Chapter 39 THE REAL TRAP
POV: Selena
My phone slipped in my hand when Marcus said my name.
Not gently. Not as a warning. He said it like something had already gone wrong.
I was standing in Adrian’s kitchen, staring at a cold cup of coffee I had forgotten to drink. I wanted one thing in that moment. I wanted Adrian back in the room, safe, breathing, close enough that I could see his chest rise. Instead, I had a phone pressed to my ear and a knot in my stomach that refused to loosen.
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t panic,” Marcus said, which was never a good sign. “But I need you to understand something before the news hits.”
Across the room, Adrian leaned against the counter, watching my face instead of his own phone. His jaw was tight. He had not slept. Neither had I. The last twenty four hours felt stretched thin, like a wire pulled too hard.
“Marcus,” I said. “Say it.”
There was a pause. Papers shuffled. I pictured him in his office, sleeves rolled up, screens glowing, the kind of focus that meant he was already three steps ahead of everyone else.
“Adrian’s meeting with Thornton,” he said. “It worked. Just not the way you think.”
My pulse jumped. “Worked how?”
“It kept Thornton busy,” Marcus replied. “Exactly where we wanted him.”
I closed my eyes.
Since dawn, I had been trapped inside my own head, replaying Adrian’s voice from the phone call. Calm. Sharp. Too controlled. I had hated that he went alone. I hated even more that I had let him.
“What do you mean, where we wanted him?” I asked.
“While Thornton was focused on Adrian, Cameron and my team were moving,” Marcus said. “Hard drives. Backup servers. Shell accounts. We pulled everything he thought was buried.”
I opened my eyes and met Adrian’s gaze. His brow creased slightly, like he was listening to Marcus through me.
“You planned this,” I said slowly.
“Yes,” Marcus replied. “And before you ask, no, it wasn’t improvised. This was always the real trap.”
My grip tightened on the phone.
All this time, I had believed the danger was in the confrontation. In raised voices and threats traded face to face. I had believed that was where we might lose everything.
“You used Adrian as bait,” I said.
“I used Thornton’s ego,” Marcus corrected. “Adrian was never in real danger. Thornton wanted to win, not get caught. He needed an audience. Adrian gave him that.”
I did not know whether to feel relieved or furious.
Adrian pushed off the counter and walked toward me. He stopped close enough that I could feel the warmth of him, the steady presence I had been clinging to since this began.
“Marcus,” Adrian said, leaning in so I could hear him clearly. “Status.”
“We have enough,” Marcus said. “Enough to move forward with the FBI. Enough that Thornton can’t talk his way out of it.”
My breath caught.
Enough.
It was the word I had been waiting for without letting myself say it out loud. Enough to end this. Enough to stop running. Enough to make what Jessica started mean something.
“When?” I asked.
“Soon,” Marcus said. “But not before Thornton makes his next move.”
A chill crept up my spine. “He already did, didn’t he.”
“Yes.”
The word landed heavy.
Adrian’s hand came to my elbow, steadying me without squeezing. He knew. He always knew when my balance shifted, even before I did.
“What is it?” I asked.
Marcus did not answer right away. When he did, his voice was flat.
“He’s calling a press conference.”
I let out a breath that felt more like a laugh. “That’s it? After everything, he wants a microphone?”
“It’s what he does best,” Marcus said. “But this one is different.”
“How?” Adrian asked.
“He’s announcing his candidacy for the Senate.”
The room went quiet.
I stared at the wall, my mind trying to catch up. “He’s what?”
“He’s positioning himself as the solution,” Marcus said. “Publicly. He’s framing this entire situation as proof that corruption is everywhere and that he’s the only one brave enough to expose it.”
“And us?” I asked.
“You’re the opening act,” Marcus replied.
Adrian swore under his breath.
I sank into the nearest chair, my legs suddenly weak. “So after all of this, after blackmail and threats and framing me, he’s running for office.”
“Yes,” Marcus said. “And he’s starting with the De Luca family.”
My stomach dropped.
“He’s accusing us,” Adrian said.
“Not directly,” Marcus replied. “Not yet. He’s implying foreign influence. Illegal relationships. Backroom deals. He’s planting seeds that will take months to disprove in the public mind.”
I pressed my palm flat against the table.
“And me?” I asked.
Marcus hesitated.
That was answer enough.
“He’s tying you to it,” Marcus said. “Intern. Lover. Convenient access point. He’s already built the narrative.”
I thought of the headlines from weeks ago. Of how easily the world had decided who I was without asking. I thought of my mother’s face when she saw her name online for the first time.
Adrian’s hand tightened on my arm. “He won’t touch her,” he said.
Marcus exhaled. “We’re doing everything we can to keep your family out of this. But Thornton is desperate now. That makes him reckless.”
“Where’s Cameron?” I asked.
“With my team,” Marcus said. “He’s already verifying the last set of files. Once we hand this to the FBI, Thornton’s campaign won’t matter.”
“Unless,” I said quietly, “he gets public sympathy first.”
Silence.
“That’s why he’s doing this now,” I continued. “He wants to look like the victim. Like the brave truth teller being attacked by powerful people.”
Adrian crouched in front of me so we were eye level. “Look at me.”
I did.
“You are not alone in this,” he said. “No matter what he says. No matter what comes out.”
I nodded, though my chest felt tight.
“When does the press conference start?” I asked.
Marcus answered before Adrian could. “In twenty minutes.”
I straightened.
“Turn it on,” I said.
Adrian hesitated. “Selena.”
“I need to see it,” I said. “I need to know what we’re dealing with.”
He searched my face, then nodded and reached for the remote.
The screen flickered to life.
Thornton stood at a podium draped in flags, his expression solemn, his posture perfect. Cameras crowded the room. Reporters leaned forward like they could smell blood.
I watched him and felt nothing at first. No fear. No anger. Just a strange clarity.
This was the man who had tried to erase me.
“My fellow Americans,” Thornton began. “Today, I stand before you not as a politician, but as a citizen who believes our country deserves better.”
I snorted softly.
Adrian’s thumb brushed against my knee. He did not tell me to be quiet.
“For too long,” Thornton continued, “corruption has thrived behind closed doors, protected by powerful families and their global interests.”
There it was.
I leaned forward.
“I am announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate,” he said, pausing as the room erupted. “And I am dedicating my campaign to exposing corruption wherever it exists. No matter how entrenched. No matter how influential.”
The camera cut to reporters shouting questions.
“Senator Thornton,” one called. “Are you referring to the De Luca family?”
Thornton lowered his gaze, as if reluctant.
“I am referring to any family,” he said, “that believes their name puts them above the law. That believes foreign influence can be hidden through foundations and favors.”
Adrian’s breath went sharp beside me.
“And what about your allegations involving a former intern?” another reporter asked.
Thornton’s mouth curved into something that might have been sympathy.
“I hope that young woman finds peace,” he said. “She was clearly manipulated by forces she did not understand.”
My hands clenched.
Manipulated.
Of course.
Adrian reached for the phone on the table. “Marcus,” he said. “Are the files ready.”
“Yes,” Marcus replied. “But once we move, there’s no pulling back.”
I looked at Adrian. “He’s daring us.”
“He’s buying time,” Adrian said.
“He’s buying voters,” I corrected.
The press conference ended in chaos. Thornton smiled, waved, disappeared behind aides who looked far too confident.
The screen went dark.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then I stood.
“I want to go to the FBI,” I said.
Adrian rose with me. “We already are.”
“No,” I said. “I want to go now. In person. I want to sit across from them and put everything on the table.”
Marcus’s voice came through, thoughtful. “That changes the timeline.”
“I know,” I said. “But it changes the story too.”
Adrian studied me. “Say it.”
“If Thornton controls the narrative first, we’re reacting,” I said. “If I walk in there and testify before his campaign gains traction, it reframes everything. I stop being the rumor and start being the witness.”
Silence again.
“You don’t have to do this,” Adrian said quietly.
“I do,” I replied. “This started with me noticing numbers that didn’t add up. It ends with me telling the truth.”
Marcus exhaled. “If you do this, it will be public. Eventually.”
“I know.”
“And it will be ugly,” he added.
“I know,” I repeated. “But I’m done hiding.”
Adrian stepped closer. His forehead rested briefly against mine.
“Whatever happens,” he said, “I’m with you.”
I closed my eyes for a second. Just a second.
Then I nodded.
“Let’s finish it.”
My phone buzzed in my hand.
An unknown number.
I stared at it, my stomach tightening.
“Don’t answer,” Adrian said.
I answered anyway.
“Miss Alvarez,” a familiar voice said smoothly. “I hope you’re enjoying the show.”
Thornton.
My pulse slowed instead of speeding up.
“You’re late,” I said.
A pause. Then a low laugh.
“Oh, I think I’m right on time,” he replied. “But I wanted you to hear it from me. This is your last chance to step away.”
I glanced at Adrian. He shook his head once.
“No,” I said.
Another pause. Longer this time.
“Then we’ll see how much truth the public really wants,” Thornton said. “Good luck.”
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone.
“He knows,” Adrian said.
“Yes,” I replied. “And he’s afraid.”
I straightened my shoulders.
“That means we’re closer than he wants us to be.”
Outside, sirens wailed somewhere in the city. Inside, everything felt very still.
The real trap had been set.
And now, there was no way out for any of us.