Chapter 10 - The HeartbeatThe ultrasound room was dark.
One second he was behind me.
The next he was between me and the gun.
“Get behind the table.”
I didn’t argue.
Growth.
Rebecca pulled me down as gunfire erupted.
The first shots shattered the glass wall.
Board members screamed.
Adrian overturned the conference table and fired twice.
One of Victor’s men fell.
Serena dove behind a credenza.
“Where are the federal agents?” I shouted.
Rebecca checked her phone.
“Signal jammer!”
Of course.
Because apparently nothing in my life could happen normally.
Victor’s voice carried through the room.
“Adrian!”
Gunfire stopped.
Adrian crouched beside me.
“You hit?”
“No.”
He looked at my stomach.
“I’m fine.”
Across the room, Victor laughed.
“You see what she has done to you?”
Adrian’s expression turned deadly.
“She taught me what my father never understood.”
“What?”
“That fear isn’t loyalty.”
Victor fired again.
The bullet struck inches above Adrian’s head.
He returned fire.
Glass exploded.
Serena crawled toward us.
“He has Jacob.”
“What?” Adrian asked.
“He brought him.”
Her face was white.
“Where?”
“Service level.”
Rebecca whispered, “That’s why he came personally.”
Serena nodded.
“He planned to trade him for my cooperation.”
Adrian looked toward the door.
“You stay with Elena.”
“No,” Serena said.
“Serena.”
“My brother.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Then he handed her a spare magazine.
“Service stairs. East side.”
She took it.
For one strange second, they looked like the people they had been before me.
Two damaged teenagers raised inside someone else’s war.
Then Serena left.
I didn’t feel jealous.
I felt sad.
Victor called again.
“Elena!”
Adrian’s hand tightened around his gun.
“Don’t answer.”
Naturally, I answered.
“Yes?”
“Come out and nobody else dies.”
Adrian glared.
I ignored him.
“You tried to kill me.”
“Business.”
“You threatened my child.”
“Legacy.”
“You sound exactly like Carlo.”
Silence.
I knew I had struck something.
Then Victor laughed.
“You know nothing about my brother.”
“I know he murdered Adrian’s mother.”
The room went still.
Adrian looked at me.
We had not planned that.
Victor’s voice changed.
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
Another silence.
I continued.
“You helped him, didn’t you?”
Rebecca looked at me sharply.
Then understood.
We were recording.
Every word.
She activated a small device clipped beneath the overturned table.
Victor didn’t know.
“You think Isabella was innocent?” he shouted.
Adrian went still.
Victor continued.
“She was going to destroy everything.”
Adrian’s face became stone.
“So you killed her.”
“No.”
Victor’s answer came too fast.
“My brother did.”
“But you were there.”
Silence.
“That’s enough,” Rebecca whispered.
Confession of presence.
Potential conspiracy.
But we needed more.
I raised my voice.
“And now you’re doing the same thing to me.”
Victor laughed.
“You’re nothing like Isabella.”
“No?”
“She was afraid.”
My stomach twisted.
Adrian’s face changed.
“And Elena?” Victor continued.
“Elena thinks signing papers makes her powerful.”
I stood before Adrian could stop me.
“Elena.”
I stepped into partial view.
Victor pointed the gun directly at me.
“Elena!” Adrian barked.
“Stay.”
His eyes nearly bulged.
Perhaps I enjoyed that too much.
I looked at Victor.
“You want Northstar?”
“Yes.”
“It’s gone.”
His smile faltered.
“What?”
“The trust changed Wednesday.”
Victor’s face drained.
“You’re lying.”
“Rebecca.”
She raised the signed document.
“Victor Vale has no succession rights over Northstar Holdings under any circumstance.”
His gun shook.
“You can’t.”
“I did.”
“And Carlo’s estate?”
I smiled.
“Also gone.”
“No.”
“Every dollar.”
I touched my stomach.
“My child won’t inherit your family’s curse.”
Victor’s composure broke.
“This family built that fortune!”
“On whose blood?”
“You self-righteous little—”
He raised the gun.
Adrian fired.
Victor stumbled.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
Chaos exploded.
Two men rushed Adrian.
Rebecca pulled me down.
More gunfire.
Then the boardroom doors burst open.
Federal tactical officers flooded the room.
“DROP YOUR WEAPONS!”
Victor’s remaining men surrendered.
Adrian did too.
Immediately.
That mattered.
He placed his gun on the floor.
Raised his hands.
For the first time, I watched Adrian Vale willingly submit to authorities.
Victor, however, refused.
He crawled toward his weapon.
An agent kicked it away.
“You’re under arrest.”
Victor laughed through gritted teeth.
“For what?”
Rebecca stood.
“How much time do you have?”
Victor looked at her.
She smiled.
“Conspiracy. Attempted murder. Kidnapping. Weapons charges. Corporate extortion.”
She lifted the recording device.
“And thank you for discussing Isabella Vale.”
Adrian stared at his uncle.
“What did you do to my mother?”
Victor said nothing.
Adrian stepped forward.
Agents moved.
He stopped himself.
I saw the fight happen inside him.
Old Adrian would have crossed the room.
Would have hurt Victor.
Maybe killed him.
Instead, he closed his fists.
And stayed where he was.
Victor smiled.
“Your wife made you soft.”
Adrian looked at me.
Then back at his uncle.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“She made me stop confusing violence with strength.”
Victor was dragged away.
I should have felt relief.
Instead, my legs gave out.
Adrian caught me.
“Elena?”
Pain tightened across my abdomen.
Sharp.
Terrifying.
I gripped his jacket.
“Something’s wrong.”
His face turned white.
“What?”
Another cramp.
Then warmth between my legs.
I looked down.
Blood.
“No.”
Adrian’s voice broke.
“No, no, no.”
Rebecca was already calling for medical help.
The room blurred.
Adrian lifted me.
I heard him shouting.
Someone said ambulance.
Someone said eleven weeks.
Someone said possible miscarriage.
I buried my face against Adrian’s chest.
“Don’t let me lose the baby.”
His arms tightened.
“You won’t.”
“You can’t promise.”
“I know.”
For the first time, his voice shook.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
At the hospital, they took me behind double doors.
Adrian wasn’t allowed inside.
Before they separated us, I caught his hand.
“Stay.”
His eyes filled.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
May you like
And this time, when I needed him—
Adrian stayed.
