Chapter Six The Woman Behind the Knife #3
Calia’s voice lowered. “Selene is almost done. Once the board sees the rest of the files, everyone scrambles. Men with power pay a lot to keep old habits buried.”
Makayla’s eyes snapped to Jarvis.
The board.
What board?
Jarvis looked just as sharp.
Trevon mouthed, recording.
Makayla’s earpiece carried every word.
Calia continued, “Jarvis should have let his father’s empire stay dead. Instead, he cleaned the front rooms and pretended the basement wasn’t full of bones. Now those bones are worth more than the buildings.”
Maribelle said, “You don’t care who gets hurt.”
“I cared once.”
“No. You wanted.”
Calia’s laugh came cracked this time. “And what is wrong with wanting? Jarvis wanted power. Selene wants control. Orin wanted obedience. You wanted escape. Makayla wants the world to clap while she bleeds online. Everybody wants.”
Makayla stiffened.
Calia was baiting even in an empty hallway.
Maribelle’s voice stayed steady. “And what do you want, Calia?”
A pause.
Then Calia said, “Everything he looked past me to protect.”
Jarvis whispered, “Now.”
Everything moved.
Trevon and the guards rounded the corner first.
Jarvis followed.
Makayla stayed close, heart pounding.
The old surgical prep room opened ahead, wide and pale under broken fluorescent lights. Maribelle stood near the far wall, one arm around a boy who looked about nine or ten. Niko had her eyes and a tight grip on her coat.
Calia stood several feet away in a white suit.
White again.
Like innocence was a costume she refused to stop wearing.
Her hand rested on a small pistol pointed toward the floor.
The second Jarvis entered, Calia smiled.
“There he is.”
Jarvis’s eyes went to Maribelle first.
Then Niko.
Something broke across his face.
Maribelle saw it.
For one second, neither of them looked at Calia.
That was the mistake Calia wanted.
She lifted the gun.
Trevon aimed.
“Drop it,” he said.
Calia laughed. “Everybody relax. If I wanted him dead, he’d be dead outside with that cute little decoy.”
Makayla stepped into view.
Calia’s eyes lit. “Oh, Makayla. You came too. Of course you did.”
Makayla folded her arms. “I heard there was a desperate woman in white embarrassing herself again.”
Calia’s smile tightened.
Jarvis cut his eyes toward Makayla. “Not now.”
Makayla did not look at him. “Especially now.”
Calia tilted her head. “You’re brave when men with guns stand near you.”
Makayla smiled. “And you’re loud when children are scared. We all got hobbies.”
Niko pressed closer to Maribelle.
Maribelle whispered, “It’s okay.”
Makayla’s anger sharpened.
Calia saw and enjoyed it. “Careful. That temper is how we got here.”
“No,” Makayla said. “Your jealousy, Selene’s greed, Orin’s sickness, and a whole city full of men who thought women were storage rooms got us here. My temper just showed up with witnesses.”
Calia’s eyes flicked to Makayla’s ear.
Then to Trevon’s.
Then to Jarvis.
Her face changed.
“You’re recording.”
Trevon said, “Every word.”
Calia recovered, but not fully.
Good.
Makayla stepped forward. “Tell us about the board.”
Calia’s smile returned in pieces. “What board?”
“The one Selene is almost done with.”
Jarvis looked at Calia. “Who has the ledger?”
Calia turned her attention to him, and the room shifted around her obsession. “Still giving orders.”
“Answer.”
“No.”
Jarvis took one step closer.
Calia lifted the gun, pointing it at Niko.
Everybody froze.
Maribelle pulled the boy behind her.
Jarvis stopped instantly.
Calia’s smile trembled with triumph. “There. That’s the Jarvis I remember. A man who could be controlled if you found the right woman to stand behind.”
Makayla’s blood went cold.
Trevon’s weapon stayed aimed, but he had no clear shot.
Jarvis’s voice was low. “Calia.”
“No,” she snapped. “Do not use that voice on me. You used that voice when you told me I was done. You used that voice when you cut me out like I was some dirty little employee instead of the woman who helped polish your name.”
“You stole from me.”
“I learned from you.”
“You endangered women in my rooms.”
Calia’s face twisted. “Your rooms? Your rooms were built by Orin. You just changed the lights and called it redemption.”
Jarvis flinched.
Makayla hated that Calia saw it.
Calia stepped closer to Maribelle and Niko, gun still raised. “The ledger never disappeared. Selene has part. I have part. Orin’s old partners have been buying pieces for years. But Maribelle was the missing lock. Everybody thought she had the key.”
Maribelle’s voice shook with anger. “I told you I don’t have it.”
Calia smiled. “You had something better.”
Jarvis’s head lifted.
Maribelle went pale.
Makayla saw it.
“What?” Makayla asked.
Calia looked at Niko.
“No,” Maribelle whispered.
Calia’s smile turned cruel. “You didn’t tell him?”
Jarvis looked at Maribelle.
The room tightened.
Maribelle clutched Niko closer. “Don’t.”
Calia’s eyes gleamed. “Niko is not just your son, is he?”
Jarvis looked like the floor shifted under him.
Makayla’s heart kicked.
No.
The room went silent except for the hum of dying lights.
Maribelle’s eyes filled, but her voice came strong. “He is my son.”
Calia laughed. “That’s not an answer.”
Jarvis’s face had gone gray.
Makayla stepped between him and Calia’s line of sight without thinking.
Calia noticed.
“Oh, look,” she said softly. “Makayla protecting him now. How sweet. How stupid.”
Makayla stared at her. “Who is Niko’s father?”
Calia smiled.
Maribelle answered before she could.
“Orin Draven.”
The words landed like a body hitting water.
Jarvis stopped breathing.
Makayla’s stomach turned.
Niko looked up at his mother, confused and terrified.
Maribelle’s voice cracked for the first time. “Jarvis got me out before I knew I was pregnant.”
Jarvis’s eyes moved to the boy.
Not son.
Brother.
A child born from violence, hidden from a family name that could have swallowed him whole.
Makayla’s chest hurt.
Jarvis took one small step, then stopped when Niko flinched.
That flinch destroyed him. Makayla saw it happen.
Calia smiled like she had waited years to watch that pain.
“There it is,” she whispered. “The last Draven secret.”
Jarvis looked at Maribelle. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Maribelle’s face folded with pain. “Because I wanted him to have one piece of life untouched by your father. Untouched by that name. Untouched by every man who would look at him and see money, leverage, blood, sin.”
Jarvis swallowed hard.
Makayla wanted to reach for him.
She didn’t.
This moment did not belong to her.
Calia stepped back, gun still on Niko. “Selene doesn’t just want the ledger. She wants proof of inheritance. Bloodline. The boy connects Orin’s hidden trusts, old accounts, sealed property. All that dirty money men forgot how to access.”
Jarvis’s voice came rough. “He’s a child.”
“He’s a key.”
Makayla snapped, “He’s a child.”
Calia looked at her. “Don’t get emotional.”
Makayla’s smile was pure ice. “Too late.”
She moved before anyone expected it.
Not toward Calia.
Toward the old surgical light beside her.
Makayla grabbed the hanging arm and yanked it hard.
The rusted hinge screamed.
The light swung down fast, crashing between Calia and Maribelle with a burst of sparks.
Niko screamed.
Calia fired.
The shot cracked through the room.
Jarvis lunged.
Trevon grabbed Niko and Maribelle, dragging them behind a metal cabinet.
Makayla dropped to the floor as plaster exploded behind her.