Epilogue #2
Benny’s breathing becomes even more frantic, desperate noises vibrating uselessly behind the gag as tears gather in the corners of his eyes.
The stranger glances at him with something resembling pity. “Almost.”
My heart pounds so violently that I can hear it over the monitor beside me. “Who the fuck are you?”
He finally looks back at me. “A man your uncle has inconvenienced for a very long time.”
“Answer the fucking question.”
“I suppose you've earned that much.” He inclines his head slightly. “My name is Ace.”
The name means absolutely nothing to me. I search my memory anyway, turning it over again and again, waiting for something to click. A face. A conversation. Anything that explains why this stranger is standing in my hospital room with my uncle and Maddie restrained at gunpoint.
Nothing comes.
“Okay, great. That’s fucking fantastic, Ace,” I rasp, every word scraping against my raw throat. My gaze never leaves the gun pressed against Maddie's temple. “Now, let. Her. Go.”
Ace studies me for several long seconds, his expression unreadable. Then he releases a quiet breath through his nose, almost as though I've confirmed something he'd already suspected.
“I was beginning to think Benjamin Thornton wasn't real.”
The corner of his mouth lifts into a faint smile as he turns away from me, taking a slow walk across the room. His boots barely make a sound against the polished hospital floor, yet every step seems impossibly loud in the suffocating silence.
“I had people searching for him in six different countries,” he says conversationally.
“Every warehouse he ever owned. Every account he ever touched. Every person foolish enough to call themselves his friend.” He lets out a quiet laugh.
“Every time I got close, he vanished before I could lay a hand on him.”
He stops beside Benny and rests one tattooed hand on my uncle’s shoulder with an almost unsettling familiarity.
“I'll admit, Benjamin…” he says, looking down at him. “After a while, I started wondering if I was chasing a ghost.”
Benny shakes his head violently beneath the gag, tears pooling in his swollen eyes as muffled sounds force their way through the cloth stuffed into his mouth.
“But ghosts don’t steal from me.” Ace’s voice remains almost conversational, yet every word lands with the weight of a verdict.
“You took something that belonged to me, Benjamin.”
He walks over to my uncle, giving his shoulder a light pat, almost affectionate. “A lot of something.”
Benny’s muffled pleas become more frantic. His head shakes violently beneath the gag, tears spilling freely down his bruised face. Ace watches him for a moment before exhaling through his nose.
“You disappeared before I could collect what was mine.” He turns toward me, his expression calm. “I knew I’d find him eventually.” His eyes settle on mine. “I just didn't expect to find you.”
A knot twists in my stomach, but I don’t answer him. I don’t know what the fuck The Godfather asshole is on about, but when I figure out how to get out of this hospital bed, I’m going to make him regret ever laying a finger on Maddie.
“One of my men called. Told me he’d found someone.”
Ace studies me as though he’s seeing if I live up to whatever expectations have already been set.
“Someone smart. Someone disciplined. Someone who understood loyalty.” His mouth curves into the faintest smile. “Someone with potential.”
I shake my head. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“He said your uncle had spent years shaping you into exactly what he needed.” Ace pauses. “Unfortunately for him, he didn’t realize he was shaping you for me.”
The words hit me like a punch to the chest.
“He told me not to waste you.”
My pulse pounds in my ears. “...Who?”
Ace's smile widens ever so slightly. “Nate.”
Everything inside me stops. No fucking way. Nate wouldn’t double cross me like this. He’s been with me for years.
“He spoke very highly of you.”
“You’re fucking lying.”
“I have no reason to.” He says it so matter-of-factly that, for the first time since waking up, I don’t know what to believe.
“Nate wouldn't—”
“He didn't call because of Benjamin.” Ace cuts me off without raising his voice. “He called because of you.”
Silence swallows the room.
“He thought you deserved better than the life your uncle had planned for you.”
My eyes flick toward Benny. He’s still shaking his head, begging and trying to tell me something through the gag. I don’t know who I’m supposed to believe anymore.
Ace extends his hand, and without a word, the man behind Benny places the suppressed pistol into it.
The moment the weapon settles into Ace's palm, my blood turns to ice.
“No.”
Ace looks down at the pistol briefly before raising his eyes to Benny. “You’ve cost me enough.”
He lifts the gun.
“No!” I throw myself against the handcuff, the chain snapping tight around my wrist hard enough to make the bed groan beneath me. “Please!”
Ace doesn't even look at me. He presses the suppressor against Benny's temple with practiced precision.
“Every debt gets paid, Benjamin.” He finally meets my eyes. “One way or another.”
The sound that follows is nothing like what I expect. The suppressor dulls the gunshot, reducing it to a quiet pop that feels impossibly small for something that changes everything.
Benny’s body jerks once before he goes perfectly still. I wait for him to move, to fight, to prove that none of this is fucking real.
But he doesn’t.
A spray of blood hits the side of Maddie’s face and chest before she can even react.
Her eyes widen in pure horror. A broken scream tears from her throat, muffled by the gag as she thrashes against the restraints holding her to the chair.
The sound is desperate and terrified, the kind of sound that makes something inside my chest split open.
“Maddie!”
I throw myself forward on instinct, forgetting the pain, forgetting everything except getting to her. The handcuff snaps tight around my wrist, stopping me before I get anywhere close.
“Get away from her!” My voice cracks as I fight against the restraint.
Maddie’s eyes meet mine, wide with panic. Tears streak down her face, mixing with the blood that doesn’t belong to her. Ace doesn’t even look at her. He simply lowers the weapon as if he just finished taking care of an inconvenience, then looks over at me.
“Now,” he says, his voice unnervingly calm, as if he isn’t holding all of our lives in the palm of his hand, “I’m going to let the girl go, because she appears to be…important to you.”
His smile widens slightly. “But understand this, Miles.” He lets the silence stretch just long enough for my stomach to tighten.
“The moment she walks out of here…” His eyes lock onto mine. “You belong to me.”
My jaw clenches as I try to pry my arm out of the handcuff. “Bullshit. I’m not one of you!”
Ace doesn’t even flinch at my outburst.
“No.” He takes a slow step closer. “But you will be soon.”
The certainty in his voice sends a chill down my spine as my eyes find Maddie's. She’s still crying, her face covered with my uncle's blood.
“You wanted her safe. I’m giving you exactly that.” His gaze shifts toward Maddie before returning to me. “And in exchange, you work for me. This isn’t a choice, Miles,” he continues, a faint smile crossing his face. “It was never going to be a choice to begin with.”
He turns toward the door, leaving me with words that feel heavier than any threat.
“Welcome to my world, Rook.”