Chapter 6 - The UltimatumThe room seemed to tilt on its axis.
I stared at Serrano in absolute horror. "No," I breathed, shaking my head. "That's impossible. I didn't file the final testimony today. I kept the burner phone in my coat, but I never hit send!"
Adrien slowly turned back to face me. The fragile trust we had built over the last twenty-four hours shattered into a million irreparable pieces. The look in his eyes wasn't rage anymore; it was cold, hollow devastation.
"You had it set on a timer," Adrien said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Didn't you, Norah? If you didn't check in with Vance by 2:00 p.m. today—if you were trapped, or captured, or dead—the encrypted file dropped automatically to the DOJ."
"Adrien, I swear to God I didn't mean for it to drop today," I pleaded, taking a step toward him, my hands outstretched. "I was scared! I didn't know what you were going to do with me once you found out about the baby! I thought you were going to lock me away forever!"
"And instead, you locked me away," Adrien replied softly. He reached inside his jacket, pulled out the encrypted burner phone he had confiscated from me earlier in the office, and dropped it onto the mahogany desk.
The screen flashed with a notification from Vance: Files received. Secure location compromised. Federal agents en route to Chestnut Hill.
"Adrien, listen to me," I begged, tears streaming down my face as I grabbed his sleeve. "The feds are coming, but we can fix this. Vance promised me immunity for cooperating. If I tell him you're the father of my child—if I negotiate—they can give you a deal, we can walk away—"
"Walk away?" Adrien laughed, a harsh, humorless sound that chilled me to the bone. "Norah, men like me don't walk away. When the DOJ seizes those offshore accounts, Moretti’s syndicate will smell blood in the water. They won't wait for a federal trial. They'll storm this house tonight to eliminate me and anyone connected to my empire."
As if on cue, the exterior security monitors on the wall flickered to life.
Down the winding private drive of the Chestnut Hill estate, a convoy of three unmarked black SUVs plowed through the iron security gates, their high beams cutting blinding paths through the falling snow. But they weren't federal cruisers. The men pouring out of the vehicles carried automatic rifles with suppressors, wearing tactical gear bearing the insignia of Moretti’s enforcers.
"Moretti's men," Serrano hissed, raising his rifle. "They bypassed the perimeter sensors!"
"They didn't bypass them," Adrien said, his eyes never leaving mine. "They were invited by the chaos of the federal leak."
The first heavy thud of a breaching charge echoed against the front oak doors of the mansion.
"Serrano, get the armored car ready in the rear courtyard," Adrien commanded without breaking eye contact with me. "Take Norah to the safehouse across the Pennsylvania border."
"No!" I screamed, grabbing Adrien’s arm. "I'm not leaving you here to die! If Moretti's men break through, they'll execute you!"
"And if you stay here, they'll execute both of you," Adrien said, his grip on my shoulders firm, almost painful in its intensity. He looked down at my stomach, his thumb gently brushing my cheek one last time. "You wanted out of this world, Norah. You wanted a clean slate, a safe life for our child. Go with Serrano. Let the feds take me. It's the only way you and the baby survive."
"I won't do it," I sobbed, shaking my head violently. "I won't run away and leave you to take the fall for everything!"
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Before I could say another word, the heavy oak doors of the study burst inward with a deafening crash.
Bullets chewed through the wooden doorframe as Moretti’s men swarmed the hallway. Serrano grabbed my arm with brute force, yanking me backward toward the private panic room corridor behind the bookshelves just as Adrien raised his pistol, stepped into the line of fire, and pulled the trigger.
