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I’m on my back, fists pummeling his sides, but it’s like hitting concrete. He pins me with practiced ease, his weight immobilizing me as he draws back for a finishing blow. His eyes are cold, professional. This is just a job to him.

Time slows. I see Caroline behind him, Luke’s gun gripped in her hands. Her face pale but resolute, arms extended in a perfect shooter’s stance.

The gunshot doesn’t sound like in movies—it’s sharper, more violent, a crack that seems to tear the air itself. My ears ring with sudden deafness.

Luke’s expression changes in an instant—from focused rage to blank surprise. The tension in his body releases all at once. Something warm and wet sprays across my face. Metallic. Copper. Blood.

He collapses onto me, suddenly deadweight. The crushing pressure of a human body, no longer animated by consciousness. I feel his last breath exhale against my neck, warm then cooling.

I push him off with trembling hands. He rolls to the side, limbs loose like a discarded marionette.

Bright red blood blooms across the pristine white flooring, expanding in a perfect circle.

A small, neat hole has punctured his temple, almost surgically precise, with a trickle of blood flowing from the dark opening.

The silence that follows is deafening. Just the sound of waves against the hull and my own thundering heartbeat.

Caroline stands perfectly still, the gun now pointed at Geoffrey, her hands steady while mine shake uncontrollably. Her face is a professional mask, but her eyes are wide with the enormity of what she’s just done.

Geoffrey’s as ashen as I feel. He, like me, has probably never witnessed death outside a sanitized hospital room. This is different. Raw. Final.

“I’ll go. For now,” he says, taking a step back. “Nothing changes.”

“No?” I’d say everything has changed. He can’t threaten me with an edited video, and we now have a gun trained on him. One of his hired guns is dead. He didn’t think this through.

“I know which path you’ll take. You’ll protect your reputation.” There’s a notable tremor in his voice, and his backward movement weakens his meaning.

He didn’t plan this. He didn’t foresee it.

In truth, I didn’t foresee this, either. Nausea churns, and there’s a subtle tremble in my limbs. I swipe at my face, using my sleeve to clear the blood splatter.

Geoffrey could theoretically seek out the suit and instruct him to come for us. But he’s off-kilter. We all are.

Slowly, almost in a daze, I follow Geoffrey up to the helipad, Caroline on my heels.

The pilot is strapped in, ready to go.

The armed suit, the one who flew with me out here, sits beside him.

Based on their expressions, they didn’t see what happened with Luke.

The rotors are moving. The two men in the helicopter prepare for departure.

“Geoffrey, you need to give up. Turn yourself in,” I shout above the wind and mechanical rotor noise.

“No. The plan’s the same,” he says. “Think about everything you have to lose. If you don’t join me in DC, you’ll face an investigation, trials. Zenith will lose clients. You’ve already lost the trust of your precious syndicate. They won’t come to your aid.”

“You’re the one who set the bounty on Nick. You’re the one who wanted to make it look like it was me.”

It’s a statement. Not a question.

There’s no denial.

“Think my offer over. Discuss it with Caroline. You can have her with you. That piece changes. Perhaps holding her against her will was a miscalculation on my part. She’ll make a wonderful first lady. Or you can spend years in court and then in prison. Once again, your choice.”

Whatever damage Geoffrey believes he’s inflicted, there’s nothing that can’t be undone. Yes, there’s an AI-generated video out there, but it’s easy enough to issue a press release and allow the press to handle disseminating messaging regarding a deep fake.

Perhaps a younger version of myself might have fallen for his ruse. For the false narrative that reputation, wealth, and power are everything.

But he’s out of his mind. Our Dad didn’t dictate my life, no matter what he believes, and I’m not about to let this lunatic dictate my future.

Geoffrey climbs into the helicopter and straps himself in, speaking into his headset, likely giving instructions to depart.

Caroline joins me, Luke’s gun aimed down.

I see the moment the armed guard notices the gun in her hand. His mouth opens, speaking, and his hand goes to his waist, but just as quickly, he lowers his hand.

There’s no point in a shootout. Geoffrey has to land somewhere. The authorities will find him and detain him.

The chopper lifts, and Caroline’s golden strands fly around her, whipping every which way.

We both cower from the wind, and I try to protect her with my body until the worst has passed.

Geoffrey has to suspect there’s a chance I won’t do as he wishes. What will he do next?

As soon as the roar of the rotors quiets, the helicopter rising into the sky, I turn to Caroline.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. There are others on this boat. I don’t know where or how many.”

“No, I mean, are you…” She shot a man.

“I’m fine.” I’m not sure she is. “I’ll be fine,” she insists.

The helicopter swings right, heading off to what I presume is a southeast direction.

I take her hand, the one not holding a gun.

“Let’s get one of the boats down,” I say, pulling her toward the stern where I spotted the RHIBs earlier.

“You think that’s safer?” She scans the upper deck.

“To your point, we don’t know who else is on board. And Geoffrey’s been threatening bombs. If there’s one on this yacht?—”

“We might not find it until it’s too late,” she finishes. “But I don’t think he ever had a bomb. I never saw one. Luke made the same threats to me about a bomb at Arrow’s offices.”

The yacht remains eerily silent as I activate the davit system, which lowers the dinghy toward the rolling water below. Caroline stands guard, her stolen weapon tracking every shadow while my hands work the controls.

“Do you have Ryan’s number?”

“I know Arrow’s, but I don’t have my phone.”

I hand her mine, taking the gun from her hand while I watch the small boat descend slowly.

Her arm comes around my waist, and I hold her to me, bracing us against the railing. She said there are others on this boat, but I doubt it. If he had firepower on board, I suspect we’d be cowering about right now. He wouldn’t have let us win so easily.

The lifeboat hits with a splash, and I drape a rope ladder with wooden slats over the side and urge Caroline down. She hands me my phone. It has satellite capabilities, and one glance at the screen shows the call is in process.

“This is Ryan,” a deep voice barks.

“Ryan, it’s me. I’ve got Caroline.”

“Are you on a ship?”

“A yacht.”

“We’re on the way. Can you talk?”

“Geoffrey left in his helicopter. Two others are with him.”

“Geoffrey plus two. Copy. We’re tracking it. Didn’t know if you were in on it.”

“Stay on him.”

“Copy. Can you get off that ship?”

“Disembarking into a dinghy.”

Caroline’s almost at the bottom of the ladder; two more rungs and her feet will be in the boat.

“Good. Push away. We believe he may have acquired a bomb. Might be on your ship.”

“That’s my fear. Caroline’s off. I’m climbing down now. Others might be onboard. We haven’t cleared it.”

“Copy. Disembark and push off. Coast Guard is en route. So are we.”

I end the call, and with one last scan of the deck, climb down the ladder to join Caroline.

“What did Ryan say?”

“They’re on the way.”

“Are they tracking Geoffrey?”

“Yep.”

At this point, the Arrow team has pulled in full resources. Geoffrey may believe he’s above the world’s military and intelligence forces, but the world is growing smaller. Even if he changes to a different helicopter before we reach him, we’ll find him. We can find anyone.

“Are you sure this is the best idea? It’s possible we’re the only ones on the yacht. Or those still onboard are crew and won’t hurt us. This boat feels small.”

She’s not wrong about the size. Compared to the yacht, to the waves, it’s tiny. “My gut’s telling me we need to move.” I flip the small outboard motor engine on, and we sputter away.

There might not be a bomb on the yacht, but there could be. There could be mercenaries too. Anyone on the boat was hired by Geoffrey, which means we can’t trust them.

Caroline joins me on the bench seat, snuggling into my side as sea spray lashes every time our hull crashes into the crest of a wave.

Clouds thicken into a steel-gray hue, blanketing the setting sun beneath a foggy shroud.

For a brief moment, I second-guess myself and consider going back, but no, this is the smarter plan.

Seated on the bench, the dinghy feels impossibly small against the vastness of the Pacific.

Gray clouds gather on the horizon, promising rougher seas ahead.

Each wave lifts us high before dropping us into troughs that seem to swallow us whole.

Salt spray stings my eyes as I grip the throttle, pushing us further from the yacht with every surge.

“The video of you,” she says. “So real. It’s scary they can do that.”

“I agree. The video of you with a bomb terrified me. Jesus, Caroline.” I shake my head, hoping to shake the image.

“If there were any AI markings, I didn’t pick them up.

” The terror damaged my objectivity. I’d like to go back, study the video again, and take the time to find the markers. They have to be there.

“What happens now?”

At this very second, I’m hoping we’re clearing enough distance that we’ll be safe from the blast radius if there’s a bomb on the yacht, but she’s asking a bigger question.

“I’ll call in every favor. Geoffrey won’t have any pull, even if he tries to impersonate my father.

Or me. I’ll make sure the evidence reaches every major intelligence agency simultaneously.

” My father’s legacy may be shattered, but he’ll never need to know.

“The Arrow team will track down Geoffrey. If whoever he’s working with pulls off some bigger plan, my company won’t be used to further their goals.

He must’ve truly hated me to misjudge me so greatly. ”

With greater distance between us and the yacht, I loosen my grip on the engine handle, slowing our speed, and pull back to inspect her injuries. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” She brushes my hand away, but she can’t see the gash on her forehead. “Dorian, what was he talking about? Have you broken laws? Are you–”

I stop her with a light press of my finger to her lips. “I’m not perfect. I’ve arranged deals with questionable enterprises. Worked with people you wouldn’t approve of.”

“Criminals?”

“For the most part, no one who’s been convicted of a crime.” It’s a weak defense, but in a global economy, crime is a multifaceted concept. “I followed in my father’s footsteps. But Geoffrey misjudged me. Power isn’t something I crave.”

“That’s easy to say when you’ve always had it.”

“Caroline, for all of his studying me, one thing he didn’t grasp is that I’d give it all up for you.

” In all fairness to Geoffrey, I’m not sure I understood that about myself until this weekend.

He clearly understood that I love Caroline, but he didn’t understand the depths of my feelings.

I’d give up my life before I let anything happen to her.

I’d give up everything for her. Or maybe, come to think of it, maybe he did understand.

“What he said about an investigation…are you going to cover this up? You could, you know. There’s no reason for any of what you or your father have done to be exposed.” There’s an earnestness to her words that tells me she’d help me.

“Kill the investigation?” I meet her gaze directly. “Not an option. The lies, the deceit. That wouldn’t work out well for me in the long run. I couldn’t win you back if I did that. No. I’ll work with the authorities. And I’ll do what I need to do to ensure nothing like this happens again.”

She studies me for a long moment. “The Dorian I left would’ve chosen differently.”

“I'm not that man anymore.” We’re far enough from the yacht, and I kill the engine, letting the boat roll with the waves. When the rescue team approaches, we want to be easily found.

I gently lift her chin. “I thought power and legacy were what mattered. But living without you—” My voice catches. “Those were empty years.”

The boat rocks beneath us as I carefully touch the wound on her forehead. “When I thought I might lose you today... I realized there’s only one legacy I care about building.”

“And what’s that?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

“A life with you. If you’ll give me that chance.” I take her hands in mine. “I’m dismantling the Moore empire, piece by piece if I have to. The satellites, the companies—they’ll serve the world, not profit from it. That’s my choice, and it’s one Geoffrey never foresaw.”

A smile—the first real one I’ve seen since this nightmare began—spreads across her face. She leans into me, and this time when our lips meet, there’s no goodbye in it.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispers against my mouth.

An explosion rips through the air, catching us by surprise. Bright orange flames and black fumes strike a surreal image against the horizon. I scan the ship, but don’t see anyone jumping from it. Perhaps there was no crew. Debris litters the ocean, and the yacht falls on its side.

“You were right,” Caroline says under her breath.

Off in the distance, a Coast Guard chopper appears on the horizon, and I hold Caroline close against the wind and spray.

“I was blind for so long,” I say, my words blending with the wind. “To what really mattered. To what was coming. No more.”

“No one can see everything,” she counters. “There’s always a different angle. Always.”

She’s comforting me, standing by me, even as the world burns from my blindness.

I kiss her as the helicopter descends, lights beaming over the murky ocean, its rotors scattering the mist around us like a veil that’s finally been lifted from my eyes.