The billionaire possession

The Traitor’s Price

"Drive," Adrian Volkov rasped.

He slumped into the passenger seat of the hidden armored sedan. Blood soaked through his charcoal sleeve. It pooled on the black leather. Elara Vance did not look at the wound. She shoved the car into gear. The tires screamed against the concrete of the emergency exit tunnel. She did not know how to drive a car this powerful. She only knew how to move away from the sound of the white masks.

"Where am I going?" Elara Vance asked.

"North," Adrian Volkov said. "Away from the lodge. Stay off the main roads."

"You are bleeding on my dress," Elara Vance said.

She gripped the steering wheel. Her knuckles were white. She felt the vibration of the engine through her palms. It felt like a heartbeat.

"It is my blood," Adrian Volkov said. "You should be used to the sight of it by now."

"I am used to you being the one shedding it," Elara Vance said. "Not the one losing it."

The tunnel opened into a dense thicket of trees. Elara Vance killed the headlights. she drove by the dim green glow of the night-vision dashboard. The forest was a blur of gray shadows. Behind them the lodge exploded. The shockwave rocked the sedan. Elara Vance did not look in the rearview mirror.

"Silas is still back there," Elara Vance said.

"Silas is doing his job," Adrian Volkov said. "His job is to die so I can live. That is the contract."

"Is that the only way you see people?" Elara Vance asked. "As contracts? As assets? As shields?"

Adrian Volkov did not answer. He was pressing a handful of gauze to his shoulder. He winced. The "Ice King" was cracking. He looked human in the dark. He looked vulnerable.

"Check the glove box," Adrian Volkov commanded.

Elara Vance flipped it open. Inside was a burner phone and a flash drive.

"The phone is encrypted," Adrian Volkov said. "Call the third number on the list. Tell Marcus Thorne the king is in the counting house. Nothing else."

"Who is Marcus Thorne?" Elara Vance asked.

"The only man who can get us a plane without the Inventory tracking the tail number," Adrian Volkov said.

Elara Vance dialed the number. Her fingers were shaking. The phone rang three times. A deep voice answered. It sounded like old gravel.

"The king is in the counting house," Elara Vance said.

"Understood," the voice replied.

The line went dead. Elara Vance tossed the phone back into the box.

"We are going to the airfield?" Elara Vance asked.

"No," Adrian Volkov said. "We are going to the Rossi warehouse on the docks."

"Why?" Elara Vance asked. "The Rossi family wants us dead. Julian wants me back just to kill me."

"The Inventory knew the location of the safe house," Adrian Volkov said. "Only four people had those coordinates. Me. Silas. Natalia. And the buyer."

"The buyer?" Elara Vance asked.

"Julian Rossi," Adrian Volkov said. "He didn't just flee the chapel. He sold the information to the Inventory to clear the Rossi name. He traded my head for his family’s survival. If we go to the airfield they will be waiting. We go where they think we are afraid to show our faces."

Elara Vance swerved to avoid a fallen branch. The car fishtailed. She corrected it with a jerk of the wheel.

"You think your sister betrayed you?" Elara Vance asked.

"Natalia loves power more than she loves me," Adrian Volkov said. "She thinks I am distracted. She thinks you are a weakness. She would burn the world to be the only Volkov left standing."

"I am not a weakness," Elara Vance said. "I saved your life back there."

"You interfered with a professional hit," Adrian Volkov said. "Do not mistake adrenaline for loyalty."

"I didn't do it for loyalty," Elara Vance snapped. "I did it because I am not ready to be alone with those masks."

They reached the edge of the city. The docks were a graveyard of rusted shipping containers and oil-slicked water. Elara Vance parked the car behind a stack of rotted pallets. She turned off the engine. The silence was heavy.

"Stay in the car," Adrian Volkov said.

He reached for the door handle. He stumbled. The blood loss was making him slow.

"You can't even stand," Elara Vance said.

She stepped out of the car. She walked around and grabbed his arm. She pulled it over her shoulder. She felt the heat of his skin through the silk of her dress.

"I don't need help," Adrian Volkov said.

"Shut up, Adrian," Elara Vance said. "You bought me. That means I have to keep you functional or I am out of a job. Isn't that how this works?"

Adrian Volkov looked at her. He didn't argue. He leaned on her. They walked toward the warehouse at the end of the pier. The sign on the door said Rossi Shipping.

Elara Vance kicked the door open. It wasn't locked. The interior was cavernous. A single light hung from the ceiling. Under the light stood a man in a white tuxedo. He looked like he was waiting for a wedding that had never happened.

"Julian," Elara Vance whispered.

Julian Rossi turned around. He held a glass of champagne. He looked at Elara Vance’s blood-stained dress. He looked at Adrian Volkov’s pale face.

"You look terrible, Elara," Julian Rossi said. "The Volkov lifestyle doesn't suit you."

"You sold the coordinates," Elara Vance said.

"I made a business decision," Julian Rossi said. "My father was going to lose everything. The Inventory offered me a deal. Your head for our freedom. It was simple math."

"You were my friend," Elara Vance said.

She felt the tears coming. She pushed them back. She looked at the man she had almost married. He looked like a stranger. He looked like a coward.

"I was your groom," Julian Rossi said. "Until this animal walked into the chapel. Do you think I enjoyed running? Do you think I enjoyed the humiliation?"

"You enjoyed the money," Adrian Volkov said.

He pulled himself away from Elara Vance. He stood on his own. He looked at Julian with a terrifying focus.

"The money hasn't cleared yet, Julian," Adrian Volkov said. "The Inventory doesn't pay for attempts. They pay for results."

"They are on their way here," Julian Rossi said. "I called them the moment your car tripped the sensor on the bridge. Natalia told me you would come here. She said you always go to the last place people expect."

"Natalia," Adrian Volkov whispered.

The side door of the warehouse opened. Natalia Volkov walked in. She was wearing a trench coat. She held a suppressed pistol. Behind her stood two men in white masks.

"It is over, Adrian," Natalia Volkov said. "The Board is tired of the Vance scandal. They want a steady hand. They want me."

"You killed our father for that seat," Adrian Volkov said. "Now you are killing me for the desk?"

"I am doing what is necessary for the family," Natalia Volkov said. "Elara was the mistake. You kept her when you should have buried her. You let her into the inner circle."

Natalia Volkov raised the gun. She pointed it at Adrian Volkov’s heart.

"Goodbye, brother," Natalia Volkov said.

Elara Vance didn't think. She didn't plan. She grabbed a heavy iron hook from the shipping crane next to her. She swung it with everything she had.

The hook caught Julian Rossi in the side of the head. He went down without a sound. The distraction was enough.

Adrian Volkov lunged. He didn't go for Natalia. He went for the gunmen. He moved like a blur of black and blood. He caught the first gunman by the throat and slammed him into the concrete. He took the man’s weapon and fired twice.

The second gunman fell.

Natalia Volkov fired. The bullet grazed Adrian Volkov’s side. He didn't flinch. He kept moving. He grabbed the barrel of Natalia’s gun and twisted. The sound of her wrist snapping was loud in the empty warehouse.

Natalia Volkov screamed. She fell to her knees.

Adrian Volkov stood over her. He held the gun to her forehead.

"The family is me, Natalia," Adrian Volkov said. "It was always me."

"Kill me then," Natalia Volkov spat. "Do it. Show Elara what you really are."

Adrian Volkov looked at Elara Vance. She was standing over Julian Rossi’s body. She was breathing hard. Her hands were covered in grease and blood.

"No," Adrian Volkov said.

He lowered the gun. He looked at the shadows of the warehouse.

"Silas," Adrian Volkov called out.

Silas Vane stepped out of the darkness. He was covered in soot. His tactical vest was shredded. He looked like he had crawled out of hell.

"Sir," Silas Vane said.

"Take her to the basement," Adrian Volkov said. "Keep her alive. I want her to watch the Rossi empire burn from the inside out."

Silas Vane grabbed Natalia Volkov by the hair and dragged her away. Her screams faded into the depths of the warehouse.

Adrian Volkov turned to Elara Vance. He walked over to her. He wiped a smudge of oil from her cheek with his thumb.

"You broke a Rossi," Adrian Volkov said.

"He was already broken," Elara Vance said.

She looked at the white masks on the floor. She looked at the man standing in front of her.

"What happens now?" Elara Vance asked.

"Now we leave the city," Adrian Volkov said. "The Inventory failed. They will regroup. But so will we."

"We?" Elara Vance asked.

"You had the chance to let me die," Adrian Volkov said. "You had the gun in the safe house. You had the hook just now. You chose the monster, Elara."

"I chose the person who didn't lie to me," Elara Vance said.

Adrian Volkov nodded. He looked at the warehouse doors. The sun was beginning to rise over the water. It didn't look like a new beginning. It looked like a warning.

"Let’s go," Adrian Volkov said.

He didn't take her hand. He didn't have to. Elara Vance walked beside him. She left the blood of her old life on the concrete floor.

The billionaire’s possession was gone. The partner had arrived.