Page 54 of Fallen Empire

Ben didn’t speak. He just stared—watching me like he was trying to read between the lines I hadn’t drawn yet.

“I’m the reason Sinclair Holdings is underwater,” I said finally. “I’ve been dismantling it piece by piece since they hauled her off in a chopper. Since I watched her take her last breath. That much blood... no one survives that. So I didn’t wait. I started burning it all down. The operation was still running without Bruce. I had to. For her legacy.”

I swallowed hard. “Koslov was one of the men who lost everything because of it. Collateral damage I hadn’t considered.”

“Jesus Christ...” Ben exhaled. “And now she’s fucking pulling through.”

“I couldn’t see past the tubes wrapped around her body when I started it four days ago.”

“And what happens now?” I could feel the rage building in his chest—like he was barely keeping it down. “What happens when he fucking finds out she isn’t dead?”

“He’ll come for her.”

There was no sugarcoating it. No sidestepping the truth. A man like Aleksei Koslov didn’t back down. He didn’t wait. He eradicated.

He’s not driven by pride or vengeance. He’s driven by order. His order. His world runs on fear, built on precision and silence. When something breaks that silence, he doesn’t make noise.

He makes an example.

The kind that ends with a body on display and a message carved into the bones.

“He doesn’t give a shit about revenge,” I added, eyes locked on the floor. “He wants to make sure anyone who dares cross him gets a final warning,loud and clear.”

Ben walked through the opening to the lounge and dropped into the first seat he found. His hands ran through his hair, his leg bouncing beneath the weight of what I’d just told him. He hadn’t stopped shaking his head since I laid it all out.

The silence between us thickened—tight, suffocating, waiting to break.

“And Nic knows all of this?”

“She’s the one who told me who he was. I had no clue. Not sure it would’ve made a difference at the time.”

And it wouldn’t have.

I didn’t give a shit whose empire I was burning to the ground, not when I thought I’d lost her. I would’ve set the whole fucking world on fire if it meant avenging the woman I loved.

But now… now that I’d seen her fight to come back, part of me wished I’d believed in her strength a little more. Wished I hadn’t let the rage lead the way.

“We need to be ahead of him when he comes.”

Ben’s words hit me like a punch to the ribs—sharp, unexpected, and hard to recover from.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t fucking play dumb. I’m not in the mood.”

I sat down beside him, shoulders heavy. “I’m not asking you to fight a war I started.”

“Jaxson,” he said, eyes locking on mine, “when the fuck have you ever had to ask me to do anything?”

I paused, letting that settle. Years of missions flashed behind my eyes. Silent glances, unsaid promises, blood spilled in places no one knew we’d been. He was right.

I’d never asked.

He just went.

Because that’s who Benjamin Ford was—protector first, soldier second. A man who didn’t wait for permission to fight. He was born for survival, hardwired to recognize threats before they formed and eliminate them without hesitation. When others hesitated, Ben struck. Fast. Lethal. Controlled chaos wrapped in calm.

But this time, it felt different.