"I'm not taking sides, Mom. I'm telling the truth." Sophia held her mother's gaze without blinking. "And the truth is that Alexander has done more for this family in the last few months than anyone else has done in five years. Including us."The silence that followed was so thick it felt like a wall between the three of them.Margaret pressed her lips together. Her eyes glistened. She turned without another word and walked back into the apartment, closing the door behind her with a soft click that sounded louder than a slam.Sophia stood on the steps and exhaled. The confrontation had drained whatever energy she had left. She turned to Alexander, who had not moved from beside the car."Thank you for driving me home." Sophia's voice was softer now. Almost careful. Her eyes met his for the first time in months without a wall of ice between them.Alexander nodded once. "Make sure you lock the doors. Cynthia will remain nearby."He turned back to the car."Alexander." Sophia's voice stopp

"I know why you're calling, Marcus." The General's voice was calm and unhurried, carrying the kind of authority that came not from shouting but from decades of decisions that shaped the course of nations. "I received a copy of the suspension order eleven minutes ago. I also received a very interesting phone call from two officials who seemed remarkably eager to shut down an operation they supposedly knew nothing about.""Sir, if we don't move tonight, the Circle will evacuate that compound and we will lose the strongest lead we have ever had on these people." Marcus gripped the phone. "They killed Charles Westbrook in his own cell to keep him quiet. They sent assassins after Sophia Mitchell in broad daylight. They are not going to sit still and wait for us to come knocking.""I agree." Hawthorne paused. The silence lasted exactly three seconds. "The suspension order has been overridden. I am granting your team temporary military support under my personal authorization. This will not a

The corridors here were wider, better lit, and reinforced with steel plates along the walls. This was not the outer shell designed to slow attackers down. This was the core. The real fortress within the fortress.Alexander turned a corner and stopped.Jason Thompson stood at the far end of the corridor.He was flanked by eight mercenaries, each one carrying military grade weapons and wearing body armor that looked freshly purchased. Behind them, crates of ammunition and equipment lined the walls. Jason had spent Robert's remaining diamonds well."Alexander Kane." Jason's voice bounced off the steel walls. His face was gaunt. His eyes were hollow and burning at the same time, the look of a man who had stopped eating and sleeping and thinking about anything except the person standing in front of him. "I've been waiting for this.""Waiting?" Alexander kept walking forward. His pace did not change. "You've been hiding, Jason. Running from city to city. Sleeping in safe houses. Spending yo

The battle had moved underground. Below the main compound, a network of reinforced tunnels and sealed rooms stretched in every direction. The Circle's remaining operatives were retreating through the tunnels, and as they went, they destroyed everything behind them. Monitors were smashed. Hard drives were pulled from servers and crushed. Filing cabinets were doused with accelerant and set on fire. The walls glowed orange as paper records burned in every room they passed."They're torching everything, Commander." Hayes moved beside Alexander through a smoke filled corridor, his weapon up and his eyes scanning every doorway. "If we don't get ahead of them, there won't be anything left to recover.""Split your team." Alexander pointed toward a junction where the tunnel forked into two directions. "Take four men left. Clear every room. Grab anything that isn't on fire. I'll push straight through to the central chamber.""Copy." Hayes signaled his men and disappeared down the left corridor.

They traded strikes through the center of the chamber. Dominic fought with a brutality that had no wasted motion, every attack designed to hurt, every defense designed to set up the next offensive. He pulled a short blade from his belt and slashed at Alexander's face. Alexander leaned back, and the blade opened a thin cut across his cheek. Blood ran down to his jaw.Dominic pressed the advantage, slashing in tight arcs while mixing in punches and kicks. The chamber walls cracked as bodies collided with them. A steel railing along the far side of the room shattered under the force of Alexander being driven into it. Concrete dust rained from the ceiling as the impacts shook the structure above."You think killing me ends this?" Dominic drove the blade toward Alexander's throat. Alexander caught his wrist and held it. They stood locked together, neither giving an inch. "The Circle doesn't die with one man, boy. We are everywhere. In every government. Every military. Every corporation. Yo