Chapter 26 Sting of Betrayal
Stefan's POV~
The marriage draft rested atop my desk, the scrawl of Valenticia’s signature slashing starkly against the blank copy. Her fire at dinner. The sparkle of her eyes demanding equality had cracked at my core, awakening an admiration I could not afford. I sat back in my chair, the city’s neon pulse seeping through the office window as a reminder of the stakes. Seryne was a warzone and Valenticia Clawford was an asset and a risk. The penthouse fire, two nights before that, had cost me more than walls. New Dream’s servers were limping, critical data gone to ash. I was losing my hold, and Victor Galden was winning.
Carter’s call split the silence, his tone strained. “Gideon’s gone rogue, Boss. He’s seeing Valenticia at the pier—midnight. Says he’s showing her evidence of Galden’s patent theft.”
My gut clenched. “I told him to keep his head down,” I snarled, punching the desk. “What the hell is he doing risking it?”
“He feels like he owes her,” Carter said. “Thinks it’ll help you both.”
“F---,” Gideon, my hacker, my brother from another mother, tended to be reckless, but this was suicidal. I’d picked him off the streets years ago, and taught him about the twists and turns of Seryne’s’ shadows. His loyalty was as solid as iron, but his rashness was a threat to me. The pier was a set-up and I could feel it in my bones. They only drew more focused anger down on themselves when they showed open defiance to Galden, who had more power than they did in any case.
I hooked my phone to track Gideon’s signal. A blinking dot throbbed at Seryne’s docks, an abandoned strip of rusted iron. My knuckles began to dig into the device and memories flooded in.....Gideon at nineteen, smiling over the fact that he’d just hacked into his first server, his laughter one of the few lights that had shined into my world. I had sworn to protect him, the same way I’d sworn to protect myself after Marcus betrayed me. That scar, the knife buried by my mentor in my back had taught me not to trust anyone. But Valenticia, with her stubborn fire, was opening up wounds I had buried. I hated it.
The office door opened and Lena walked in. “You look like hell, Myles,” she said, her voice a low purr. “Galden’s faster than you’d think.”
I looked her in the eye, and then, my patience snapped. “What do you have?”
She threw an open folder on the desk. “Forged permits. Galden’s going to undermine your land sale and forge the documents to sabotage New Dream’s offer. He’s got insiders at the port authority.”
I scanned the papers, my jaw clenching. The deal on the waterfront was my lifeline, a multibillion-dollar play to ensure New Dream’s future. This sabotage of Galden could destroy me, about that much I knew, but the marriage to Valenticia was protection. Our combined resources New Dream’s money and Clawford’s could outspend him. Yet her safety gnawed at me. She was a challenge. I’d rescued her once before. She owed me, but her refusal at dinner, her sorrowful eyes as she signed the contract, had provoked something reckless in me. Guilt, or worse, concern.
“Thanks, Lena,” I replied, my tone short. “Keep digging. I want the works, everything on Galden’s network.”
She nodded, but her eyes stayed locked. "You're walking a dangerous line Stefan. Valenticia’s more than a pawn.”
I ignored her, my attention on the tracker. Gideon’s dot hadn’t moved. I snatched up my jacket and keys, the Glock in my desk a chilly reassurance as I jammed it into my holster. “Carter put a squad on the pier,” I told him on the phone. “Now.”
The drive was a blur. My heart thumped, not for Gideon but for her.
Valenticia.
The woman who’d dared my control, who’d written her name to a contract that tied us. I had been cold at dinner. I was reminding her of her debt but her sadness stung more than I had expected. I pushed the thought aside. I had no room for feelings.
I parked a block away and crept up, the ocean’s roar hiding my approach. I saw them. Valenticia, her silhouette body in a dark coat, Gideon, his fedora held low, passing her something small. A USB drive, probably the evidence he had risked it all for. My relief was short-lived. Headlights flared, van roaring out of the fog, tires howling on a wet road.
Instinct took over. I jumped in front of the van, and the van veered into my lane. “Valenticia, run!” “Now!” I screamed, jumping out, my Glock drawn. She froze, wide-eyed, but Gideon shoved her behind a stack of crates.
The doors of the van slid open, and masked figures poured out, moving with rehearsed ease. One was carrying a crowbar, its metal flashing as he darted. I dodged and punched him in the jaw, the crack of bone a welcome sound. Another charged towards me, a blade glimmering. I seized his wrist, twisting it from its hold forced him to release it, and at the same time sent my knee crashing into his stomach. My mind was elsewhere. Valenticia behind the crates, Gideon beside her, throwing her the USB stick.
“Get out of here!” I shouted, fighting off a third assailant. Valenticia’s scream split the chaos, and I glanced over to see Gideon stumble, blood covering his shoulder. Then there was a gunshot, a sharp, final report. He sagged, his gaze locking with mine, dimming quickly.
“No!” The raw horror broke in Valenticia’s voice. I jumped on top of her behind the crate, the shots pinging off the metal. The van’s engine revved, and its tires screeched as it pulled away, with blood and silence in its wake. Gideon did not move except for the right hand which had held the USB, which was now gripped tightly in Valenticia’s shaky grip.
I reached for her shoulders, my voice gruff. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head, tears streaming down her face, her rage a reflection of the guilt leaving gashes in my chest. “Gideon—he’s—”
I shot him a look, and my throat constricted. His chest lifted weakly, yet there was blood beneath him, dark pooling paint, and it did not stop. I’d let him down, just as I’d let Valenticia down. Immediately, a message buzzed on my phone: The heiress is next. I felt blood drain from my face, the words a threat of further violence.
Headlights bloomed, and I saw another car coming fast.