Chapter 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH ACROSS THE CITY
The photograph appeared on Adrian’s private phone before he left the garden.
It showed Lily holding his hand.
A message rested beneath it.
NOW THE MAN WITHOUT A HEART HAS SOMETHING TO LOSE.
Adrian stared at the screen.
His first instinct was violence.
Locate Volkov.
Seal the ports.
Take every man connected to him.
Burn the entire network until someone spoke.
Then Lily returned from the pond carrying a fallen flower.
“It’s broken,” she said.
Adrian looked at the bent stem.
“Can we fix it?”
“Maybe.”
She handed it to him.
The rage inside Adrian had nowhere safe to go.
He gave the phone to Vincent.
“Get Sarah and Lily out.”
Sarah stepped forward.
“What happened?”
“Volkov knows.”
Her face went pale.
“You promised the meeting was secure.”
“I believed it was.”
“That is not the same.”
“No.”
Adrian forced himself not to offer excuses.
Vincent moved Sarah and Lily through the service entrance.
A security convoy took them to a safe apartment selected by Sarah, not Adrian.
Sarah accepted police protection and two guards she personally approved.
She refused to disappear into one of Adrian’s compounds.
“I am not raising Lily behind armored windows.”
Adrian wanted to argue.
He remembered the faceless drawing.
“Temporary protection,” he said.
“Then we build something better.”
Sarah looked at him.
“We?”
“If you allow it.”
“That depends on what you do next.”
Adrian knew the answer she feared.
War.
He called Vincent.
“No retaliation.”
Vincent stared at him.
“Boss, Volkov photographed your child.”
“We locate the leak.”
“We build evidence.”
“We protect them.”
“We do not start shooting across Brooklyn.”
“Volkov will see restraint as weakness.”
“Then let him misunderstand me.”
The medical team prepared Adrian for the defibrillator procedure the next morning.
Dr. Elena Maren explained that the device would shock his heart if a fatal rhythm began.
“You still need medication.”
“You still need less stress.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“Less stress may be unavailable.”
“Then create it.”
She pointed toward the consent form.
“Your disease does not care whether you win a war.”
“It only cares how fast your heart beats.”
Adrian signed.
Before the procedure, Lily called through a secure video line.
She wore pajamas covered in stars.
Sarah remained just outside the screen.
“Mom says they’re putting a tiny machine in you.”
“Yes.”
“Will you be a robot?”
“Only a little.”
“Can you shoot lasers?”
“No.”
“That’s disappointing.”
Adrian smiled.
Lily held up the repaired flower from the garden.
She had taped the stem.
“See?”
“It works.”
Adrian looked at the crooked flower.
“What if it breaks again?”
“You tape it again.”
The nurse entered.
It was time.
Lily raised her hand toward the screen.
“Pretend I’m holding it.”
Adrian lifted his hand.
Their palms aligned through the glass.
“Don’t die,” she said.
Sarah moved into view.
“Lily.”
“What?”
“You cannot order someone not to die.”
Adrian answered before Sarah could soften the statement.
“I will follow the doctors’ instructions.”
“That is what I can promise.”
Lily nodded.
“Okay.”
The screen went dark.
May you like
Adrian entered surgery.
Across town, one of Sarah’s approved guards sent the safe apartment address to a phone registered under Vincent Russo’s name.
