First Rule: Don't Fall For The Enemy

CHAPTER 27

ADRIAN'S POV

My personal phone had been ringing for hours. I'd turned off my work phone, disconnected the landline, but somehow she kept getting through to my private number. The one only a handful of people had.

Mira. Or Elise. Or whatever the hell her name actually was.

I'd been staring at the device for the past ten minutes, watching it buzz against the mahogany surface of my home office desk. Each ring felt like a blade twisting in my chest, reminding me of what I'd lost. What I'd thought I'd had.

The federal agents had left an hour ago, after spending the entire day tearing through my files, my computers, my life. They'd been polite but thorough, asking questions about financial irregularities dating back years. Questions I couldn't answer because I'd trusted the wrong people.

Including her.

The phone stopped ringing, then immediately started again. I could see her name on the screen—the name I'd programmed in when I'd thought she was something real, something worth keeping in my life.

Elise with a heart emoji. God, I was pathetic.

I picked up the scotch beside my phone and took a long drink, savoring the burn. It was the only thing that felt real anymore.

The ringing stopped. Started again.

"Persistent," I muttered, but my finger hovered over the answer button.

What could she possibly have to say? What lie could she tell me now that would make any of this make sense? Jesse had been thorough in his revelations—federal agent, boyfriend, mission to destroy me. The trifecta of betrayal.

The phone rang again.

This time, instead of Elise's name, the screen showed "Unknown Number." But the timing was too convenient. It had to be her, calling from a different phone.

Against my better judgment, against every rational thought in my head, I answered.

"What do you want?" My voice was rough from the scotch and three days of barely speaking.

"Adrian?" Her voice was strained, terrified in a way I'd never heard before. "Adrian, thank God you answered—"

"Don't." The word came out sharper than I'd intended. "Don't pretend this is some social call. Say whatever you need to say and leave me alone."

"Adrian, listen to me. Everything Jesse told you was a lie—"

"Was it? Which part? The part where you're actually Mira Weston? The part where you're an agent sent to destroy my company? Or the part where you've been sleeping with your boyfriend this entire time?"

"All of it!" Her voice cracked with desperation. "None of it's true the way he told you. I found evidence, financial records—"

"Evidence of what? More crimes you can pin on me?"

"Evidence that you're innocent!" The words came out in a rush. "Evidence that David Hong has been using your company to launder money, that he killed my father to cover it up—"

"David Hong?" The name hit me like a physical blow. "What does David have to do with any of this?"

"He's behind everything. The investigation, the scandal, Jesse, all of it. He's been planning this for years—"

Her voice suddenly became muffled, like she'd moved the phone away from her mouth. I could hear other sounds in the background—footsteps, a door closing, then a man's voice that made my blood run cold.

"That's enough, Mira."

Jesse. He was there with her.

"Adrian?" Her voice was clear again, but I could hear the terror underneath. "Adrian, are you still there?"

"I'm here." I was already reaching for my laptop, starting a recording app. Whatever was about to happen, I needed evidence. "Elise, where are you?"

"My apartment. Jesse's here, and he has a—"

"A gun," Jesse's voice interrupted, closer to the phone now. "Hello, Adrian. Nice to finally have a proper conversation."

"Let her go," I said, my voice deadly calm despite the panic clawing at my chest. "Whatever this is about, it's between you and me."

"Is it? Because from where I'm standing, she's been a very useful tool in bringing you down."

"She's not part of this—"

"Isn't she?" Jesse laughed, and the sound made my skin crawl. "Tell him, Mira. Tell him how you volunteered for this mission. Tell him how eager you were to destroy the man you thought killed your father."

"I thought—" Her voice was shaking. "I thought it was true. Jesse showed me evidence that your company was responsible—"

"Evidence I fabricated," Jesse interrupted smoothly. "Very convincing evidence, I might add. She really believed Adrian Roth was the monster who had her father killed."

"You bastard," I breathed.

"Now, now. No need for name-calling. I'm simply a professional doing his job."

"What job? Who's paying you?"

"Didn't Mira tell you? She's been doing such excellent detective work." I could hear the cruel smile in his voice. "David Hong sends his regards, by the way. He's quite impressed with how thoroughly you've been destroyed."

David. My former partner who'd nearly bankrupted my company, who'd stolen from me, who'd disappeared when I'd discovered his crimes. I should have known he wouldn't just fade away quietly.

"This is about revenge?" I asked.

"Revenge is such an ugly word. I prefer 'justice.' You see, when you exposed David's little money laundering operation, you didn't just destroy his business. You destroyed his life. His reputation. His family."

"He was stealing from me—"

"He was trying to save his father's company. The same company your father crushed in that hostile takeover twenty years ago."

The pieces were starting to come together, forming a picture that made my stomach turn. "Hong's father—"

"Committed suicide when your father's company destroyed his life's work. David never forgot that. Never forgave it." Jesse's voice was conversational, like he was discussing the weather. "When the opportunity arose to return the favor, he took it."

"By framing me for crimes I didn't commit?"

"By using your company as a front for money laundering, then ensuring you'd take the fall when it was discovered. Very poetic, really."

"And Mira's father?"

"Got too close to the truth. David couldn't have that."

I heard a sharp intake of breath from Mira. "You killed him. You actually killed my father."

"I helped him die," Jesse corrected. "There's a difference."

"There's no difference!" Her voice was rising, becoming hysterical. "You murdered him and made me think Adrian was responsible!"

"And you played your part beautifully. Seducing Adrian, gaining his trust, gathering evidence of his supposed crimes." Jesse's laugh was like broken glass. "Though I must admit, I didn't expect you to actually fall in love with him. That was an unexpected complication."

"I never meant for any of this to happen," Mira said, and I could hear tears in her voice. "Adrian, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."

"Sorry doesn't fix anything," Jesse said coldly. "Sorry doesn't bring back the dead or undo the damage. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to be sorry in hell."

"Jesse, please—" Mira's voice was desperate now. "You don't have to do this. We can work something out—"

"The time for working things out is over. You know too much, and Adrian knows too much. David's orders were very clear—no loose ends."

"Wait," I said, my mind racing. "If David wanted me destroyed, why kill Mira? She's done what you wanted. She's given you everything you needed to bring me down."

"Because she found the truth. All those financial records, all that evidence of David's real crimes, she's gathered enough to clear your name and implicate us." Jesse's voice hardened. "That makes her a liability."

"I can disappear," Mira said quickly. "I can go away, never speak about any of this—"

"I'm afraid that's not good enough."

The sound of a safety being clicked off came through the phone, and my blood turned to ice.

"Jesse, don't do this," I said urgently. "Whatever David is paying you, I'll double it. Triple it."

"This isn't about money anymore, Adrian. This is about finishing what we started."

"Please," Mira whispered. "Please don't—"

"Goodbye, Mira. Thank you for your service."

The gunshot was deafeningly loud through the phone, followed by a scream that tore through my chest like a knife.

"Elise!" I shouted into the phone, dropping my scotch glass. It shattered on the floor, but I barely noticed. "ELISE!"

Silence. Then Jesse's voice, calm and professional.

"Don't worry, Adrian. You'll be joining her soon."

The line went dead.