MARCUS POV
Marcus Stone appeared in my penthouse three nights after the board meeting.
I didn't hear him enter. Didn't see him move through my security. One moment I was alone reading financial reports, the next moment he was standing by the window like he'd materialized from shadows.
"You need better security," he said without greeting. "I've breached your perimeter four times this week. If I was here to complete the contract, you'd already be dead."
My heart hammered but I kept my voice steady. "I thought we had a deal."
"We do. Which is why I'm telling you that your security is garbage." Marcus moved closer. "Vinny Jr. isn't going to wait seven more weeks. He's going to escalate. And when he does, your current systems won't stop him."
"What do you suggest?"
"Let me audit everything. Guards, cameras, entry points, emergency protocols. I'll identify every weakness before your brother does." He paused. "Unless you'd prefer to die surprised."
I closed my laptop. "Why are you helping me? This goes beyond our agreement."
"Because watching you die to an amateur would be insulting." Marcus's expression didn't change. "If anyone kills Grace Morgan, it should be someone who actually earned it."
I couldn't tell if that was a threat or a compliment. With Marcus Stone, maybe it was both.
"Fine. Audit my security. But you work with Tommy Vega. He's head of my protection detail."
"Tommy Vega hates me. He thinks I'm here to kill you."
"You are here to kill me. Eventually. That doesn't mean you can't be useful first."
Something flickered in Marcus's eyes. Amusement maybe. Or respect. "Six weeks and five days remaining. Don't waste my time with incompetence."
He left the same way he'd arrived. Like smoke.
The next morning, Tommy cornered me in my office. "Marcus Stone spent three hours reviewing our security last night. He found twelve critical vulnerabilities. Twelve." Tommy looked furious and impressed in equal measure. "He's either the best security consultant I've ever met or he's planning the perfect assassination."
"Both," I said. "Which is why we're keeping him close. Better to have a weapon you can see than one hiding in shadows."
"Grace, this is insane. You're letting a contract killer into your inner circle."
"I'm using every resource available. Father taught me that intelligence means knowing when to turn enemies into assets." I pulled up the security audit Marcus had left. "Implement his suggestions. All of them. If Marcus Stone says we're vulnerable, we're vulnerable."
Tommy left shaking his head. But by evening, every weakness Marcus identified was being addressed. New cameras. Reinforced entry points. Background checks on every guard.
My phone buzzed. The secure line Marcus gave me.
Rooftop. Midnight. Come alone.
I should have refused. Should have brought guards. Should have done anything except exactly what a contract killer told me to do.
Instead I went to the rooftop alone at midnight.
Marcus stood at the edge overlooking the city. He didn't turn when I approached.
"Your brother met with Carlo Rossini three hours ago," Marcus said. "Private restaurant. No guards. They talked for ninety minutes."
My stomach dropped. "Carlo supports me. He voted with me."
"Carlo supports whoever offers the best deal. Vinny Jr. just offered him control of the drug operations if he helps remove you." Marcus finally looked at me. "You have a traitor on your board."
"How do you know this?"
"Because I've been following your brother since our agreement. Learning his patterns. Identifying his allies." Marcus handed me a phone with photographs. Vinny Jr. and Carlo shaking hands. Documents spread across a table. Money changing hands.
"Carlo took the deal?"
"Not yet. He's calculating which option is more profitable. You or your brother." Marcus moved closer. "This is what I'm talking about. You focus on strategy and negotiation. I'll focus on the threats you can't see coming."
"Why would you help me identify threats? That makes completing your contract harder."
"Because if you die to your brother's incompetence, I don't get paid. The contract specifies I eliminate you. Not that I stand aside while amateurs do my job." His voice dropped lower. "And because watching you think three moves ahead is the most interesting thing I've seen in thirteen years."
The admission hung between us. Dangerous. Honest. The kind of truth that changed everything.
"What should I do about Carlo?" I asked.
"What would your father do?"
"Kill him. Make an example. Show the board that betrayal has consequences."
"And what will you do?"
I looked at the photographs. Carlo's greed. Vinny Jr.'s desperation. The empire my father built fracturing under pressure I'd inherited.
"I'll give Carlo a choice. Support me completely or lose everything. His position. His operations. His secrets." I met Marcus's eyes. "Violence is easy. Making someone choose loyalty is harder. But it lasts longer."
Marcus studied me like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. "You really believe that? That morality is stronger than fear?"
"I believe that fear makes people look for exits. Loyalty makes them stay." I stepped closer. "You agreed to two months because some part of you wanted to know if that was true. If people like us could choose differently."
"People like us," Marcus repeated. "An assassin and a mob princess."
"Two people trying to survive in a world that wants us dead. That makes us the same."
Something shifted in Marcus's expression. The ice cracked just slightly. "You're either the smartest person I've ever met or the most naive. I haven't decided which."
"You have six weeks to figure it out."
The air between us changed. Became charged with something that had nothing to do with contracts or empires. For a moment we just stood there, two people who should be enemies discovering they might be something else.
Marcus's phone buzzed. He checked it and his expression went cold.
"We have a problem. Vinny Jr. just hired additional contractors. Not from The Collective. From the Russians."
My blood froze. "How many?"
"Four. Professionals. They're already in the city." Marcus looked at me with something like concern. "Grace, this isn't a single assassin you can negotiate with. This is a coordinated attack. They'll hit you from multiple angles simultaneously."
"When?"
"Seventy-two hours. Maybe less."
I pulled out my phone and called Tommy. "Emergency protocol. Lock down the building. No one in or out without my personal authorization. We have hostile contractors in the city."
Tommy started asking questions but I hung up. There wasn't time for explanations.
"I need to know their faces," I told Marcus. "Their patterns. Everything."
Marcus handed me another phone. "Already compiled. Four Russian contractors. Former military. Specializing in high-profile eliminations." He paused. "Grace, you can't fight them. Your best option is to disappear until they leave the city."
"Disappearing means weakness. The board will see it as proof I can't protect myself."
"The board won't see anything if you're dead."
"Then help me." I grabbed his arm without thinking. The contact sent electricity through both of us. "You said you wanted to see if I could survive. Help me survive this."
Marcus stared at where my hand touched his arm. When he looked up, something had changed in his eyes. Something that looked almost like decision.
"This goes beyond our agreement."
"I know. I'm asking anyway."
Silence stretched between us. Then Marcus did something I didn't expect.
He smiled. Not much. Just a slight curve at the corner of his mouth. But it transformed his entire face from death into something almost human.
"Six weeks and two days remaining. Try not to die before then."
"Is that a promise or a threat?"
"Both." Marcus pulled away and walked toward the rooftop exit. "Stay visible tomorrow. Let them think you're an easy target. I'll handle the rest."
"Marcus." He stopped but didn't turn. "Why are you really doing this?"
Long pause. Then: "Because you make me want to believe that morality matters. And I haven't wanted to believe anything in thirteen years."
He disappeared into the stairwell.
I stood alone on that rooftop staring at the city below. Somewhere out there, four Russian contractors were planning my death. My brother was buying loyalty with promises he couldn't keep. The board was calculating whether I'd survive long enough to matter.
And Marcus Stone, the man sent to kill me, had just promised to keep me alive.
My phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.
Tick tock, little sister. Hope you're ready to die.
Vinny Jr. wasn't even trying to hide anymore.
Seventy-two hours until the Russians attacked.
Six weeks until Marcus completed or closed the contract.
Time was running out in multiple directions.
I just had to survive long enough to figure out which deadline would kill me first.