Chapter 4 - The Price of Silence
Adrian snatched the flash drive out of the air on pure instinct, his fingers closing tightly around the cold metal casing. The sharp edges bit into his freshly torn knuckles, sending a fresh wave of stinging pain up his forearm, but he didn't care. He locked his furious gaze onto Marcus Vance, who stood completely unbothered by the sheer physical intimidation of a muscular man twice his apparent combat weight.
"You have five seconds to explain what kind of sick game you and Clara are playing before I put you through that windshield," Adrian threatened, his voice a low, vibrating growl that shook the dead leaves on the nearby oak tree.
Marcus didn't flinch. Instead, he chuckled softly, adjusting his designer tie with deliberate slowness. "Violence always was your default setting, Adrian. It’s precisely why the family court judges in three different counties found you unfit before breakfast this morning. Did you really think a man with your underground record gets to keep a delicate child like Maya without paying a price?"
Adrian’s breath hitched. His mind raced back to his past, years before he had cleaned up his act, before he met Clara, before he built a legitimate construction business. Those sealed federal files were supposed to be buried forever.
"How do you know about that?" Adrian demanded, his eyes darting toward Clara. She looked away, refusing to meet his burning gaze.
"Clara didn't have to say a word," Marcus answered smoothly, taking a slow step forward. "When you sleep with people who operate in high-stakes corporate espionage, you tend to leave a very heavy paper trail. Your entire life—your business loans, your hidden offshore accounts, your fake identity from twenty years ago—it all belongs to my firm now. Hand over the SUV keys, Adrian, and maybe we can discuss a visitation schedule that doesn't end with you in a federal penitentiary."
"Never," Adrian snarled. He lunged forward, his massive frame covering the distance in a fraction of a second, aiming to grab Marcus by the lapels of his expensive suit.
Before Adrian’s heavy boots could plant for the tackle, Marcus raised the burner phone he had retrieved from his pocket and pressed a single glowing button on the screen. A loud, piercing digital beep echoed from inside the hidden compartment of the SUV's cargo hold.
Adrian froze mid-stride, his boots grinding to a halt on the gravel. From deep within the vehicle's interior wiring, a small, rhythmic ticking sound began to count down.
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"That's a remote demolition charge rigged to the main fuel line," Marcus whispered, his smile vanishing to reveal cold, dead eyes. "Drop the drive, Adrian. Right now. Or Maya goes up in flames with the rest of your pathetic secrets."
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