Chapter 14 — The Friend Who Begged to Live
Chapter 14 — The Friend Who Begged to Live
Tommy was waiting in the warehouse.
He was sitting on the floor with his hands tied behind his back.
For the first time since I had met him, he looked small.
Not dangerous.
Not confident.
Not like the man who had poisoned Dom's coffee.
Just afraid.
Dom walked toward him.
I stayed behind.
Vincent stood near the entrance.
Daniel watched from the shadows.
Tommy lifted his head.
“Dom.”
Dom stopped.
“You have five minutes.”
Tommy swallowed.
“Five minutes for what?”
“To convince me not to kill you.”
The color drained from Tommy's face.
I looked at Dom.
He wasn't bluffing.
Tommy knew it too.
“I didn't want to kill you.”
Dom's jaw tightened.
“You put poison in my coffee.”
“I was ordered to.”
“You pulled a gun on Nema.”
“I was ordered to.”
“You betrayed me.”
Tommy lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
Dom stepped closer.
“Then tell me who ordered you.”
Tommy hesitated.
Dom raised his gun.
“Four minutes.”
Tommy immediately spoke.
“Miguel.”
Dom froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Tommy looked at me.
“Because of her.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“What did I do?”
“Nothing.”
Tommy shook his head.
“That was the problem.”
I stared at him.
“You were the heir.”
“The trust.”
“The bloodline.”
“You were everything Miguel needed to control.”
Dom's expression hardened.
“And me?”
Tommy laughed bitterly.
“You were supposed to watch her.”
Dom went still.
“I did.”
“You were supposed to keep her close.”
“I did.”
“You were supposed to make sure she never found Adrian.”
Dom looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
Tommy's voice cracked.
“That was the whole point.”
I stepped forward.
“You knew?”
Tommy looked at me.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
My chest tightened.
“So when you came to the diner…”
“I already knew who you were.”
“And when you tried to kill Dom?”
“I was following orders.”
“And when you tried to kill me?”
Tommy closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
I felt anger rise.
“You don't get to hide behind orders.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
“Then why should we let you live?”
Tommy's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I can tell you everything.”
Dom's gun remained raised.
“Talk.”
Tommy took a breath.
“Miguel has another son.”
“We know.”
Tommy shook his head.
“You don't know who.”
I frowned.
“Elias.”
Tommy stared at me.
“Yes.”
Dom stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
Tommy looked terrified.
“Not where you think.”
“Where?”
“He's inside the organization.”
“Doing what?”
Tommy whispered:
“Running it.”
Silence.
I looked at Dom.
He understood immediately.
Elias wasn't a hidden heir.
He was already in control.
The thirteen percent wasn't simply missing.
It was being actively protected.
Tommy continued.
“Miguel didn't raise Elias to be his son.”
“Then what?”
“He raised him to be his successor.”
Dom's face hardened.
“And what about me?”
“You were never supposed to inherit.”
Tommy looked at him.
“You were supposed to be the distraction.”
I couldn't speak.
The realization was worse than I expected.
Every relationship.
Every betrayal.
Every protection.
Every threat.
Had been part of a plan.
Dom had been positioned as the heir everyone watched.
I had been positioned as the heir nobody knew existed.
And Elias had been positioned behind both of us.
Tommy looked at me.
“Miguel knew the Blood Trust would eventually activate.”
“Then why didn't he stop it?”
“He couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because your grandfather created a condition he couldn't break.”
I stared.
“What condition?”
“The trust could only be transferred if the heir survived long enough to claim it.”
Dom looked at Tommy.
“So Miguel needed Nema alive.”
“Yes.”
“Until the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he try to kill her?”
Tommy looked away.
“Because the transfer already happened.”
My blood went cold.
“He doesn't need me anymore.”
“No.”
Tommy whispered:
“Now he needs you dead.”
Dom lowered his gun slightly.
Tommy noticed.
“That's why I'm begging you.”
Dom looked at him.
“Begging me?”
“Yes.”
“I don't deserve mercy.”
“No.”
Tommy swallowed.
“But I want to live.”
The words hung in the warehouse.
I looked at him.
He was terrified.
And for the first time, I saw something I hadn't allowed myself to see.
Tommy was guilty.
But he was also afraid.
Not afraid of Dom.
Afraid of the people behind him.
“You're afraid of Miguel.”
Tommy nodded.
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what he does to people who betray him.”
I looked at the scars on his hands.
“How many people have you hurt?”
He didn't answer.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
“Did you ever regret it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The first time I saw a child crying because of something I did.”
I stared at him.
“Then why keep doing it?”
“Because I thought there was no way out.”
Dom said quietly:
“There is always a way out.”
Tommy looked at him.
“Not in our world.”
Dom lowered his gun.
“Then maybe it's time we changed the world.”
Tommy started crying.
Quietly.
No dramatic sobbing.
Just tears running down his face.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“You shouldn't.”
“I don't expect to walk free.”
“You won't.”
“I just don't want to die.”
I looked at Dom.
He looked at me.
For once, neither of us had an answer.
I thought about my mother.
The lies.
My father.
The years he had disappeared.
Miguel.
Vincent.
Daniel.
Even Tommy.
Everyone had lied to me.
Everyone had claimed they were protecting someone.
And somehow I had become the person standing in the middle of their consequences.
I looked at Tommy.
“I won't forgive you.”
He lowered his head.
“But I won't kill you either.”
His eyes lifted.
“Why?”
“Because if I kill everyone who betrayed me, there won't be anyone left to tell me the truth.”
Dom looked at me.
A faint smile appeared.
“That sounds like you.”
I frowned.
“What does?”
“You've always chosen the harder road.”
I looked at Tommy.
“Untie him.”
Vincent hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
I looked at Tommy.
“But do it anyway.”
Vincent cut the restraints.
Tommy rubbed his wrists.
Then he looked at me.
“I'll help you.”
“I know.”
“I can take you to Elias.”
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know something first.”
“What?”
“Who else is working for Miguel?”
Tommy stared at me.
Then he laughed bitterly.
“Almost everyone.”
He gave us names.
Seven executives.
Three security chiefs.
Two bankers.
A judge.
A former senator.
And one person I never expected.
Frank.
The owner of the diner.
I stared.
“No.”
Tommy nodded.
“Frank has been working for Miguel for twenty-three years.”
Dom looked at Vincent.
“Did you know?”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
I remembered Frank's diner.
The broken booths.
The terrible coffee.
The old photographs.
The way Frank had always watched me.
The way he had known things he shouldn't have known.
I suddenly understood.
The diner wasn't simply a safe place.
It had been a surveillance point.
Frank had been watching me.
Watching Dom.
Watching everyone.
I felt sick.
“Why did he let me save Dom?”
Tommy looked at me.
“Because Frank was never supposed to kill you.”
“What?”
“He was ordered to keep you alive.”
“Why?”
“Because he loved your mother.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
Tommy nodded.
“He helped her disappear.”
I couldn't speak.
So many lies.
So many pieces.
None of them fit.
Until Tommy added:
“Frank was the one who hid Adrian's last message.”
My heart stopped.
“What message?”
Tommy looked at Dom.
“The one your father left before he disappeared.”
Dom stepped closer.
“Where is it?”
Tommy smiled faintly.
“Frank has it.”
We drove back to the diner.
The sun had already risen.
Frank's Diner looked exactly as it always had.
Old.
Tired.
Ordinary.
But I knew better now.
Dom parked across the street.
“Stay here.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Nema.”
“I've spent too long being protected by people who lied to me.”
I opened the door.
“I'm going in.”
Dom followed.
Tommy stayed in the car.
Vincent covered the entrance.
Daniel watched the street.
We entered.
Frank was behind the counter.
He looked up.
For a moment, his face showed no surprise.
Then he sighed.
“You finally found out.”
I stopped.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You worked for Miguel.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father was alive.”
Frank looked down.
“Yes.”
I felt tears burning my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she begged me not to.”
“That's not good enough.”
“I know.”
I slammed my hand against the counter.
“Everyone keeps saying they lied to protect me!”
Frank flinched.
“But nobody ever asked me what I wanted!”
Silence.
I breathed hard.
“You're right.”
Frank looked at me.
“You should have known.”
“Yes.”
“You should have been allowed to choose.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Because your mother believed that if you knew, you'd go looking for Adrian.”
“I would have.”
“And Miguel would have found you.”
I stared at him.
Frank reached beneath the counter.
Dom immediately raised his gun.
“Slowly.”
Frank removed a small envelope.
He placed it on the counter.
“This is for you.”
My name was written across the front.
In Adrian's handwriting.
I couldn't move.
Dom looked at me.
“Open it.”
My fingers shook.
I tore the envelope.
Inside was one page.
Only one.
Nema,
If you are reading this, then you have discovered the empire.
But the empire is not what you think it is.
The thirteen percent isn't money.
It is people.
I stared.
“What?”
Dom read over my shoulder.
Frank's face went pale.
I continued.
The last thirteen percent are the people who never belonged to the empire.
They are the people my father protected.
They are the people Miguel tried to erase.
And they are the people who can destroy him.
I looked up.
“Who are they?”
Frank whispered:
“Witnesses.”
I stared.
Adrian's letter continued.
If you want to defeat Miguel, don't take the empire.
Give it away.
My heart stopped.
Dom looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I read the final sentence.
The only way to end the empire is to destroy the system that made it powerful.
I folded the letter.
For years, everyone had fought over ownership.
Who inherited.
Who controlled.
Who ruled.
But Adrian wasn't asking me to become the new ruler.
He was asking me to end the game.
I looked at Dom.
“What would happen if I gave it away?”
He understood.
“The entire network would collapse.”
“Exactly.”
Frank stared at me.
“You can't.”
“Why?”
“Because millions of people depend on it.”
I shook my head.
“Then we rebuild it.”
Dom smiled.
“Different.”
“Transparent.”
“Legal.”
“Human.”
I looked at Frank.
“And nobody gets to hide behind blood anymore.”
A gunshot shattered the window.
Frank dropped.
Dom pulled me down.
Vincent fired toward the street.
Another shot.
Glass exploded.
Tommy rushed through the back door.
“Elias!”
I froze.
“What?”
“He's here.”
Dom looked toward the window.
A black car stopped outside.
A man stepped out.
Young.
Tall.
Calm.
He looked exactly like Miguel.
But his eyes were colder.
He looked through the broken window.
Straight at me.
Then he smiled.
“Nema Reyes.”
Dom stood.
“Elias.”
Elias nodded.
“Brother.”
Dom's face hardened.
“You've been hunting us.”
“No.”
Elias smiled.
“I've been waiting.”
“For what?”
“For you to find the truth.”
He looked at me.
“Because now that you know everything…”
He paused.
“You can finally choose.”
I stared.
“Choose what?”
Elias's smile disappeared.
“Whether you want to save the empire…”
“Or burn it.”
Behind him, more cars arrived.
Men stepped out.
Weapons in hand.
Dom raised his gun.
I looked at Elias.
Then at Dom.
Then at the letter in my hand.
For the first time, I knew exactly what I wanted.
Not revenge.
Not ownership.
Not power.
Freedom.
But freedom had a price.
And before I could pay it, I would have to survive the final war for the empire.
I reached for Dom's hand.
He looked at me.
I whispered:
“I'm not running.”
He squeezed my hand.
“Neither am I.”
Across the street, Elias lifted his weapon.
May you like
The first shot came before anyone could speak.
And the war for the thirteen percent began.
