Chapter 7 - THE SNAKE IN THE GARDEN
"Marcus," I whispered, the name tasting like ash in my mouth.
He looked completely different from the sweet, attentive boyfriend who had cooked dinner for me in our Brooklyn apartment just forty-eight hours ago. His hair was slicked back, his designer suit replaced by tactical black gear, and his eyes were completely devoid of warmth or recognition.
"Drop the laptop, Lena," Marcus instructed smoothly, his finger resting lightly on the trigger. "You’ve been playing detective for long enough. Robert sends his regards, by the way."
Adrien didn't flinch. Slowly, deliberately, he stepped in front of me, putting his broad shoulders between my body and Marcus’s weapon.
"You’re a clever boy, Marcus," Adrien said, his voice dripping with cool disdain. "Planting yourself in her life three years ago just to keep an eye on the Hart lineage in case the old man left a paper trail. But you made one critical error."
Marcus smirked, though his eyes remained deadly focused. "And what’s that, Viscari? Falling in love with her?"
"No," Adrien replied, his hand sliding toward the concealed holster beneath his jacket with terrifying speed. "You underestimated how fast a drowning rat turns on its master when the ship goes down. Robert Blake doesn't share power. The moment you fail to secure these files, you become a loose end."
"Wrong!" Marcus shouted, his finger tightening on the trigger. "I am the future of the Blake dynasty—"
He never finished the sentence.
From the shadows above the vault ceiling duct, a heavy metal utility wrench plummeted downward, striking Marcus squarely across the wrist with a sickening crack. His pistol discharged into the concrete floor, sending a shower of sparks flying, before clattering away down the aisle.
"Not today, asshole," a gravelly voice echoed from above.
Julian dropped down from the ceiling grate, landing in a tactical crouch, followed swiftly by two of Adrien’s elite enforcers who swarmed Marcus, pinning him facedown against the cold steel floor in less than a second.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I’d been holding, my knees shaking so violently I had to grab the edge of the metal shelf to keep from collapsing.
Adrien was by my side instantly, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me flush against his chest. "I’ve got you. You’re safe."
"I trusted him, Adrien," I choked out, burying my face against his shoulder as the adrenaline finally crashed, leaving behind a wave of raw nausea. "For three years, I thought he loved me."
"He didn't love anything except his master's approval," Adrien whispered fiercely into my hair, his hand holding the back of my head steady. He looked down at Marcus, who was currently being hauled up by his collar.
"Take him to the Queens facility," Adrien ordered the enforcers coldly. "I want every single encrypted file on his phone downloaded and decrypted before sunrise."
Marcus spat a mouthful of blood onto the pristine floor, laughing hysterically as they dragged him toward the exit. "You think you won, Viscari? Check the flash drive! Check the file your mother left behind!"
Adrien’s expression darkened. He turned back to the laptop on the shelf, his fingers flying across the trackpad. He clicked open the final encrypted file labeled EVELYN_HART_FINAL_LOG.mp4.
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The screen flickered, displaying a live webcam feed from an unknown, dimly lit room.
Sitting in a wooden chair, hands bound loosely with zip ties, her hair streaked with gray but her eyes burning with the exact same fierce defiance I saw every time I looked in the mirror, was my mother.
