The deal with the Devil

Chapter 7: Wrong Choice

The photo loaded slowly, like my phone knew I didn’t want to see it.

Kemi was sitting up in bed, hospital gown loose around his shoulders. His face looked paler than I remembered, but his eyes were open. Awake.

That should’ve been a relief.

It wasn’t.

Two men stood on either side of him. Suits. Earpieces. The kind of men who don’t knock before they enter a room. One had his hand resting on Kemi’s shoulder, not comforting—restraining.

Unknown number: Wrong choice, Mrs. Blackwood. Your brother says hi.

My hands started shaking so hard I nearly dropped the phone.

Damian noticed immediately. “What is it?”

I didn’t answer. I shoved the phone at him.

He took one look and his expression changed. All the control, the calm from the boardroom, it vanished.

“Where is this?” he asked, voice low and dangerous.

“How should I know?” I snapped. “You’re the one with the resources. You said you were protecting him.”

“I am.” Damian was already moving, pulling me toward the exit. “That’s not my security.”

“Then whose is it?”

“Her father’s.”

Serena.

Of course. She wouldn’t just post the photo and hope for the best. She’d make sure I felt it.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped in, heart pounding.

“Call the hospital,” I said. “Now.”

“I already did,” Damian said, phone to his ear. “They’re saying Kemi checked out against medical advice thirty minutes ago.”

“Against medical advice?” I repeated. “He can’t even walk without help!”

“Exactly.” Damian hung up, jaw clenched. “Serena’s father owns the private wing. They can do whatever they want in there.”

“Then we go there.”

“No.” Damian grabbed my arm before I could hit the lobby button. “If we go in blind, they’ll use you against me. They’ll use him against both of us.”

“So what’s the plan? Wait and see if they hurt him?”

Damian’s eyes darkened. “No. We make them bring him to us.”

“How?”

He pulled out his phone, opened a contact labeled R.

“By giving them something they want more than leverage.”

I stared at him. “Me.”

Damian didn’t confirm or deny it. He just said, “Trust me.”

“Stop saying that.”

The elevator stopped on the ground floor. The doors opened to a lobby that was now half-empty, reporters already leaving. Serena was gone.

But her message wasn’t.

Another text came through.

Unknown number: St. Mercy Hospital. Room 412. 20 minutes. Come alone. Or we start removing fingers.

The room tilted.

I read it twice, then shoved the phone back in my pocket before Damian could see.

If he saw that, he’d never let me go. And if I didn’t go, Kemi would pay for it.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I said.

Damian frowned. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“Two minutes,” I lied.

I slipped away before he could argue, heart racing.

St. Mercy was ten minutes away. If I took a cab, I’d make it in time.

If I didn’t, Kemi might not make it at all.

I had to choose again.

And this time, Damian couldn’t make it for me.

I stepped out of the side exit and flagged down a cab