Chapter 9 - The Stolen Ledger
"I don't need to run," Robert snarled. "I just need your master decryption key. The one stored on your private server. The one that unlocks the bearer bonds in the Blackwood family trust."
"Come and take it," Adrian challenged, stepping out from behind the dresser, exposing his chest completely to Robert’s gun.
Robert fired.
Adrian ducked and rolled to the right with lethal precision, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. Robert fired two more shots, both tearing through the Persian rug, before Adrian collided with him at full speed.
The two men crashed into the glass coffee table, shattering it into thousands of glittering fragments. Robert slashed with the butt of his gun, catching Adrian across the cheekbone and opening a jagged cut. Adrian didn't flinch. He grabbed Robert’s gun hand, twisting it violently until bone snapped with a sickening pop.
Robert screamed, dropping the weapon.
From across the room, Emma saw Robert reach into his jacket with his left hand, pulling a ceramic-bladed hunting knife.
"Adrian, look out!" Emma screamed.
She lunged forward, ignoring the agonizing flare in her torn knee, and swung the heavy brass fire poker with all her remaining strength. The brass struck Robert squarely across the shoulders, knocking his aim off course just as he lunged with the blade.
The knife grazed Adrian’s shoulder instead of his throat.
Adrian seized the opening, delivering a brutal palm strike to Robert’s chin, followed by a sweeping kick that drove the doctor hard into the stone hearth. Robert’s head bounced off the mantle, and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious, the ceramic knife clattering across the tiles.
Panting heavily, blood dripping from his cheek, Adrian stood over the fallen doctor. He kicked the knife away, then turned immediately to Emma.
Emma was leaning heavily against the wall, clutching the fire poker, her breathing ragged. Tears streamed down her face—tears of shock, pain, and betrayal from her own blood.
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Adrian stepped forward, took the brass poker from her trembling fingers, and threw it aside. He pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"It's over," Adrian whispered into her hair. "It’s over, Emma. You saved me. Twice."
