Chapter 10 - THE BROTHER WHO TOOK THE BULLET
Damian had taken the bullet meant for me.
I understood that when I saw the hole in the wall directly behind where I had been standing.
Adrian dropped beside his brother.
“Damian.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
“Still fine.”
Roman called medical support.
I knelt.
The bullet had entered Damian’s shoulder.
Painful.
Not fatal.
He looked at me.
“You owe me.”
I started crying and laughing at the same time.
“Put it on my tab.”
Adrian looked ready to murder the entire city.
“Where is Keene?”
Roman checked security.
“Gone.”
“He was inside?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Service tunnel.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
A tunnel he did not know about inside his own club.
That told us everything about how long Keene had controlled them.
Damian was transported to a private hospital Adrian trusted.
Not Keene’s.
The ledger was copied.
Multiple locations.
Multiple lawyers.
Multiple encrypted drives.
Adrian refused to let one secret remain vulnerable.
I admired that.
Then I realized something.
“Marcus and Evelyn.”
Adrian looked at me.
“We find them.”
“How?”
Roman studied Keene’s messages.
“Metadata.”
Within an hour, they traced one photograph to an abandoned medical research property outside Joliet.
We drove through a snowstorm.
The building looked empty.
It wasn’t.
We found Marcus first.
Alive.
Tied inside an examination room.
The moment he saw me, he cried.
“Lila.”
I stopped.
I had imagined meeting my father thousands of ways since discovering he existed.
None included a hostage room.
“You’re Marcus Reed.”
He laughed weakly.
“Usually.”
“You’re my father.”
His face broke.
“Yes.”
I didn’t hug him.
Not yet.
I needed answers before affection.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Victor would have killed you.”
“He’s dead.”
“I didn’t know who replaced him.”
“Keene.”
Marcus nodded.
“I suspected.”
“Where’s Evelyn?”
His expression changed.
“They took her downstairs.”
Adrian was already moving.
We found the basement operating room.
Evelyn was strapped to a table.
Keene stood beside her.
Gun in hand.
He was in his seventies.
Calm.
Distinguished.
Exactly the kind of man no one would suspect.
“Adrian,” he said.
“Let her go.”
Keene smiled.
“My nephew.”
That word made Adrian’s face harden.
“So it’s true.”
“Yes.”
“You’re Stephen Vale.”
“Yes.”
“Why fake your death?”
“Because Victor inherited what should have been mine.”
Damian had been right.
This was never merely crime.
It was inheritance.
Keene looked at me.
“Bring me the ledger.”
“No,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
Keene smiled.
“Brave.”
“No. Tired.”
His expression changed slightly.
“You destroyed my life before I even knew you existed.”
“That was never personal.”
“People like you always say that.”
Adrian almost smiled.
Keene’s gun shifted.
Roman fired.
The bullet hit Keene’s wrist.
His weapon fell.
Adrian crossed the room.
Keene laughed even while bleeding.
“You think this ends anything?”
Adrian stopped.
Keene looked at Evelyn.
“Tell him.”
Evelyn’s face went pale.
“Don’t.”
Adrian turned.
“Tell me what?”
Keene smiled.
“Tell Adrian why he lost interest in women after your accident.”
Silence.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Keene continued.
“Because grief didn’t do that.”
Adrian stared.
“What did?”
May you like
Keene’s smile widened.
“I did.”
