I gestured to Naomi. "Take it. Put it on speaker."She hesitated, then pressed the button. The line hissed. A voice came through, sharp and mocking."How do you like that, Darian? Did you think you could protect her?"Naomi’s eyes widened. Her lips trembled as she realized the voice was talking about her.The voice laughed coldly. "How many people have you lost tonight because of your choices? Should I list them?"I snatched the phone from her hand and ended the call. I couldn’t risk them saying Viper’s name out loud. Not now. Not here. Naomi didn’t know. She couldn’t know. Not yet.Her head snapped toward me. "What was that? You knew I was targeted, and you still wanted to leave me in the penthouse?"I kept my eyes on the road. Silence was safer than lies.Her voice rose, sharp. "Mark is probably dead, Darian! Are you listening to me? You need to stop making decisions that ruin everyone’s lives!"I snapped, my voice cutting through the car loudly."You were the one who got involved i
I was halfway down the stretch of road when I heard a faint sound from the backseat. My eyes snapped to the rearview mirror. A dark shape moved. My gut tightened. Someone was inside my SUV.My mind raced. An assassin? One of Sombra’s men? My jaw locked. I slammed my foot on the brakes. The SUV screeched, tires howling as I swerved hard to the shoulder. Neon light from a billboard flickered across the windshield in harsh flashes. My hand went straight to the pistol at my side.I spun in my seat, weapon raised. "Don’t move."The figure sat up. For a second I braced to fire—then a voice broke the silence."Darian, it’s me."Naomi.Relief hit me like a wave. But just as fast, anger took over."What the hell are you doing here?" I snapped, my voice sharp and rough.She leaned forward, her face pale but calm. "Believe me or not you need me now than ever. Maria is in danger and I cannot sit and watch."I cursed under my breath and turned the key, turning the SUV on. The engine growled, and I
I pushed back from the desk, my eyes stinging from staring at the screen too long. The glow of the files still burned into my vision. Reyes’s empire was exposed—Sombra’s weapons shipments, their secret bank accounts, the blueprints and contracts for Project Phoenix. Everything Viper had died for. Everything Reyes had buried in the dark. And now it was all in my hands.My chest felt heavy. This was proof strong enough to bring them all down. But it also puts a target on anyone who touches it.I yanked the SSD from the laptop and turned to Mark. Without hesitation, I slapped it into his palm. The small drive looked harmless, but we both knew it carried blood and power. Mark’s lawyer mask cracked for the first time, replaced with grim focus. His fingers closed around it like he was holding a weapon."This is the evidence," I said, my voice low and sharp. "Everything that can destroy Sombra. Everything that ties Reyes to them. It’s yours now."Mark looked me in the eye. "What do you want
Darian Wolfe The phone call made me even angrier as I drove out of the hospital. Viper is dead. Naomi is next. Their words stayed in my head. My grip on the wheel was so tight it hurt. I still couldn’t believe it. Viper was gone. My closest ally—gone. The picture of him lying on that table wouldn’t leave me. But I wasn’t going to let his death be the end. His death was the spark, and I was going to make them pay for it. I pushed the car harder, the engine loud as I raced through the streets. I ignored the red lights. Horns blasted. Tires screamed as I cut between cars. My chest burned with rage, every turn pushing me faster toward the only place that mattered—the penthouse. Naomi was there. Mark was there. If Sombra wanted Naomi, they would have to go through me. I swung the car into the underground garage, tires sliding before I stopped. The engine went quiet, but the smell of blood and gunpowder still filled the SUV. I stepped out. My boots hit the concrete hard, the sound shar
Maria ReyesEarlier, they had dragged me out of the mansion in the dead of night. I’d always thought the Reyes estate was a cage, but now I understood it had been something worse: a staging ground for control. Hector didn’t say a word as his men pushed me toward the waiting car. His eyes stayed ahead, cold, determined, as if I were nothing more than another piece of cargo.They had a blindfold on me and the ride was long and wordless. I pressed my wrists against the ropes until they burned, but I couldn’t break free. When the car finally stopped, we weren’t at another estate or safehouse. Hector had chosen something different.He led me up the stairs himself. I could sense that there was no one around me, it was only Hector and I. Hector Reyes, stripped of his throne, dragging me deeper into his desperation. Hector wasn’t bringing me to safety. He was bringing me into his last hiding place, the hollow space where his empire had already started to die.The blindfold was yanked off, a
The doctor’s eyes didn’t blink. His face was pale under the fluorescent lights. His hands hung heavy at his sides, gloves smeared dark, the smell of iron and antiseptic clinging to him like a second skin. "Mr. Wolfe…" His voice came out low and flat. "We did everything we could, but he didn’t make it." I stared at him momentarily, waiting for the rest of the sentence. Waiting for a correction. Waiting for the but—the miracle, the hope. But there was nothing. "No," I whispered. It cracked out of me, broken and weak. The doctor’s eyes lowered. He didn’t argue. He didn’t have to. His silence was the confirmation. Something in me snapped. I shoved past him, my shoulder crashing into his chest, and stormed into the emergency room. The blinds were up again. The storm of chaos was gone. The sharp commands, the beeping machines, the scramble of bodies—all of it had ended. Now there was only silence and the smell of bleach. Nurses moved slowly, already cleaning up, packing away instrume