Ava
"She's lying. She has to be lying."
I stared at Adrian, hoping he would tell me I was right. That Selene couldn't possibly be his sister. That this was another trick, another layer of deception in a world built on lies.
But Adrian just stood there, frozen. His face had gone completely white. His hands trembled at his sides.
"Adrian?" I moved toward him. "Say something."
"It's her." His voice was barely a whisper. "I know my own sister."
Selene smiled, and it was nothing like the photos I'd seen around the mansion. In those pictures, she'd looked sweet and innocent. Now she looked like a beautiful snake, elegant and deadly.
"Six years," Adrian said. "I mourned you for six years. I searched everywhere. I never stopped looking."
"I know. It was amusing watching you waste resources on a ghost." Selene walked closer, her heels clicking on the concrete floor. "Did you really think someone as smart as me would be caught by Malric Dane? That pathetic old man?"
"Then whose body did they find?"
"A girl from the streets. Same age, same build. I killed her myself and planted my DNA on the remains." Selene's voice was casual, like she was discussing the weather. "The Syndicate has excellent resources for faking deaths."
Emma Voss watched the exchange with cool interest. Martha stood to the side, her face unreadable.
"Why?" Adrian's voice cracked. "Why would you do this to our family?"
"Family?" Selene laughed. "You mean the people who raised me to be a possession? Who decided my entire life before I was born? Father wanted to marry me off to strengthen business alliances. Mother was too insane to care. And you, dear brother, you were too busy becoming Father's perfect heir to notice I was suffocating."
"That's not true. I loved you."
"You loved the idea of me. The innocent little sister who needed protecting. But you never saw the real me." Selene's eyes glittered with malice. "The Syndicate showed me I could be more than someone's daughter or sister. I could have real power."
I found my voice. "So you tortured your mother? Helped fake your own kidnapping? Let your family suffer for years?"
"Exactly." Selene turned those cold gray eyes on me. "And who are you? The latest girl Adrian's obsessed with? How sweet."
"Leave her out of this," Adrian said.
"But she's part of it now. The moment you brought her into your world, she became fair game." Selene pulled out her phone. "In fact, I have detailed files on Ava Parker. Your dead brother. Your struggling mother who cleans houses to survive. Your student loans. Your dream of becoming a trauma surgeon. Everything."
My blood ran cold. "My mother?"
"Oh yes. Sweet woman. Lives on Maple Street in a tiny apartment. Works three jobs. It would be so easy to make her disappear."
Adrian moved fast, grabbing Selene by the throat. "You touch her family, and I'll kill you. Sister or not."
Selene didn't even flinch. "Go ahead. But Emma's men will shoot you before my body hits the floor. And then what happens to your precious Ava?"
Emma Voss clapped her hands once. "Enough. This family drama is entertaining, but we have business to discuss."
Adrian released Selene, who straightened her clothes calmly.
"Adrian, you now work for us," Emma continued. "Selene has been our asset for six years. She knows all your weaknesses, all your secrets. If you try to betray us, she'll destroy you from the inside."
"What do you want from me?"
"Cooperation. Loyalty. Obedience." Emma smiled. "In return, we'll protect you from your enemies, expand your territory, and make you richer than your father ever was."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then everyone you love dies. Starting with the doctor." Emma gestured to me. "Selene is quite creative with torture. She learned from the best."
Adrian was trapped, and everyone in the room knew it. He looked at me, and I saw the anguish in his eyes. He'd signed that contract to save me, and now we were both prisoners.
"Fine. I'll cooperate."
"Excellent." Emma turned to leave. "We'll be in touch with your first assignment. Oh, and Adrian? Don't try to run. We have eyes everywhere. Even in that precious mansion of yours."
Emma, Selene, and Martha walked out, leaving us with Zarek, who was still clutching his wounded shoulder.
"Boss, we need to move. Now."
Adrian nodded numbly. We got back to the cars and drove in silence. My mind was reeling. Selene was alive. She hated her family. She wanted to destroy Adrian. And she'd threatened my mother.
When we reached the safe house, Dante was waiting. His face was bruised and swollen from Malric's torture, but he was alive.
"Thank god," Dante said when he saw Adrian. "I thought they'd killed you."
"They did something worse." Adrian poured himself a drink and downed it in one gulp. "Selene's alive. She's working for the Syndicate."
Dante's face went slack with shock. "That's impossible."
"I wish it were." Adrian poured another drink. "She faked her death. She's been helping them control us for years."
I went to the bathroom and called my mother on a phone Zarek had given me. It was supposedly secure, but I didn't trust anything anymore.
"Ava? Honey, where have you been? I've been so worried."
"Mom, I'm okay. But I need you to do something for me. Pack a bag. Just essentials. And wait for a man named Dave to come get you."
"What? Why?"
"Please, Mom. I can't explain right now, but you're in danger. You need to trust me."
There was a long pause. "Does this have to do with why you haven't been to class in two weeks?"
"Yes. Mom, please. Just do this for me."
"Okay. Okay, I'll pack."
I hung up and went back to the living room. Adrian was giving Dave instructions.
"Bring her here. Use the secure route. And Dave? If anything happens to her, don't bother coming back."
Dave nodded and left.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"I won't let Selene hurt your mother." Adrian's jaw was tight. "I couldn't protect my own family, but I'll protect yours."
"Adrian, this isn't your fault."
"Isn't it? Selene said I never saw the real her. What if she's right? What if I was so focused on the business that I missed how much she was suffering?"
Dante spoke up. "Selene made her own choices. You can't blame yourself for that."
"Can't I?" Adrian slammed his glass down. "Our father was a monster. Our mother went insane. And I was too busy trying to survive to notice my sister was breaking. Some brother I was."
I touched his arm. "You were nineteen when she disappeared. Barely an adult yourself. You did the best you could."
"My best wasn't good enough."
Zarek came in, his shoulder now properly bandaged. "I've been digging into the Syndicate. It's worse than we thought. They control at least forty percent of organized crime worldwide. Banks, politicians, police departments. They're everywhere."
"How do we fight something that big?" Dante asked.
"We don't," Adrian said. "We can't. We just survive."
"That's it?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You're just going to do whatever they say?"
"What choice do I have, Ava? They'll kill you. They'll kill Dante. They'll kill your mother. I won't risk that."
"So we become their slaves?"
"If that's what it takes to keep you alive, yes."
I wanted to argue, but I understood. In his position, I'd probably make the same choice. Love made people vulnerable. And Adrian loved me, whether he'd said it out loud or not.
Dave returned two hours later with my mother. She was small and tired looking, her hands rough from years of cleaning other people's houses. When she saw me, she rushed over.
"Ava, what's going on? Why did that man bring me here?"
"Mom, sit down. I need to explain something."
I told her an edited version of the truth. That I'd witnessed a crime and was in protective custody. That dangerous people might try to use her to get to me. I left out the parts about Adrian kidnapping me and the Syndicate controlling our lives.
My mother listened, her face growing more worried with each word. "Ava, we should go to the police."
"We can't. These people have connections everywhere."
She looked at Adrian, really looked at him for the first time. "And who are you?"
"Adrian Blackwood. I'm the one keeping your daughter safe."
"Are you the reason she's in danger in the first place?"
Adrian didn't lie. "Yes."
My mother stood up. "Then we're leaving. Right now."
"Mom, we can't."
"Yes, we can. I don't care how dangerous these people are. I won't let you stay with the man who put you in danger."
"Mrs. Parker," Adrian said quietly. "If you leave this building, you'll both be dead within twenty four hours. The people hunting us don't care about innocence or guilt. They'll torture you to hurt Ava. And they'll make sure she watches."
My mother's face went pale. "You're lying."
"I wish I was."
She sat back down slowly, reality sinking in. "So we're prisoners?"
"You're protected," Adrian corrected. "There's a difference."
"Not much of one."
Adrian's phone rang. He looked at the screen and his expression darkened. "It's Emma."
He put it on speaker.
"Mr. Blackwood. I trust you're settling in?"
"What do you want?"
"Your first assignment. There's a rival organization moving drugs through the port. They're cutting into our profits. I want you to eliminate them."
"Eliminate how?"
"However you see fit. Kill the leadership, burn their operations, send a message that this territory belongs to us." Emma paused. "You have one week. Fail, and the doctor's mother dies. Slowly."
The line went dead.
We all sat in silence. Adrian's first order from the Syndicate was to commit mass murder. And if he refused, they'd kill my mother.
"I'll do it," Adrian said finally. "I'll take care of it."
"Adrian, no," Dante protested. "This is exactly what they want. To turn you into their weapon."
"I'm already their weapon. At least this way, I'm a weapon that keeps the people I love alive."
My mother looked at me with horror in her eyes. "Ava, what kind of people are these?"
I didn't have an answer. Because the truth was too terrible to say out loud. These people were monsters. And now we belonged to them.
Adrian stood and walked to the window. "Zarek, I need everything you can find on the organization at the port. Names, locations, security, everything."
"You're really going to do this?" I asked.
"I don't have a choice." He turned to face me. "Ava, I need you to understand something. I'm going to do terrible things. Things that will make you hate me. But I'm doing them to keep you and your mother alive."
"I won't hate you."
"You should." His voice was hollow. "Because the man who does what I'm about to do isn't someone worth loving."
He left the room, and I heard a door slam somewhere in the house.
My mother grabbed my hand. "Ava, we have to get out of here. This man is dangerous."
"I know, Mom. But he's also the only thing standing between us and people who are worse."
"There's always a choice."
"Not in this world. In this world, you survive or you die. There's no third option."
I went upstairs and found Adrian in a bedroom, staring at a gun on the dresser. He didn't look up when I entered.
"You should go back to your mother."
"She's fine. Dante's with her." I sat on the bed. "Talk to me."
"There's nothing to say. I have a job. I'll do it. End of story."
"Adrian, look at me."
He finally turned, and I saw the anguish in his eyes. "I killed my cousin for betraying the family. I've killed dozens of people over the years. But this is different. This is murder for hire. I'm not protecting my territory or my people. I'm killing strangers because someone ordered me to."
"Then don't do it."
"Your mother dies if I don't."
"Then we find another way."
"There is no other way!" His voice rose. "Don't you understand? The Syndicate owns us now. They own everything. And the price of disobedience is death."
I stood and walked to him. "Then we find a way to destroy them."
"That's impossible."
"Nothing's impossible. It's just difficult." I touched his face. "Adrian, you're the smartest, most dangerous man I know. If anyone can figure out how to beat the Syndicate, it's you."
"You have too much faith in me."
"Someone has to."
He pulled me close, holding me like I might disappear. "I don't deserve you."
"Probably not. But you're stuck with me anyway."
We stood there for a long moment, holding each other in the darkness. Two people who should never have met, bound together by violence and something that might be love.
A knock on the door interrupted us. Zarek entered, looking grim.
"Boss, we have a problem. The organization at the port? They're not just drug dealers."
"Then what are they?"
"Federal agents. It's an undercover operation. Emma wants you to kill cops."