CHAPTER 16

The warehouse felt like a maze, each turn offering nothing but shadows and the scent of rust and decay. Nicholas’s heart pounded in his chest, the rhythm of his footsteps echoing in the silence. Every instinct screamed at him to turn back, but he couldn’t. Not without Isaac.

He followed the blood trail, each step heavier than the last. The deeper he went into the labyrinthine space, the more unsettling it became. The warehouse seemed endless, as though it had been abandoned for years.

Finally, at the farthest point of the building, he found it. A small room, its door hanging off its hinges. Nicholas’s breath hitched as he stepped closer, his hand hovering over the door handle. The blood trail stopped here.

He pushed the door open, and the sight that greeted him nearly took the air from his lungs.

Isaac’s body lay sprawled on the cold concrete floor, motionless. Blood pooled around him, staining the floor in dark, sinister splotches. Nicholas’s eyes widened, a guttural sound of disbelief escaping his throat. His brother was dead.

Isaac’s usually vibrant face was pale, his eyes wide open and staring blankly at the ceiling. The image of his lifeless form struck Nicholas like a punch to the gut. This wasn’t just a loss—it was a devastation he hadn’t been prepared for.

“No…” Nicholas whispered, his voice shaking as he staggered forward. His knees buckled beneath him as he fell to his brother’s side, his hand trembling as he reached for Isaac’s cold, limp form.

His heart ached—his brother, the person who had always been there, was gone.

This was his fault. His brother had always been by his side, even in the darkest moments, but now Isaac was dead, and it was as though the ground had cracked beneath him.

A sharp pang of grief tore through him, suffocating him with its weight. He was numb, but he couldn’t look away. He wouldn’t. He needed answers, needed to know who did this.

But as his eyes flicked down, something caught his attention. A small note, folded carefully, resting near Isaac’s outstretched hand. Nicholas’s hand hovered over it for a moment before he snatched it up, his fingers trembling as he unfolded it.

The message was short, the words scrawled in a hurried, uneven hand. His throat tightened as he read it aloud, his voice barely a whisper:

“Chloe.”

Just one word. One name. And with it came the unbearable weight of realization.

Chloe. His mind raced—why her? How was she involved? What had Adrian done to her?

His heart pounded painfully in his chest, but the fury inside him—dark and cold—was the only thing he could feel now. Adrian had taken Isaac from him. Adrian had killed his brother, and now, he was targeting Chloe.

His mind flashed back to moments with Chloe, the bond they’d shared—the way she had slowly become someone he couldn’t imagine losing. The very thought of her in Adrian’s hands sent a violent shudder through him. He couldn’t—he wouldn’t—let her become a part of Adrian’s twisted game.

Nicholas’s gaze shifted from Isaac’s lifeless body to the door. Every muscle in his body tensed, every instinct screaming for him to act. He couldn’t let this go unpunished. He couldn’t let Adrian win.

His brother’s body lay motionless, a painful reminder of everything he had lost. With shaking hands, Nicholas pushed himself to his feet, his eyes never leaving Isaac’s form. He wasn’t ready to let go.

But there was no time for grief. Not now. Not when Chloe’s life was at risk.

With a final, lingering glance at Isaac’s body—his brother, his family—Nicholas turned and sprinted from the room. The rage inside him was fierce, primal. Adrian had crossed a line, and Nicholas would make him pay.

The game was no longer about survival. It was about control. And Nicholas wasn’t going to let Adrian win.

Nicholas’s hands clenched into fists, the note still gripped tightly in his hand. His heart was a maelstrom of grief, anger, and a desperate need for revenge. But there was no time to wallow in pain. Isaac’s body lay cold and lifeless before him, and Nicholas couldn’t leave him like this.

He couldn’t let his brother be treated like some discarded piece of trash.

With one final glance at Isaac’s bloodied form, Nicholas reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. His fingers hovered for a moment, the weight of his brother’s death pressing down on him, but he dialed the number he knew by heart. His voice was steely when the phone rang.

“Get to the warehouse,” he ordered, his voice a calm contrast to the storm inside. “I need you to bring Isaac’s body back. Now.”

The voice on the other end responded with a simple, “Understood.”

Nicholas ended the call and placed the phone back in his pocket, his gaze never leaving Isaac’s body. The silence in the room was suffocating, the only sound being the rhythmic beating of his own heart. His chest felt tight, his breath shallow. He had lost too much.

But Isaac wasn’t just a casualty in this war—he was family. And Nicholas wasn’t about to let anyone disrespect that.

Minutes later, the door to the warehouse creaked open, and his men filed in, their expressions grave as they took in the scene. They had all seen their fair share of death, but even they paused at the sight of Isaac’s body. The pain was palpable in the air.

Without a word, two of his men moved to lift Isaac’s body, carefully placing him onto a makeshift stretcher. Nicholas stood motionless, watching as they secured the body, the weight of the moment pressing down on him with every passing second.

Once Isaac was secured, Nicholas stepped forward. His gaze lingered on his brother’s face one last time before he spoke, his voice low but carrying a dangerous edge.

“Take him back. He’s not going to be forgotten,” he said, his words carrying a promise of vengeance. “Make sure it’s done right.”

The men nodded in unison, understanding the unspoken meaning behind his words. As they carried Isaac’s body from the room, Nicholas stood still for a moment longer, the anger in him simmering just below the surface. This was far from over.

Adrian had made a grave mistake. And Nicholas would make him pay for it.

~~•

Adrian’s POV

Adrian stood motionless in the shadows, the cold night air brushing against his skin as his eyes remained fixed on the warehouse. He watched Nicholas’s every move with an eerie calm, his mind calculating, dissecting every moment. The silence around him felt like the calm before the storm, but Adrian thrived in this silence, in this tension. He could feel the weight of the moment, the power he held in his hands.

He had orchestrated everything perfectly, every detail falling into place just as he intended. Isaac’s death wasn’t just a message—it was a declaration. A declaration that Nicholas was no longer in control, that his world was about to implode. The image of Isaac’s lifeless body was burned into his mind. That sight would haunt Nicholas, would drive him further into madness, into desperation.

Adrian’s lips curled into a smirk as he imagined Nicholas finding his brother’s body, the shock, the fury that would follow. It had been exactly what he wanted—exactly what Nicholas deserved. For too long, Nicholas had stood as a towering figure, untouchable, powerful. Adrian had always known how to break men like him. The key was making them feel the loss of what they held most dear, and with Isaac gone, Nicholas’s rage would be the perfect fuel for the fire that Adrian was about to ignite.

His gaze flicked toward the entrance of the warehouse, knowing that Nicholas would soon be inside, doing exactly what Adrian had anticipated—seeking vengeance, seeking answers. The hunt would be on, and Adrian would be the one pulling the strings from behind the scenes. He’d carefully laid out his pieces on the board, each one ready to move when the time was right. He had already set the trap, and now Nicholas was walking right into it.

Chloe. The thought of her sent a dark thrill running through Adrian’s veins. He had known from the moment he saw her that she would play a pivotal role in this twisted game. She was unaware of the power she possessed, unaware of the depths she was about to be dragged into. But Adrian was going to make sure she understood soon enough. She would be the weapon that crushed Nicholas, that tore him apart from the inside out. Chloe didn’t need to know the extent of Adrian’s plans yet. All she needed to do was exist, to remain a pawn in his hands, and he would make her see the truth when the time was right.

Adrian’s thoughts darkened as they always did when his mind drifted to Alex. The memory of his brother’s death still burned in his chest, a relentless fire that drove him to do what he was doing now. Nicholas had taken Alex from him, and Adrian wasn’t going to let that go unpunished. Nicholas had killed his brother in cold blood, and Adrian had waited patiently for this moment. He’d watched, biding his time, until the perfect opportunity to strike. And now, it was here.

He exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing as he turned away from the warehouse. Nicholas was playing right into his hands. The pieces were falling into place, one by one. He could feel the game unfolding, and the thrill of it sent a shiver down his spine. There would be no escape for Nicholas. No redemption. Adrian was going to break him.

As his steps took him further into the darkness, Adrian’s lips curled into another smirk. The storm was coming, and Nicholas had no idea just how deep the rabbit hole went. He had only scratched the surface. The real game was about to begin, and Adrian was going to make sure Nicholas never stood a chance.

Nicholas’s POV

Nicholas’s hands trembled as he gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. The raw, jagged pain of Isaac’s death hadn’t fully settled in yet—it felt like a storm that was still brewing, a violent, unrelenting force just waiting to tear him apart.

The road ahead blurred, the streetlights casting long shadows across the pavement as his car sped through the night. His mind was a storm of anger, confusion, and grief. Isaac. His younger brother. Gone. And the worst part was that he couldn’t even bring him a sense of justice. Adrian had stolen that from him too.

His mind kept returning to that damn message. Chloe. Just her name scrawled in blood. Nothing else.

He had tried to push the thoughts away, to focus on finding Adrian, on avenging Isaac. But Chloe’s name lingered like a ghost, haunting him. What did Adrian want with her? Why was she so important to him? Was she already in danger? Could Adrian be using her as a bargaining chip, or worse, as a weapon?

The idea of Chloe caught in Adrian’s game made his blood run cold. He had already lost so much. He wouldn’t lose her too. Not if he could help it.

He slammed his fist against the steering wheel in frustration, the sound reverberating in the empty car. It wasn’t enough to vent the rage building inside him. Nothing would be enough until Adrian was dead at his feet.

The streetlights blurred as he drove through the city’s winding roads, the weight of the world bearing down on his shoulders. As much as he wanted to focus on revenge, to make Adrian pay for what he’d done, a small voice in the back of his mind told him to focus on Chloe. To keep her safe. It was the only thing that mattered now.

Nicholas’s eyes hardened with resolve. He was done letting Adrian call the shots. He would find Chloe, protect her, and bring Adrian to his knees. He wasn’t going to stop until he did.

He picked up his phone again, dialing his men.

“Get everything you can on Adrian Grey,” he commanded, his voice low and dangerous. “Wherever he’s hiding, I want to know. And find out where Chloe is. Now.”