Bound By Revenge

Traces Of Fire

The next two days were a blur of caution and caffeine. Every time my phone buzzed, I half expected it to be security calling me in. But nothing came. The building carried on like always clean, polished, indifferent.

Phil was in and out of meetings. Every time he passed my desk, my body betrayed me, pulse too quick, breath too shallow. The problem wasn't just that he was my enemy's brother, it was that he made it so damn hard to hate him.

By Wednesday evening, Nathan's message came through:

Found something big. Need you in. 11p.m. Storage B. Come alone.

My chest tightened. I knew the rule, never return to the same spot twice so soon but curiosity was a cruel thing. It had teeth and it was already biting.

By 11, the building was mostly dark. Security had changed shifts. The air smelled like dust and secrets again. I swiped my badge and slipped inside the storage level, heartbeat echoing off the concrete walls.

Nathan wasn't there.

Only a small desk lamp burned in the corner, casting a pool of light over an open box. Papers scattered everywhere, like someone had gone through them in a hurry. My stomach knotted.

"Nathan?" I whispered.

No answer.

The sound came from behind me, a low, deliberate click. I turned, slow, my hand still hovering over the papers.

Phil Morrell stood in the doorway.

He wasn't in a suit this time. Just black slacks, a shirt rolled to his forearms, and that expression he wore when he'd caught someone doing something they shouldn't.

"Well," he said, voice low and calm. "You work late, Miss Nicole."

My mind raced. I could lie, bluff, panic but he was too smart for the easy lies.

"I was looking for compliance files," I said carefully. "You told me to check Meridian transfers, remember?"

He stepped closer, the fluorescent light cutting sharp lines across his face. "At 11p.m.? In a locked basement?"

His tone wasn't angry. It was curious. Dangerous.

I tried to match his calm. "The files were misfiled. I didn't want to wait until morning."

He looked past me to the table. Papers. My bag. The open laptop. His jaw tightened. "Who were you meeting?"

"No one."

A beat of silence. Then he reached out and picked up one of the sheets, scanning it with his eyes. His brow furrowed. "These are restricted legal audits. How did you even....."

He stopped. His eyes lifted to mine, sharp and searching. "Who sent you down here?"

"I told you, I was following up on your note."

"That note was meant to flag the archives, not classified records."

The air between us went razor-thin. He took another step, close enough for me to catch his scent clean soap, cedar, the faintest trace of something smoky.

"If I didn't know better," he said quietly, "I'd think you were hiding something."

Every nerve in my body screamed to move, to run but I held his gaze instead. "Then maybe you don't know better."

For a second, neither of us breathed. His hand flexed at his side, and I saw it, the war behind his eyes. He wasn't just suspicious; he was conflicted. And maybe a little drawn to the very thing he should expose.

"Be careful, Nicole," he said finally. "Around here, curiosity can get you buried."

Then he turned and walked out, leaving me with the papers and a pulse that wouldn't calm down.

I waited a full minute before moving. My fingers trembled as I gathered the documents into my bag. Something had changed. Phil had seen too much but hadn't reported it. Why?

That question burned all the way home.

When I reached my apartment, I pulled the files out and spread them across the table. Most were financials, but one page was half torn and it caught my eye.

Project Meridian Final Allocation. Recipient: Private Investment Fund, Morrey Trust.

Handler: P. Morrell.

My breath hitched.

Phil's signature. Not Mathew's.

The one man I thought I could maybe trust was now right there, tied to the same project that destroyed my father.

The room spun.

Either Phil Morrell was part of the cover-up... or he'd been protecting me for reasons far more dangerous.

I stared at the paper until the ink blurred. One truth settled cold and sharp in my chest.

I hadn't just fallen for my enemy's brother.

I'd fallen straight into his secret.

But as my eyes traced the last line again, the words began to twist, to rearrange themselves into something I didn't want to see.

The name written there. It wasn't his brother's. It was his.

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

No. That couldn't be right. He couldn't be the one.

He was supposed to be different. The quiet one. The good one.

But the truth was staring back at me in black and white.

It was never his brother who destroyed everything.

It was him.

For a moment, I became speechless, staring, waiting for my mind to make sense of it.

It didn't.

Something inside me cracked, not loud, not violent, just a soft, tired break.

A new twist...

A new discovery...

Now the truth is staring at me.

It was Phil Morrell..

I never saw this coming..

Now I know the truth.

I shoved the papers back into the envelope.

I walked to the window, the city sprawled below like a web of cold light and noise. Somewhere out there, Phil Morrell was probably sleeping soundly, unaware that I'd just uncovered the one thing he'd buried deepest.

He is now my target. And this time, I wouldn't hesitate.

Wondering what happened to Nathan. He asked me to meet him up at 11pm, but no trace of him. Even though I didn't meet him I still had what I needed. Proof, names, dates and signatures.

Everything tying Phil and Mathew to the fall of my father's company, to the ruin that followed.

I picked up my phone, thumbs hovering over the screen. One message. That's all it would take to set everything in motion.

But I didn't send it. Not yet. Because under the anger, there was doubt.

Why hadn't he turned me in that night?

Why had he warned me instead of exposing me?

Was it guilt or something else?

I closed my eyes, forcing the weakness out. It didn't matter. Whatever his reasons, whatever his game, I'd been a fool once. I wouldn't be again.

By morning, I'd be ready.

The war that started with my father's fall was about to end with Phil Morrell.

And this time, I'd make sure he saw my face when everything he built came crashing down.