Chapter 3: The Contract
339 Words
Adrian stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office.
Below him, Manhattan moved like a living machine.
His assistant, Daniel, placed a folder on the desk.
“We confirmed the identity.”
Adrian didn’t turn around.
“You’re certain?”
“One hundred percent.”
Adrian finally faced him.
“Where is he?”
“Back in New York.”
Silence.
For fifteen years, Adrian had believed the man responsible for destroying his family had disappeared.
Apparently, he had been wrong.
Daniel hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“What?”
“The woman from this morning.”
“Maya Carter?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at him sharply.
“What about her?”
“Her architecture firm is bidding on the Vale Foundation’s new headquarters.”
Adrian stared at the folder.
Of all the firms in New York, Maya’s had to be one of them.
“Who is handling the project?”
“Normally, the board.”
“Not anymore.”
Daniel blinked.
“Sir?”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Personally?”
Adrian gave him a cold look.
“Did I stutter?”
Daniel immediately picked up the folder.
“No, sir.”
After he left, Adrian opened the file.
Maya Carter.
Twenty-seven.
Architect.
No criminal history.
No financial problems.
No obvious connection to the people he was investigating.
And yet something bothered him.
He couldn’t explain why.
Perhaps it was the warning he’d received.
Perhaps it was the way Maya had looked at him without fear.
Or perhaps it was simply the fact that, for the first time in years, someone had made him laugh.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Adrian answered.
“Vale.”
A distorted voice spoke.
“You should have left the past buried.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“You made that impossible.”
A pause.
Then—
“So did the girl.”
Adrian froze.
“What girl?”
The call ended.
Adrian immediately dialed Daniel.
“Find everything you can on Maya Carter.”
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