The club vibrated with a low, rhythmic bass, the kind that got into your bones and summoned your heartbeat to follow in its merciless wake. Elena leaned against the mezzanine railing; the black silk of her dress absorbed the faint light, making her search for prey down below.
Drinks and music were never her line of interest. She was here for him.
Adrian perched near the VIP bar, his profile sharp under the red glare. The suit appeared magazine-worthy, but the eyes—oh, those eyes—were riveted on an unfamiliar man. The newcomer seemed older, one who had grown accustomed to an air of power. His hand rested leisurely on the bar, while the tension in his shoulders betrayed him.
Elena took her time going down the staircase, each click of her heels against the marble resonating deliberately. He saw her halfway down, an unreadable expression flitting across his face. A warning, perhaps.
By the time she got to the bottom, the older man had already melded into bodies.
"And who was that?" she asked as she moved close enough to smell the faint scent of his cologne.
"No one that you need to be concerned about," Adrian answered slowly, his smooth tone almost drenched with tension. "Besides, I'd prefer it if you steered clear of him."
"What? Because he is dangerous?"
"Because he is mine to deal with," Adrian replied, his stare still locked with hers.
In her clutch, the flash drive was feeling like lead by now, burning painfully through the leather fabric. For the last forty-eight hours, she had been going over its data with flickering heartbeats for each file she opened—bank accounts, coded transactions, shipments labeled only with numbers or foreign port names. Nestled in the middle of it all... a list of names. Some she knew; others she wished she didn't.
One name, in particular, had made her blood run cold.
"Your world seems to swallow people whole," she said, just barely audible over the music. "I'm not sure I want to go as deep anymore."
Adrian leaned in closer, his mouth hovering against her ear. "Too late for that, princesa. You're already in it."
She pulled back a little and met his gaze. "Maybe. But you ought to know... I don't stay in cages."
Something like a smile curled the edges of his mouth. "Good. I don't like caged birds. I like them wild...and loyal."
There was a pause. A shift in the atmosphere that signaled her danger.
The scream pierced through the loud music almost as if someone were having a fight for justice against the beating house pulse. Heads were turned toward the far end of the club, where two men had come to blows, one crashing into a table. Glass shattered. Blood streamed across the white tablecloth.
Adrian's security sprang into action, but amidst the fray, Elena caught a glimpse of the older man making his way toward the exit.
"Stay here," Adrian growled.
"Of course, I'm not going to obey," Elena said.
From the back hallway, she could see the man stepping into the alley, directly toward a black car that was idling with the back door open. She advanced quickly, her heels ticking behind her onto the concrete floor, her breath hitching in her throat.
"Wait!" she shouted.
He paused just long enough to glance over his shoulder. And in that brief moment, Elena saw something in his eyes—recognition.
"Your father doesn't want you here," he said in a low voice, but he was certain.
Blood turned to ice inside. "You knew him?"
"I worked for him," the man said, and before she could process this, he slipped inside the car and faded away, the tail lights already vanishing far into the night.
Elena remained standing still, pulse drumming in her ears.
Had this man been an ally of her father? Then everything lying in the flash drive… everything that Adrian was concealing… could easily tie into the betrayal that had driven her family to ruins.
And now it was confirmed: Adrian was not merely part of it.
He was the one holding the pen.