Chapter 148 The Final Threat
Third Person POV
Sophia stood over Gavin’s unconscious body, the crimson mantle draped across her shoulders like a conqueror’s cloak.
Blood pooled beneath him. Spreading everywhere. Too much blood.
He was dying and she didn’t care. If she couldn’t have him he could as well die.
She turned to face the gathered crowd. Guards. Staff. A few remaining family associates who hadn’t fled or been arrested.
All of them staring at her with varying degrees of fear and confusion.
“I want Melissa Hayes dead,” Sophia screamed. Her voice echoed through the hall. Shrill and unhinged . “I want her brought before me DEAD!”
The crowd shifted uncomfortably. No one moved.
“NOW!” Sophia shrieked. “Find her and kill her! I am your queen! I command you!”
One guard…braver or more foolish than the rest…stepped forward.
“My lady,” he said carefully. “She’s… she’s escaped. She’s outside the compound with…”
Sophia raised the gun and fired.
The guard’s head snapped back and he dropped like a stone.
The crowd gasped and scattered backward.
Sophia lowered the gun. Her hand was steady now. Her eyes were wild but her movements were calm.
Terrifyingly calm.
“Does anyone else have bad news for me?” she asked pleasantly.
Silence.
Sophia knelt beside Gavin and reached into his jacket pocket with her free hand.
She found his phone and pulled it out.
The screen was cracked but still functional. Still showing signal.
She scrolled through his recent calls. Found the number she wanted.
Kane.
She pressed the dial.
——-
Outside the Compound - Kane
Kane stood near the vehicles, watching Ethan settle Melissa into the backseat. The medic was checking her broken arm, adjusting the sling, monitoring her vitals.
She was safe. Physically, at least.
But her eyes were distant and haunted. The drugs were wearing off but the trauma remained.
Kane’s phone rang.
He pulled it out. Saw the caller ID: Gavin.
Relief flooded through him. Gavin was alive. Had made it out. Was calling to…
“Boss,” Kane answered immediately. “Where are you? We have Melissa, we’re ready to…”
“Hello, Kane.”
It was not Gavin’s voice.
Sophia’s. Kane’s blood ran cold.
“If Melissa and you don’t get back here in two minutes,” Sophia said, her voice unnaturally calm, “I’ll kill Aria. And then I’ll kill Gavin.”
The world stopped.
“Aria,” Kane whispered. His voice cracked on the name. “How…”
“Oh, you left your little girlfriend unprotected,” Sophia laughed. The sound was manic and broken. “Did you really think we wouldn’t get to her? She was so easy to find, Kane. So easy to take.”
Kane’s hand tightened on the phone until the case cracked.
“If you’ve touched her…”
“Five minutes, Kane,” Sophia interrupted. “You and Melissa. Back in the compound. Or I start shooting.”
The line went dead.
Kane stood frozen. His mind racing. His heart pounding so hard he could hear it.
Aria.
They had Aria.
How? When? He’d left her in the safe apartment with guards. With security. With…
It didn’t matter how.
All that mattered was that Sophia had her.And Sophia was insane enough to kill her.
In the vehicle, Melissa stirred.
She’d been drifting in and out of consciousness. The exhaustion, the drugs, the trauma…all of it pulling her under.
But something in Kane’s voice cut through the fog.
Her eyes opened and focused on Kane’s face, she saw how sad he looked and knew something had gone wrong.
“Kane?” Her voice was weak. “What’s wrong?”
Kane didn’t answer. Just stood there staring at the phone in his hand.
“Did she just say Aria?” Melissa pushed herself up with her good arm. Ignored the medic trying to keep her lying down. “Kane! Did she say Aria?”
Kane’s jaw clenched. “Yes.”
“Where’s Gavin?”
“With Sophia.” His voice was flat. Dead. “She has them both.”
Melissa’s world tilted. Both Aria and Gavin were captured.
And they were being given a choice. Go back and die.
Or run and let them die.
“We have to go back,” Melissa said immediately.
“No.” Kane’s voice was firm. “My orders are to get you out. Keep you safe. That’s what Gavin wants. That’s what…”
“I don’t care what Gavin wants!” Melissa was fully awake now. Adrenaline burning through the last of the drugs. “Aria is my best friend. The only family I have left. And Gavin is…”
She couldn’t finish. Couldn’t put into words what Gavin was to her.
The man who’d killed her father. The man she’d fallen in love with. The man who’d burned an empire to save her.
The man who was bleeding out because of her.
“We’re not leaving them,” she said.
Kane looked at her. And saw the determination in her eyes. The fear. The love. He saw everything he felt about Aria reflected back at him.
“We’ll die if we go back in there,” he said quietly.
“Maybe.” Melissa pulled the IV from her good arm. Ignored the medic’s protest. “But we’ll definitely live with the guilt if we don’t.”
Kane was silent for a long moment.
His training said run. Get the asset to safety. Complete the mission.
His heart said something different.
“Ethan,” Kane called out.
Ethan appeared from where he’d been coordinating with the other men.
“If we don’t make it out,” Kane said, “make sure the evidence reaches the authorities. Make sure the families burn.”
Ethan’s eyes widened. “You’re going back in.”
“Yes.”
“That’s suicide.”
“Probably.” Kane looked at Melissa. “But it’s the right thing to do.”
Melissa was already standing. Swaying slightly. The medic tried to stop her.
She pushed past him.
Looked at the compound ahead. The massive structure that was falling apart. Fires burning in several wings. Smoke rising into the night sky.
A nightmare made of marble and blood.
Somewhere in there, Gavin was dying. Aria was being held hostage.
And Sophia…mad, broken Sophia…held all the cards.
It was suicide to go back.
But Melissa had been through hell already. Had survived kidnapping, torture, watching the man she loved marry someone else.
What was one more impossible situation?
She pulled the IV stand with her. Used it as a makeshift crutch for balance.
And looked back at Kane.
“Let’s go get our people,” she said. Her voice was steady and strong.
Kane saw something in her eyes that made him understand why Gavin had burned everything for this woman.