Dominic

22

_________

The tension in the surveillance room is suffocating. Every screen shows a different angle of the hotel lounge where Eva sits across from Reyes. She looks composed, her posture straight and confident, but I catch the small signs of unease—a tremor in her fingers as they tap the edge of her coffee cup. She’s a fortress, but even fortresses have cracks.

Adrian glances up from his laptop, his expression calm despite the pressure. “She’s holding her own,” he says quietly, his tone devoid of the tension I feel building with every passing second.

“She has to,” I reply, my voice tighter than I intend. My arms cross over my chest as I stare at the screen, willing myself to stay rooted. Watching her walk into this meeting felt like sending her into a lion’s den. Every second she’s in there stretches into eternity.

On the screen, Reyes leans back in his chair, his body language deceptively relaxed. He’s toying with her, savoring every second. His smirk is a silent taunt, and even without the audio, I know he’s trying to get under her skin.

“Do we have audio yet?” I snap, my patience fraying.

Adrian’s fingers fly across the keyboard. “Almost there.”

The surveillance equipment crackles to life, and Reyes’s voice finally fills the room.

“You’re bold, Ms. Hayes,” Reyes says, his voice a smooth blend of charm and malice. “Walking into this meeting, knowing what’s at stake. I admire that.”

Eva doesn’t flinch. Her voice, steady and cutting, slices through his posturing. “I’m here for answers, not admiration.”

A faint smirk tugs at my lips. That’s my Eva—sharp, fearless, and unyielding. But my pride is fleeting, replaced by the gnawing worry that Reyes’s games are designed to break even the strongest.

“What do you want to know?” Reyes asks, leaning forward with an air of false sincerity. “Perhaps why your dear Mr. Kane seems to be unraveling at the seams?”

Eva’s fingers tighten around her cup, but her voice remains neutral. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”

Reyes chuckles, the sound low and dangerous. “Conrad’s betrayal isn’t just professional—it’s personal. Kane took something from him, something he can’t forgive. The leaks, the sabotage—it’s just the beginning.”

My fists clench, knuckles white with restraint. His words are crafted to provoke, designed to plant doubt and rattle her. But Eva tilts her head, unimpressed.

“And you?” she counters. “Are you just a spectator in all of this, or do you have your own grudge to settle?”

Her question hits its mark. Reyes’s smirk falters, replaced by a flicker of something darker. For a moment, he studies her, the calculation in his gaze chilling.

“Let’s just say Conrad and I have... mutual interests,” Reyes replies, his tone measured. “And you, Ms. Hayes, are becoming a complication.”

My chest tightens. The room feels suffocating as I watch their exchange. Eva may be fearless, but Reyes is dangerous.

“She’s baiting him,” Adrian murmurs, his eyes glued to the screen.

“And he’s biting,” I reply, though the words do little to quell the storm inside me. Every instinct screams at me to end this, to pull her out of that room and away from his influence.

Reyes leans back in his chair, his smirk returning as if her words have only fueled his confidence. “ Kane isn’t the invincible force you think he is. He’s vulnerable. And you, Ms. Hayes, are the perfect leverage.”

Eva doesn’t miss a beat. Her voice is clear, unwavering. “If you think I’m going to betray him, you’re wasting your time.”

Reyes’s smirk fades into a calculating stare. “Loyalty is admirable, but it’s also dangerous. Walk away, Ms. Hayes. Before you lose more than you’re willing to sacrifice.”

Before Eva can respond, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I glance down to see a text from Harper:

“We have a problem. Call me ASAP.”

“Adrian,” I say sharply, stepping away from the monitors. “Pull her out. Now.”

Adrian looks up, hesitation flickering in his eyes. “We’re close. Just a few more minutes.”

“No,” I growl, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Now.”

Adrian’s fingers move quickly, his acknowledgment clipped. “Got it.”

I step into the hallway, phone already pressed to my ear as I dial Harper. She answers on the first ring, her voice trembling.

“,” she stammers. “I—I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“What happened?” I demand, my pulse spiking.

“It’s Conrad,” she whispers. “He blackmailed me. I thought I could fix it, but someone caught on. They know I’ve been deleting files.”

“Where are you?”

“Security’s holding me in the lobby,” she says, barely audible. “I’m so sorry.”

By the time Eva joins me in the car, my mind is racing with Harper’s confession. The look on Eva’s face tells me she knows something is wrong before I even speak.

“She’s been feeding him information,” Eva says, her voice sharp.

“Worse,” I reply. “She’s been covering his tracks. If Conrad has a mole inside my company, this isn’t just sabotage—it’s war.”

The car pulls up to Kane Enterprises. As we step into the lobby, Harper sits near the reception desk, her face pale and tear-streaked. Two security guards flank her.

She rises to her feet as I approach, wringing her hands. “Mr. Kane, I didn’t have a choice—”

“You always have a choice,” I snap, cutting her off. “And you chose to betray me.”

Her shoulders shake, her voice breaking as she tries to explain. But I raise a hand, silencing her. “Save it. Adrian, what do we know?”

Adrian steps forward, laptop in hand. “The files Harper tried to delete were tied to Conrad’s fake accounts. But they were flagged by Reyes’s network first.”

Eva’s brow furrows. “Reyes has been monitoring Conrad?”

“Or controlling him,” I say grimly.

Harper collapses back into her chair, her sobs quiet but steady. “I didn’t know—I swear I didn’t know.”

“You’re done here,” I say coldly. “Adrian, lock her out of the system. And find me Conrad.”

In the private conference room, Adrian projects the decrypted emails onto the screen. Eva sits beside me, her eyes scanning the messages.

“These emails weren’t just updates,” Adrian says. “They were feeding Reyes intel on the merger, board dynamics, everything.”

Eva leans forward, her voice sharp. “Conrad’s not just sabotaging Kane Enterprises—he’s weaponizing it.”

Adrian scrolls to the latest email. The message is brief but chilling: “Execute the final phase. Discredit Kane entirely.”

The words linger in the air like a threat. Eva glances at me, her gaze steady. “What’s the plan?”

“We turn the tables,” I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. “Adrian, spoof Harper’s account. We’ll bait Conrad and force his hand.”

Adrian nods, already typing. “Done.”

As we leave the conference room, my phone buzzes with a new message. The words send a chill down my spine:

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Kane. Walk away, or Eva will pay the price.”

I hand Eva the phone, her expression hardening as she reads the message. “They’re trying to scare us,” she says, her voice steady.

“No,” I reply, my voice cold. “They’re warning us. And I’m done playing by their rules.”

Tomorrow, this ends. One way or another.

_________________________________________________________________

The car ride back to the penthouse is suffused with silence, though it’s not empty. It’s the kind of silence that carries a thousand unspoken words, each one sharp enough to draw blood. Eva sits beside me, her arms crossed, staring out the window. The glow of the city lights flickers across her face, but her expression is unreadable.

“You’re quiet,” I say finally, my voice cutting through the heavy stillness.

Her head turns slightly, her green eyes locking onto mine. “What am I supposed to say, ? That this isn’t terrifying? That we’re not walking into something we can’t fully predict?”

I clench the steering wheel tighter, my jaw tightening. “You could say that you trust me.”

“I do,” she says, her tone softer now. “But trust doesn’t erase the risk. It doesn’t change the fact that Reyes and Conrad are playing a game we’re only half a step ahead of.”

Her words are true, and they sting because of it. “Then tell me what you’d have us do, Eva. Walk away? Let them destroy everything?”

Her gaze sharpens, and she leans forward slightly. “You know I’m not saying that. I’m saying we need to be smart. Every time we react instead of plan, we’re giving them the upper hand.”

The car pulls into the underground garage, and I kill the engine, turning to face her fully. “And you think I don’t know that? You think I don’t see every crack they’ve forced open, every angle they’re exploiting?”

Her expression softens slightly, and she reaches out, her hand brushing mine. “I know you do, . But we can’t let them back us into a corner. We need to control the narrative, not just respond to theirs.”

The weight of her words settles over me, heavy but grounding. She’s not just voicing doubts—she’s forcing me to think beyond the rage, the need to retaliate. And she’s right. If we’re going to win this, we can’t play their game. We need to force them into ours.

The elevator ride up to the penthouse feels longer than usual, the hum of the machinery filling the silence between us. Adrian’s already waiting when we step inside, his laptop open on the dining table and a coffee cup resting precariously close to the edge.

“Updates?” I ask, shrugging off my coat and tossing it over the back of a chair.

Adrian looks up, his eyes sharp with focus. “We’ve confirmed the location for tomorrow’s meeting. Conrad is sticking to the script—we’ll have eyes on every angle of the hotel and an exit strategy ready if things go south.”

“And Reyes?” Eva asks, her voice steady despite the undercurrent of tension.

Adrian sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Still in the wind, but his network activity has been quiet. Too quiet. It’s like he’s intentionally staying out of sight, letting Conrad take the fall if this collapses.”

“That’s because he knows what’s coming,” I mutter, pacing the length of the room. “Reyes doesn’t need to get his hands dirty—he’s got Conrad to do that for him. But he’ll be watching. If this meeting goes wrong, he’ll vanish before we can pin anything on him.”

Eva leans against the counter, her arms crossed. “Then we make sure it doesn’t go wrong.”

Her calm determination is like a steadying force, and for a moment, the storm inside me quiets. I nod, turning to Adrian. “Double the security detail. I want eyes not just on the hotel, but on every potential escape route. If Reyes or Conrad tries to run, we catch them.”

“Already on it,” Adrian replies, typing furiously. “And there’s one more thing.” He looks up, his expression serious. “That message you received—it wasn’t just sent to you.”

Eva stiffens beside me. “What do you mean?”

Adrian spins the laptop around, showing us a screen filled with text logs. “The same message was sent to several members of your board, . A calculated move to create internal doubt. If they think Eva is a liability, it could undermine your position even further.”

The realization hits like a punch to the gut. Reyes isn’t just attacking from the outside—he’s planting seeds of distrust within my own circle. “Do we know how they got access to the board members’ contact information?”

Adrian shakes his head. “Not yet, but it’s likely tied to Conrad’s earlier leaks. He’s been feeding Reyes information for months—this is just another layer of his strategy.”

I exhale sharply, running a hand through my hair. “Then we counter it. Eva and I will meet with the board tomorrow, before the hotel meeting. We’ll get ahead of the narrative.”

Eva’s brows furrow. “And how do we do that without tipping off Reyes or Conrad?”

I glance at her, my resolve hardening. “We tell them the truth. Or at least enough of it to keep them on our side.”

The night stretches on as Adrian, Eva, and I plan every detail. By the time the first rays of dawn filter through the penthouse windows, the tension has settled into a quiet resolve. Eva sits across from me at the dining table, her laptop glowing faintly as she reviews the board’s profiles.

“They’ll push back,” she says finally, breaking the silence. “The board isn’t going to accept this without a fight.”

“Then we make them understand what’s at stake,” I reply. “If they want this company to survive, they’ll have no choice but to back us.”

Eva looks up, her gaze meeting mine. “And if they don’t?”

I hold her stare, the weight of her question pressing down on me. “Then we move forward without them.”

Her lips press into a thin line, but she nods. “I’ll be ready.”

The quiet moment stretches between us, and for the first time in hours, the chaos feels manageable. She reaches across the table, her hand brushing against mine. “, we’ll get through this. Together.”

Her touch is grounding, a reminder of what I’m fighting for. I nod, my voice softer now. “Together.”

The boardroom is already buzzing with tension when Eva and I arrive. The members of the board sit around the long table, their expressions a mix of concern and suspicion. Whispers ripple through the room, but they die down the moment I take my seat at the head of the table.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” I begin, my voice steady despite the weight of the moment. “I won’t waste your time with pleasantries. We’re here because Kane Enterprises is under attack.”

The room falls silent, all eyes on me. I glance at Eva, who gives me a small nod before I continue.

“Reyes and Conrad have been orchestrating a campaign to undermine this company, using leaks and sabotage to destabilize our operations. But we’ve uncovered their network, and we’re taking steps to neutralize the threat.”

One of the board members, a sharp-eyed man named Marshall, leans forward. “And what about the allegations against Ms. Hayes? The message we received implied she’s complicit in these attacks.”

Eva straightens in her seat, her voice calm but firm. “Those messages were designed to create doubt and division. They’re false, and they’re part of Reyes’s strategy to weaken us from within.”

Marshall’s gaze shifts between us, his skepticism clear. “And how can we be sure of that?”

I meet his gaze head-on. “Because I trust her. And because we have evidence to prove otherwise.”

Adrian, standing at the back of the room, steps forward with a tablet. “These are the emails sent from Harper’s account—emails we now know were authored by Conrad. They confirm his direct involvement in the leaks and his connection to Reyes.”

The board murmurs among themselves, the tension in the room shifting. Marshall sits back, his expression unreadable. “If what you’re saying is true, then we need to act quickly.”

“We already are,” I reply. “But I need the board’s full support to see this through.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then Marshall nods. “You have it.”

As we leave the boardroom, my phone buzzes with another message. The words are simple, but they hit like a sledgehammer:

“This is your last warning. Walk away, or she’ll suffer.”

I hand the phone to Eva, her expression hardening as she reads the message. She looks up at me, her green eyes blazing with determination. “Let them try.”

Her defiance is unwavering, but the threat feels heavier now. Reyes and Conrad are escalating, and tomorrow’s meeting is no longer just a confrontation. It’s a battlefield.

Tomorrow, it all comes to a head. And I’ll be ready.