The van drove for twenty minutes before Derek spoke."My mother left detailed instructions. Video message. Recorded three days before she died." His voice was steady, no trace of the fear that had defined him before. "She told me everything. The Consortium. What she'd done. What she was trying to undo. And she gave me one final order.""Which was?" Kai asked from the back, still holding Julie."Help Kai Cross. He's worth more than I ever gave him credit for. Redeem our family name."Kai's laugh was bitter. "By helping the man who destroyed her?""By helping the man who gave her a chance to die with honor instead of shame." Derek glanced in the rearview mirror. "She left me everything. Eight hundred million dollars. Properties worldwide. Network of contacts. All of it with instructions to use it helping you finish what she started.""You're the coward who killed someone in a hit-and-run," Kai said flatly. "Why should we trust you?"Derek pulled the van over. Turned in his seat to face

Twenty weapons trained on them. No cover. Nowhere to run. Four hundred miles from land."Drop your weapons," the crew leader ordered. "This ship is Consortium property. You're all under arrest.""Helen Sterling owned this ship," Kai said, his weapon still raised despite knowing the odds."Helen Sterling was bankrupt three years ago. The OxyElite scandal destroyed Sterling Pharma's stock. She sold this ship and half her assets to the Consortium to pay debts. She kept it secret." The leader smiled. "From everyone. Including her son."Derek's face was white. "That's impossible. She told me the ship was paid for. That it was secure.""She lied. To protect you. To maintain the illusion of control." The leader gestured to his crew. "This ship has been Consortium property for years. We've been waiting for you. Waiting for the perfect moment to spring the trap."Kai understood. This wasn't opportunistic. This was planned. Years in the making. Helen Sterling, desperate and dying, had sold them

The firefight consumed the ship.Nadia moved through the medical bay with lethal efficiency, fully armed from Helen's cache. Four crew members went down in seconds—headshots, center mass, no wasted ammunition. Professional. Brutal. Final.Derek fought beside her, less skilled but compensating with determination. Two more crew dropped. Lila and Julie were freed from their restraints, Julie barely conscious but alive.On deck, Reeves and the FBI agents heard the gunfire and emerged from the bridge, catching the remaining crew in a crossfire. Ten crew members trapped between two assault teams, nowhere to retreat.Kai found a sharp metal edge on a damaged railing. Worked his zip-tied hands against it, plastic cutting, bleeding, finally breaking. He disarmed the nearest crew member with a brutal strike and rejoined the fight.Julie struggled to her feet, Lila supporting her. "Where am I?""On a ship. Fighting for our lives. Can you move?""Barely." Julie's voice was weak. "But I'll try."T

The yacht loomed over the lifeboats like a floating palace, its white hull gleaming under floodlights that cut through the night. Sleek lines. Multiple decks. The kind of vessel that screamed old money and untouchable power.The elderly man at the rail was sixty-two, but he carried it like fifty—tall, straight-backed, silver hair perfectly groomed despite the ocean wind. Expensive suit, tailored to perfection. A refined face, almost grandfatherly, with sharp eyes that missed nothing. Nothing like Marcus's cold menace. This man looked like he belonged in boardrooms or charity galas, not orchestrating global conspiracies.He smiled down at them, hands resting casually on the polished rail."Kai Cross," he said, voice carrying effortlessly across the water. Cultured. Educated. The accent of Ivy League and inherited wealth. "We finally meet. Marcus spoke of you often. Said you were his greatest creation and his worst mistake."Kai stood in the lifeboat, weapon raised, steady despite the r

Day three on Theodore's yacht. Twelve hours until the deadline.Kai sat alone in his guest room, staring at the tablet Theodore had given him. Five million projected casualties. Three wars. Two economic collapses. All planned. All preventable.If he took the offer.The team had fractured. Lila wouldn't see him—staying in Julie's room instead, door locked, refusing to respond when he knocked. Julie was recovering physically but wouldn't speak to him. The betrayal in her eyes when she'd walked out still burned.Through the thin walls, Kai heard voices. Reeves and the FBI agents."If Kai accepts, we arrest him ourselves.""He's not thinking clearly. Theodore's manipulating him.""Doesn't matter. We don't let him become the enemy."Derek's voice, conflicted: "My mother wanted him to destroy the Consortium, not join it."Torres, bitter: "I didn't save his life a dozen times so he could become what we're fighting."Kai closed his eyes. Alone. Isolated. The weight of five million lives press