Chapter 7 - They Took Adrian Away—So Simone Took His EmpireBy sunrise, every news network had Adrian Kestrel’s face on-screen.
Crime lord arrested.
Racketeering investigation.
Federal conspiracy charges.
Simone watched from a safe apartment while commentators discussed a man none of them knew.
Some called him a murderer.
Some called him a businessman.
Some called him the last major organized-crime figure of an old era.
Simone called Owen.
“Get everyone together.”
“For what?”
“We’re finishing this.”
“Adrian told me to keep you out.”
“Adrian is in federal custody.”
“Exactly.”
“So unless he can conduct meetings through reinforced glass, you need someone else.”
Owen was silent.
Then laughed.
“God help us.”
The meeting happened at noon.
Marcus expected Adrian’s organization to collapse.
Margaret expected captains to defect.
Instead they found Simone sitting in Adrian’s chair.
Nobody liked it.
That was fine.
She had spent years serving people who disliked her.
At least these men were honest about it.
Caleb Shaw spoke first.
“You’re not serious.”
“I’m extremely serious.”
“You don’t know the business.”
“I know enough.”
“Which is?”
“That half your money is frozen, two warehouses are compromised, Margaret Lin is buying your suppliers, Marcus Vale knows your routes, and if you spend the next week arguing about whether a woman can sit in this chair, none of you will have jobs.”
Silence.
Owen smiled.
Caleb leaned forward.
“What do you want?”
“To dismantle Margaret.”
“How?”
“By understanding what she wants.”
“The ledger.”
“No.”
Simone shook her head.
“If Margaret only wanted the ledger, she would have killed me already.”
“Then what?”
“Control of the people inside it.”
She opened Celeste’s files.
“Margaret doesn’t want secrets exposed. She wants secrets preserved because secrets are leverage.”
Owen understood.
“So releasing the ledger destroys its value.”
“Exactly.”
Caleb stared.
“You’re going to publish everything?”
“Eventually.”
“Do you know how many people that destroys?”
“Yes.”
“Including us.”
“Yes.”
The room erupted.
Simone waited.
Then slammed her palm on the table.
“My mother died because all of you spent thirty years believing secrets were currency.”
Silence returned.
“You want Adrian back? You want Marcus gone? You want Margaret powerless?”
She looked around.
“Then stop protecting the machine that made them possible.”
One by one, the men agreed.
Not because they trusted Simone.
Because the alternative was extinction.
For forty-eight hours she barely slept.
Files went to prosecutors.
Victims received evidence.
Journalists published investigations.
Banks froze accounts.
Old alliances collapsed.
Margaret retaliated.
A car bomb destroyed one of Adrian’s offices.
Two captains disappeared.
Then Marcus called.
“Look at you.”
Simone stood on a rooftop while Owen traced the signal.
“You sound surprised.”
“I always thought you were dangerous.”
“You tried to kill me.”
“Because I knew what you could become.”
“Where are you?”
Marcus laughed.
“You think this is a movie?”
“No. In movies the villain talks long enough to get traced.”
The line went silent.
Owen held up three fingers.
Almost.
Marcus returned.
“Your father is alive.”
Simone froze.
“He left the hospital.”
“Wrong.”
Marcus sent a photograph.
Daniel tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Alive.
“You want him?”
Simone’s voice remained steady.
“What do you want?”
“The original ledger.”
“You know I copied it.”
“I want the original.”
“Why?”
“Sentimental value.”
Owen mouthed:
Keep him talking.
Simone walked toward the edge of the roof.
“You worked for Margaret before Jonah.”
“Yes.”
“You recruited him.”
“She did.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian was Victor’s heir. Jonah was the spare.”
Simone frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus laughed.
“You still don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Jonah Pryce was Victor Kestrel’s son.”
The world seemed to stop.
Adrian’s best friend.
His brother.
Literally.
Victor had fathered Jonah with another woman.
Margaret discovered it.
She raised Jonah on the truth.
Fed his resentment.
Convinced him Adrian had stolen the life that should have been his.
“Jonah knew?”
“Since he was sixteen.”
“Adrian?”
“Never.”
Owen’s face had gone pale.
Marcus continued.
“Tell Adrian when you see him. If you see him.”
The call ended.
Trace failed.
Simone stood beneath the gray sky.
Jonah’s betrayal suddenly became tragic in a way she had not expected.
Two boys.
Same father.
One acknowledged.
One hidden.
Margaret had weaponized that wound for decades.
But Jonah had still made choices.
Just like Daniel.
Just like Adrian.
Just like Simone.
Her phone rang again.
Federal detention center.
Adrian.
She answered.
“I know about Jonah.”
Silence.
“How?”
“Marcus.”
Another silence.
“He was my brother.”
“Yes.”
Adrian breathed.
“Jesus.”
Simone closed her eyes.
“I’m getting my father back.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Simone, Marcus wants you emotional.”
“He has my father.”
“And you have an organization.”
She almost smiled.
“Funny you should mention that.”
“What did you do?”
“I borrowed your chair.”
Adrian groaned.
“Simone.”
“It fits.”
“Please tell me Owen stopped you.”
“Owen brought coffee.”
In the background, Owen raised his cup.
Adrian was silent.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh Simone had heard from him.
“Of course he did.”
His voice softened.
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
“Simone.”
“Yes?”
“I meant what I did before they took me.”
The kiss.
Her heart tightened.
“I know.”
“No. I need you to hear it.”
She waited.
“I love you.”
There it was.
No empire.
No gunfire.
No bargaining.
Just truth.
Simone closed her eyes.
“I love you too.”
Then she disconnected.
May you like
Because love was not going to rescue Daniel.
She was.
Related Stories
