Elena's POV
"Choose."
Adrian's word cuts through the chaos like a blade. His mother is dying. My sister is being followed. A dead man is bleeding on his floor.
And he wants me to choose.
"I don't understand," I whisper.
"You have three options." Adrian's voice is ice-cold, clinical. He's still holding his wounded side, blood seeping through his fingers, but he talks like we're discussing the weather. "One: I put you on a plane right now. New identity, new life, enough money to disappear forever. You run, and you never stop running."
"But Sophia—"
"Marcus is already sending a team to extract your sister. She'll be safe either way." He stands, wincing. "Option two: we call Detective Morrison. You turn over your evidence, enter police protection, hope the system works fast enough to arrest Damian before he gets to you."
I shake my head. "The police couldn't protect me before. They won't now."
"Probably not," Adrian agrees brutally. "Damian has judges, prosecutors, cops on his payroll. You'd be lucky to survive a week in protective custody."
My stomach twists. "And option three?"
"You stay with me. We combine your evidence with my resources and destroy Damian together. Completely. Permanently." His storm-gray eyes lock on mine. "But if you choose this, there's no backing out. No changing your mind when it gets hard. You're all in, or you're gone."
Marcus appears from another room, phone to his ear. "Team's thirty seconds from Sophia's location. They'll have her secure in two minutes."
Relief crashes over me, but it's short-lived.
"Why would you help me?" I ask Adrian. The question I should have asked from the beginning. "He's your brother. Your family. Why turn against him for a stranger?"
Something dangerous flashes in Adrian's eyes. "He stopped being my brother the first time he put his hands on you."
"You don't even know me."
"I know enough." His jaw tightens. "I saw you at your engagement party three years ago. Saw the way he touched you—possessive, controlling. Saw the fear you tried to hide behind your smile. I pulled him aside that night, told him if he hurt you, I'd make him regret it."
I remember that conversation. Damian's rage in the car afterward, the names he called his brother.
"He didn't listen," I whisper.
"No. He never does." Adrian's fists clench. "I should have done more. Should have acted instead of watching from the shadows, gathering evidence like a coward. Every bruise on your body is my failure."
"That's not true—"
"It is." He cuts me off. "I knew what he was. I've known for years. But I told myself it wasn't my place to interfere. That you'd leave when you were ready. I was wrong."
Marcus clears his throat. "Got Sophia. She's shaken but unhurt. Damian's guy followed her to a gas station but backed off when our team showed up."
Thank God. "Where is she?"
"Safe house in Queens. She'll stay there until this is over."
I look at Adrian, this cold, controlled man who somehow predicted Damian's every move. "You've been planning this. Waiting for the right moment."
"For two years," he admits. "Building a case, collecting evidence of his illegal operations. But I needed someone on the inside. Someone who could testify to what he really is." His eyes meet mine. "You're that someone."
"So I'm useful to you."
"Yes." He doesn't sugarcoat it. "You have evidence I need. Access to his private life, his patterns, his weaknesses. Together, we can bury him."
"And what do you get out of this? Besides destroying your brother?"
Adrian's expression hardens. "I get to stop a monster before he kills someone. Before he becomes exactly what our father was." He pauses. "And I get to prove I'm not the coward who let it happen."
There's pain in his voice. Old pain, buried deep.
"What's the catch?" I ask. "There's always a catch."
"Smart." Marcus grins despite the tension. "I like her."
Adrian ignores him. "The catch is you'll pose as my girlfriend. Publicly. At events, galas, anywhere Damian might see you."
My blood runs cold. "You want me to pretend—"
"It's the perfect cover," he interrupts. "Keeps you hidden in plain sight. Explains why I'm protecting you. And it destroys Damian psychologically—watching me 'steal' what he considers his property."
"I'm not property."
"I know. But Damian doesn't." Adrian's voice softens slightly. "This isn't real. It's strategy. You'll have your own room, your own space. I won't touch you without permission. But to the world, you're mine. It keeps you safe and drives Damian insane. Two birds, one stone."
I should say no. Should run far away from this man who's just as controlling as Damian, just in different ways.
But Adrian is offering me what I've wanted for three years: a weapon. A way to fight back.
"If I agree," I say slowly, "I want conditions."
"Name them."
"My sister stays protected. No matter what."
"Done."
"I want to learn self-defense. Real training, not just basics."
Adrian nods. "I'll teach you myself."
"And when this is over, when Damian is in prison or dead or whatever we're planning..." I lift my chin. "I walk away free. No strings, no debts, no favors owed."
"Agreed." He extends his hand. "Do we have a deal?"
I look at his hand. Strong, scarred, deadly. The hand that just killed a man to protect me. The hand that belongs to someone as dangerous as the monster I'm running from.
Maybe more dangerous.
But right now, dangerous is exactly what I need.
I shake his hand. "We have a deal."
His grip is firm but not crushing. "Then we start now. Marcus, send the photos to the media outlets."
"What photos?" I ask.
Marcus is already typing on his phone, grinning. "The ones I took while you two were having your dramatic moment. Adrian holding you, looking protective. You looking up at him with trust. They're perfect."
"You took photos? When?"
"I'm always taking photos," Marcus says cheerfully. "It's kind of my job."
My phone—the new secure one Marcus gave me—buzzes. I look at the screen and freeze.
It's a text from Damian: Enjoy playing house with my brother. See how long it takes before he shows you who he really is. Before he becomes exactly what I am. You traded one monster for another, baby. Sweet dreams.
I show Adrian the message.
His expression doesn't change. "Block his number."
"He'll just get another one."
"Then we'll block that one too." Adrian heads toward his bedroom, still bleeding. "Get some rest. Tomorrow we go public with our relationship. Damian will retaliate, and I need you sharp."
"Adrian." I stop him. "Your mother. The hospital—"
"Is sending updates every hour. She's stable for now." His voice cracks slightly. Just slightly. "I can't see her until this is resolved. If I go to the hospital, Damian will know. He'll use her to get to you."
"So you're choosing me over seeing your own mother?"
He turns, and the look in his eyes steals my breath. "I'm choosing to stop Damian before he kills anyone else I care about. There's a difference."
He disappears into his room, leaving me alone with Marcus.
"He cares about you," Marcus says quietly. "More than he's admitting."
"He barely knows me."
"Adrian doesn't need to know someone long to decide they're worth protecting. It's who he is." Marcus starts cleaning up the blood. "Just... be patient with him. He's not good at people. At feelings. But he's good at keeping promises."
I nod, too exhausted to argue.
My phone buzzes again. Another message.
But not from Damian this time.
Unknown number: Check your sister's jacket pocket. I left her a present. You have 12 hours to return what you stole, or I detonate it. Your move, Elena.
My hands shake as I call Marcus's team. "Check Sophia's jacket. Now. Don't let her—"
Marcus is already on it, phone to his ear, barking orders.
Ten seconds of agonizing silence.
Then his face goes white.
"They found a device," he says. "Small explosive, remote detonation. Enough to kill everyone in the safe house."
The room tilts.
Damian didn't just follow Sophia.
He planted a bomb on her.
And we brought her right to our safe house, full of Adrian's people.
My sister is wearing a bomb, and I have twelve hours to surrender myself or everyone dies.