Chapter 14: Ending It
1191 Words
The car sped through Lagos traffic like the devil was on its heels.
Kene’s jaw was set, his hand gripping the steering wheel hard enough that his knuckles were white. Ada sat beside him, her hand still in his from when he’d pulled her out of the office. He hadn’t let go since.
“Where are we going?” Ada asked.
“Victor’s last known location,” Kene said. “An old warehouse in Apapa. If he’s planning to hit your mother’s house again, I’m ending it before he gets the chance.”
Ada’s stomach twisted. “What if it’s a trap?”
“Then it’s a trap I’m walking into,” Kene said. “You’re staying in the car.”
Ada turned to him, incredulous. “Are you serious right now?”
“Dead serious,” Kene said. “I’m not losing you tonight, Ada.”
“You almost lost me twice already,” Ada shot back. “And I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines while you fight my battles.”
Kene glanced at her, and for the first time since the photo came through, something like a smile flickered across his face. “You’re stubborn.”
“So are you,” Ada said.
He didn’t argue.
The warehouse loomed ahead, a hulking silhouette against the night sky. Floodlights were off. No movement. Too quiet.
Kene parked a street away and turned to her. “Stay here. Lock the doors. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, call Oscar and tell him to move.”
Ada unbuckled her seatbelt. “I’m coming with you.”
Kene frowned. “Ada—”
“If Victor wants me, he’ll get me whether I’m in the car or not,” Ada said. “At least this way, I’m not sitting here waiting to be a hostage again.”
Kene studied her for a long moment, then nodded once. “Stay behind me. No arguments.”
“Deal.”
They moved through the shadows, Kene’s men flanking them silently. The warehouse door was ajar, creaking on rusted hinges.
Inside, it smelled of oil and dust.
“Victor!” Kene called out. His voice echoed off the concrete walls. “You want me? I’m here.”
A laugh answered him.
From the shadows, Victor stepped out, flanked by two men with guns. He looked worse than he had at the garage—gaunt, eyes wild.
“Kene Okonkwo,” Victor said, savoring the name. “Always so dramatic.”
“Where’s Tunde?” Kene asked.
“Locked up,” Victor said. “But he did his job. You’re distracted. Sloppy.”
Kene’s grip on Ada’s hand tightened. “Leave her out of this.”
Victor smiled. “I can’t. She’s the leverage, Kene. Without her, you’re just another rich man with too many enemies.”
Ada stepped forward, out from behind Kene.
“Enough,” she said.
Everyone stopped.
“Victor,” Ada said, her voice steadier than she felt. “You want to hurt Kene? Fine. But leave my mother out of it. Leave me out of it.”
Victor tilted his head. “And why would I do that?”
“Because I’m not afraid of you,” Ada said.
Victor laughed. “You should be.”
Ada looked at Kene, then back at Victor. “You think threatening me will make him weak? You’re wrong. It makes him stronger. And it makes me angry.”
Kene’s chest tightened. He’d never heard her sound like this—fearless, sure.
Victor’s smile dropped. “Brave words for a girl who almost pissed herself in a garage.”
“That girl isn’t here anymore,” Ada said.
For a second, Victor looked thrown. Then his expression hardened. “Kill them.”
His men raised their guns.
“Drop it!”
Oscar and two other men burst in from the side entrance, weapons trained.
Chaos erupted.
Kene pulled Ada behind a stack of crates as gunfire filled the warehouse. His men moved fast, trained, efficient. Victor’s men didn’t stand a chance.
“Kene!” Ada grabbed his arm as a bullet ricocheted off the metal beside them.
“I’m okay,” Kene said, pulling her lower. “Stay down.”
Victor bolted for the back exit.
Kene was after him in a second.
Ada hesitated, then followed.
The chase ended in the loading bay. Victor had a gun to his own head, laughing hysterically.
“It’s over, Victor,” Kene said, holding his gun steady.
“Is it?” Victor said. “You think arresting me fixes anything? There are more like me, Kene. More people who want you dead.”
“Then let them come,” Kene said.
Victor looked at Ada, standing behind Kene. “You really love her, don’t you?”
Kene didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
Victor’s laugh was bitter. “Pathetic.”
He lowered the gun.
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Oscar had called them in.
Victor dropped the gun and put his hands up.
It was over.
---
Back at the house, the adrenaline hadn’t worn off.
Kene paced his office, phone to his ear, giving orders. Ada sat on the edge of his desk, watching him.
When he hung up, he looked at her.
“It’s done,” he said. “Victor’s in custody. His assets are frozen. He can’t touch you or your mother again.”
Ada exhaled. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath.
Kene walked to her and stopped in front of her. “Are you okay?”
Ada nodded. “I’m okay.”
Kene reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered.
“Ada,” he said quietly. “The contract… it was never real. Not to me. Not anymore.”
Ada’s heart stuttered.
“I lied when I said it was business,” Kene continued. “It stopped being business the moment you said no in my office. Everything after that… was me trying to keep you.”
Ada swallowed hard. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I don’t want to lie to you anymore,” Kene said. “And because I need to know—do you want to make it real?”
Ada stared at him. The man who’d bargained for her, who’d shielded her, who’d chosen her over his company.
The man she’d been fighting not to fall for.
She couldn’t fight anymore.
“What if I say yes?” she whispered.
Kene’s breath caught.
“Then we start over,” he said. “No contracts. No lies. Just us.”
Ada reached out and took his hand.
“Yes,” she said.
Kene’s eyes flared with something raw, something relieved.
He pulled her off the desk and into his arms.
Ada didn’t resist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on like she’d never let go.
Kene’s lips hovered a breath away from hers.
“Ada,” he murmured.
“Tell me to stop,” Ada whispered back.
Kene smiled against her mouth.
“I don’t want to stop.”
And he didn’t.
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