The warehouse district smelled of salt, rust, and impending doom. As Lucian's Maybach slowed to a crawl, the headlights sweeping over the derelict buildings, my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
"It's a trap, Aria," Lucian said, his voice dropping into a deadly, low register. He pulled a sleek, black handgun from the glove compartment with a practiced ease that made my breath hitch. "You know it, and I know it."
"I know," I whispered, staring at the darkened entrance of Warehouse 42. "But if I don't face him now, he'll haunt the edges of my life forever. I need to see the look on his face when he realizes he has truly lost."
Lucian turned to me, his icy blue eyes searching mine. "If things go sideways, you stay behind me. I didn't save you from the rain just to watch you burn in a warehouse."
We stepped out into the biting wind. The heavy iron door groaned as we pushed it open. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of sawdust and something metallic. Gasoline.
"Aria? Is that you?" Sarah's voice echoed from the shadows. She sounded weak, pathetic.
We followed the sound to a cleared space in the center of the floor. Sarah was tied to a chair, her "white lotus" face smeared with dirt and tears. Mark stood behind her, a canister of fuel in one hand and a flickering lighter in the other. He looked disheveled, his expensive tuxedo jacket gone, his eyes bloodshot and wild.
"You actually came," Mark laughed, a jagged, broken sound. "I told her you were too soft, Aria. Too predictable. You always did have a savior complex."
"Let her go, Mark," I said, stepping into the light. "The police are already on their way. My grandfather knows I'm here. Lucian knows everything. It's over."
"Over?" Mark screamed, splashing a circle of gasoline around Sarah's chair. "It's only over when I say it is! You took my company! You took my reputation! You turned my own family against me!"
"You did that to yourself the moment you touched my best friend in our bed," I countered, my voice gaining strength.
Mark looked at Sarah with pure loathing. "This tramp? She lied to me, Aria! She told me the baby was mine so I'd marry her and give her your life. But Lucian's men sent me the real files. She's been seeing her 'ex' for months. I threw away a goddess for a gutter rat!"
Sarah sobbed, shaking her head. "Mark, please... I loved you!"
"Shut up!" Mark flicked the lighter. The small flame danced, reflecting in his crazed eyes. "If I can't have the Thorne empire, and I can't have the Vance fortune... then no one gets out of here tonight."
Lucian stepped forward, his silhouette towering and terrifying. "Mark. Put the lighter down. You're a thief and a cheat, but don't add 'murderer' to the list. You won't survive the night if you drop that flame."
"I don't care about surviving!" Mark yelled.
I looked at Sarah, then back at Mark. Suddenly, I noticed something. Sarah's hands weren't tied behind the chair they were resting in her lap, hidden by a cloth. And Mark... he wasn't standing like a man about to kill. He was standing like a man waiting for a cue.
My blood ran cold.
"Lucian, wait," I whispered, grabbing his arm.
It was too late. From the rafters above, a heavy industrial net dropped, aimed directly at Lucian. He reacted with lightning speed, shoving me out of the way, but the weighted ropes tangled around him, pinning him to the ground.
Sarah jumped up from the chair, the "ropes" falling away effortlessly. She wasn't crying anymore. She pulled a small, high-voltage taser from her pocket and smiled a wicked, jagged expression that made her look like a demon.
"You're right, Aria," Sarah said, her voice dripping with venom. "Mark is a loser. But he's a loser with a very specific set of keys. Keys to the Vance vault that only you can authorize with a retinal scan."
Mark stepped away from the gasoline it was just water colored with tint. The smell was fake. Everything was a stage.
"We don't need the company anymore," Mark said, his voice calm now, chillingly so. "We just need one final 'gift' from the heiress. A transfer of the Vance liquid assets to a private account in the Caymans. Then, you and your 'Prince Charming' here can have a very unfortunate accident in this warehouse."
Sarah walked toward me, the taser humming in her hand. "I always hated how you looked down on me, Aria. Acting so 'charitable' while you had everything. Tonight, I take your man, your money, and your life."
She lunged at me.
But I didn't scream. I didn't run.
I reached into the small evening bag Lucian had given me before we left the car. I didn't pull out a phone. I pulled out a small, silver canister of high-grade pepper spray and a tactical folding knife.
"You forgot one thing, Sarah," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper as I dodged her swing. "I spent five years watching Mark's back because I knew he was surrounded by snakes. I learned how to handle vipers a long time ago."
I sprayed the mist directly into her eyes. Sarah shrieked, clutching her face.
Mark roared and charged at me, but a loud CRACK echoed through the warehouse.
Lucian had sliced through the net with a blade he had hidden in his sleeve. He stood up, looking like the God of War, his eyes glowing with a murderous intent. He didn't use the gun. He moved like a shadow, his fist connecting with Mark's jaw with a sickening crunch.
Mark hit the floor, unconscious before he even realized he'd been hit.
Lucian didn't stop. He walked over to Sarah, who was blinded and screaming on the floor. He knelt down, grabbing her by the hair, forcing her to look at the empty space where her "victory" should have been.
"You touched what belongs to me," Lucian whispered, his voice sending a chill down my spine. "And in my world, that's a death sentence."
"Lucian, stop," I said, stepping forward.
He looked at me, his face a mask of cold fury. "They tried to kill you, Aria."
"I know," I said, taking his hand. "But killing them is too easy. I want them to live. I want them to live in a six-by-six cell, watching the news every day as you and I build the empire they tried to steal. I want them to rot in the knowledge that they are nothing."
Lucian looked at me for a long beat, his grip on Sarah loosening. Slowly, the darkness in his eyes softened, replaced by a profound, dangerous admiration.
"You really are a Vance," he murmured.
Outside, the real sirens began to wail.
As the police stormed in, Lucian pulled me into his arms, shielding me from the flashes of the cameras. But before he led me out, he leaned down, his lips brushing my ear.
"The war is over, Aria. But our story? It's just getting started."