FROM RAGS TO THE THRONE

Chapter Nine – No Way Out

The heavy thud of the steel shutters locking in place reverberated through the 40th floor. The sound was final, deliberate, a statement.

Gabriel’s eyes flicked briefly toward the door, then back to Adrian. "You planning on keeping me here against my will?"

Adrian’s tone was calm, almost conversational. "You walked in. I’m just making sure you don’t walk out until we’re done."

Selena’s gaze shifted to the nearest guard, noting the subtle repositioning of his stance. The weight of tension was thick, like static before a lightning strike. "Done with what, exactly?" Gabriel asked.

"With deciding the future of this city," Adrian replied. "And who’s going to be holding the reins when the dust settles."

Vivienne stepped forward from the shadows near the wall, her heels clicking softly on the polished floor. She was dressed in a deep crimson suit, the color sharp against the muted room.

"Adrian," she said without taking her eyes off Gabriel, "your guest doesn’t seem to understand he’s not in control anymore."

Gabriel’s smirk widened. "Is this your second-in-command? Or just your mouthpiece?"

Vivienne’s lip curved faintly. "The last man who called me that doesn’t talk anymore. At all."

Selena tilted her head, assessing Vivienne with new interest. This woman had an edge, sharp enough to cut through Gabriel’s usual arrogance.

Adrian moved toward the war table, placing both hands flat on its surface. "Gabriel, you’ve been circling my operations for months. You’ve taken assets, bought off suppliers, and tried to undercut me in every market. But now, you’ve crossed into territory you can’t afford to."

Gabriel stepped closer, his shadow stretching across the table. "You mean your ex-wife? Selena’s little... extracurricular activities?"

Selena’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing, Adrian’s voice didn’t rise, but the ice in it was unmistakable. "She’s not my problem. You are. And the difference between us is that I know how to remove problems permanently."

Vivienne tapped the tablet in her hands, and the big screens came alive with images, photographs, financial documents, shipping manifests. Every one of them tied to Gabriel’s operations.

"These," Vivienne said, "are enough to cripple you in twenty-four hours. Your accounts will freeze, your warehouses will be seized, and every politician you’ve paid off will suddenly remember they have families to protect."

Gabriel’s eyes slid over the screens, then back to Adrian. "And what do you want in exchange for keeping this little slideshow off the news?"

Adrian leaned in slightly. "Everything you’ve taken from me. And then you disappear."

Gabriel laughed. It wasn’t forced or defensive, it was genuine amusement. "You actually think you’ve got me boxed in? Adrian, you have no idea what kind of fire you’re playing with."

Without warning, the lights flickered, Vivienne’s head snapped toward the security feed, but the screens were already glitching, static dancing across them.

Marcus’s voice crackled in Adrian’s earpiece: "We’ve got movement on the service stairwell, multiple hostiles, heavily armed. They’re bypassing the main security."

Gabriel’s smile widened. "You didn’t really think I’d come here without a backup plan, did you?"

Selena finally spoke, her voice smooth. "And you didn’t think I’d walk into the lion’s den without a way out."

The next moment, a concussive blast shook the floor. The steel shutters over the stairwell door buckled inward, and gunfire ripped through the opening.

Adrian’s guards dropped to cover instantly, returning fire. The sharp crack of rifles echoed through the confined space.

Adrian grabbed Vivienne’s arm, pulling her behind the war table as Marcus shouted orders over comms. Gabriel didn’t flinch, he simply stepped back, letting the chaos unfold.

Selena moved closer to him, her eyes darting toward the shattered entry point. Adrian ducked low, his mind already running through the layout of the floor. He could fight this out, but the risk of losing Vivienne or letting Gabriel slip away  was too high.

He signaled Marcus. "Seal the inner corridor. We’re cutting them off before they reach the core."

"On it," Marcus replied, already moving.

The attackers surged through the breach, black-clad and masked. They moved with precision, covering each other as they advanced.

Vivienne slid a pistol across the table toward Adrian. "You’re going to need this."

He caught it, chambered a round, and leaned out just far enough to take down the lead intruder, Gabriel watched him with a faint smirk. "Still sharp after all these years."

Adrian’s return glance was cold. "Sharper."

The firefight was brutal, short bursts of gunfire, the sharp scent of cordite filling the air, shouts and orders cutting through the noise.

Two of Adrian’s men went down, one clutching his shoulder, the other silent and still, Vivienne moved like a shadow, her shots precise, each one finding its mark.

Selena, to Adrian’s surprise, had a compact pistol of her own. She wasn’t just standing back, she was firing with practiced accuracy, dropping one of the intruders who had flanked left.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, the noise stopped, The last intruder crumpled, and the only sounds were the low hum of the emergency lights and the faint drip of blood on the polished floor.

Adrian straightened, scanning the room. Gabriel was gone, Selena was standing alone, her pistol lowered, eyes locked on Adrian, And between them, lying on the floor, was a small black device, blinking red. A timed charge.

Adrian didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Vivienne and Marcus, shoving them toward the inner corridor. "Move! Now!"

Selena didn’t move at first, she was watching him, her expression unreadable. Then, with a faint smile, she turned and sprinted for the same exit. The blast went off before they made it to the end of the corridor.