“This whole production.” I gesture around the room at the positioned guards and the theatrical lighting. “You’ve been planning this moment for two years, rehearsing what you’d sayand imagining how I’d react. And in all that time, you never once considered that I might not play along.”
“Sasha—”
“You want to know when you lost any power over me, Adrian?” I stand from my chair, and two guards take a step forward before Adrian waves them back. “It was the moment I realized your so-called feelings were nothing but a desire to possess me. You never wanted a relationship. You wanted a trophy.”
Adrian’s smile has completely disappeared now. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know exactly what I’m talking about. Every conversation we had was really about how I could benefit you. Every attempt you made to get closer to me was about acquisition, not affection. You never saw me as a person, Adrian. I was just another beautiful thing you wanted to add to your collection. And when I wouldn’t let myself be collected, you couldn’t handle it.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s completely true, and we both know it.” I keep my voice calm even as my heart pounds against my ribs. “You’re not angry because I reported your money laundering. You’re angry because I was never yours to begin with. That I saw through your charm and used it against you.”
Adrian’s face has gone red. “You ruined everything!.”
“You did that yourself. I just made sure other people knew about it.” I shake my head slowly. “And now you’ve spent two years and god knows how much money building this elaborate revenge scheme, and for what? Do you really think forcing me to comeback to you will make you happy? Do you think I’ll ever look at you with anything other than disgust?”
“You’ll learn.” Adrian’s voice has dropped to something dangerous. “Given enough time, you’ll learn to appreciate what I’m offering.”
“What you’re offering is a cage with gilded bars. And I’d rather watch you try to destroy my family than spend a single second pretending your feelings were ever real or reciprocated.”
Adrian’s composure shatters in that moment, and his face twists into something ugly.
“You ungrateful bitch.” He launches from his chair and takes a step toward me. “I gave you everything. I would have given you the world.”
“You manipulated me.” I let my voice rise, making sure it carries toward the windows. “And we’re done here.”
Adrian stares at me for a long moment. Then he turns to his guards and snaps, “Take them both. Put them in the basement until she’s ready to be more cooperative.”
The guards move forward as one unit, converging on Tony and me from all directions. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
Tony is already in motion. He launches himself at the guard closest to him, driving an elbow into the man’s throat before he can raise his weapon. The guard goes down choking, and Tony strips the gun from his hands in one smooth motion.
I lunge toward the fireplace and grab the iron poker from its stand. The guard reaching for my arm doesn’t see it coming untilI’ve already buried three inches of it in his shoulder. He screams and staggers backward, clutching the wound.
Another guard slams into me from behind, and the poker clatters across the floor. His arm wraps around my throat and cuts off my air. I claw at his forearm, but his grip only tightens.
Across the room, two more guards have Tony pinned against the wall. One of them drives a fist into his wounded shoulder, and Tony’s face goes white.
We miscalculated. We’re going to die in this room.
Gunfire erupts from somewhere outside. Boris’s team has started their breach.
The guard choking me loosens his grip to look toward the shattering windows, and I drive my elbow backward into his ribs. He grunts and releases me. I scramble for the poker and swing it at his temple. He drops.
The room descends into violence. Tony wrenches free from his captors and puts two bullets in them before they can recover. I duck behind Adrian’s massive desk as bullets tear into the wood above my head. Another guard rounds the corner, and I swing the poker at his knee, dropping him before he can get a shot off.
Glass shatters as Boris’s men come through the windows. More gunfire, more screaming, more bodies hitting the floor. I stay low and look around the room for Adrian, but he’s disappeared in the confusion.
“Sasha!” Tony’s voice cuts through the noise. “You okay?”
“I’m fine! Where’s Adrian?”
“I don’t know. I lost him.”
Boris appears in the doorway with three of his men, and their weapons sweep the room for remaining threats. The last of Adrian’s guards are either dead or surrendering with their hands raised as Boris’s team secures them.
“The study is clear,” Boris announces. “Where’s Belmont?”
