
“And Julian cleaned up everything afterward.”
“Yes.”
Sadie exhaled.
Roman looked out into the storm.
“When I inherited the organization, I thought control would prevent chaos. No drugs near schools. No violence against families. No trafficking. No children. No unnecessary blood.”
“You made rules.”
“Yes.”
“Did they work?”
“For some people.”
Sadie thought of the alley.
“Not for me.”
“No.”
Roman turned toward her.
“I am sorry.”
The words were simple.
No excuses.
Sadie felt the wall between them shift.
She touched his gloved hand.
“Bring Ben home.”
“I will.”
“And come home too.”
Roman looked at their hands.
When he raised his eyes again, the hard certainty was gone.
“Sadie.”
She knew what was happening a second before he did.
He leaned closer.
Slowly enough for her to stop him.
She did not.
His kiss was brief, careful, almost unbearably restrained.
When he stepped back, Sadie whispered, “That was a terrible time to do that.”
“Yes.”
“You’re supposed to be the controlled one.”
“I was.”
She almost laughed.
Then Carter opened the terrace door.
“Sorry.”
He did not sound sorry.
Roman looked at him.
“What?”
“We got proof of life.”
Carter held out a phone.
The video showed Ben tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Alive.
Then the camera shifted.
Julian Cross stepped into frame.
He looked directly at the lens.
“Bring everything tomorrow, Roman.”
May you like
Julian smiled.
“Or I finish what I started with Daniel Mercer.”
