The world was a cacophony of shattering glass and the roar of the ocean wind. Julian's weight was a solid, crushing heat against Avery as he shielded her body from the shards of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The red laser dots scoping for a kill shot-flickered frantically across the ceiling, searching for their targets in the chaos.
"Stay low!" Julian growled in her ear. He didn't sound panicked; he sounded insulted that someone would dare strike at his sanctuary.
With a strength that felt superhuman, Julian dragged Avery behind a massive, reinforced marble pillar. Just as they slid into cover, a volley of suppressed gunfire chewed into the leather chair where Julian had been sitting seconds before.
Avery's heart was drumming a frantic rhythm against her ribs, but her mind was stuck on the video she'd just seen. Impostor. The word tasted like copper in her mouth.
"Julian," she gasped, clutching the front of his shirt. "My phone... the video... someone is trying to leak-"
"Forget the phone!" Julian snapped, reaching into the waistband of his trousers and pulling out a sleek, matte-black handgun. "We have approximately ninety seconds before they breach the perimeter. My security is being jammed."
He looked at her then, his grey eyes piercing through the dark. "Can you run in that dress, or do I need to carry you?"
Avery's survival instinct, honed by years of living in the lion's den of the Valentine family, took over. She reached down, grabbed the hem of her $50,000 midnight-blue silk gown, and-with a sharp rip-tore it up to her thigh.
"I can run," she said, her voice dropping into that cold, "Woods" authority.
They moved like shadows through the darkened mansion. Julian led her through a concealed service door behind the library, winding down a narrow, concrete staircase that smelled of salt and damp earth.
"They aren't here for the algorithm," Julian muttered as they reached a heavy steel door at the bottom. "This is a hit. Someone wants the Woods-Vane merger dead before it's even announced."
"Lucca," Avery breathed. "He knows he's losing everything. He's desperate enough to hire mercenaries."
"Lucca doesn't have the spine for this," Julian retorted, punching a code into the door. "But the people backing him do."
The door hissed open to reveal a private subterranean dock. A high-speed, blacked-out interceptor boat bobbed in the water. Julian shoved Avery toward it just as the sound of an explosion echoed from the floors above. The estate was being leveled.
Julian jumped into the driver's seat, the engine roaring to life with a low-frequency thrum that vibrated in Avery's bones. They shot out of the cave and into the choppy, moonlit waters of the Atlantic just as the top floor of the Vane Estate blossomed into a fireball.
Once they were a safe distance from the shore, the silence of the open sea settled over them, broken only by the spray of the waves. Julian put the boat on autopilot and turned to Avery.
She was sitting in the passenger seat, her hair matted with salt, the Blue Heart of the Ocean still glittering mockingly around her neck. She was staring at her phone screen, which was cracked but still functioning.
"Show me," Julian commanded.
Avery hesitated, then handed him the phone. Julian watched the video-the footage of Melanie and Lucca in the secret records room, the DNA report, the claim that Avery was a fraud.
Julian's face remained a mask of stone. When the video finished, he didn't look shocked. He looked at Avery with a terrifying, clinical curiosity.
"Is it true?" he asked. "Are you the ghost daughter of a dead man, or just a very talented actress?"
Avery stood up, the boat swaying beneath her. "I am Avery Woods. I have the memories of my father. I have the codes to the empire. If I were an impostor, why would Arthur Woods recognize me in that hospital bed?"
"Because a dying man sees what he wants to see," Julian said, stepping closer. The space between them was charged with a new, dangerous tension. "Or because you were trained so well that even the creator couldn't tell the difference between the original and the copy."
He reached out, his hand wrapping around her throat-not to choke, but to hold her gaze. "If you are a fake, Avery, then our deal is void. I don't merge with shadows. I merge with bloodlines."
"Then let's find out," Avery challenged, her eyes flashing. "If Melanie has the 'real' DNA results, she's heading for the one place that can authorize an emergency freeze on the Woods Group assets: The High Court of Commerce. She's going to strip me of my name before the sun comes up."
"Then we change the game," Julian said, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "We don't go to the court. We go to the source."
He pulled a tablet from the boat's console and pulled up a map. "The DNA facility that handled your family's records is 'Geno-Tech.' It's a subsidiary of Valentine Group. Lucca didn't find those records, Avery. He manufactured them."
Avery felt a surge of hope, but it was quickly doused by Julian's next words.
"But here's the problem," Julian continued. "To prove they're fake, we need a fresh sample from a direct blood relative. Your father is in a coma, and you're 'suspect.' There is only one other person who carries the Woods DNA signature."
Avery froze. "No. Not her."
"Yes," Julian said. "Your sister. The one you told everyone died in the crash with your father. The 'Silent Heiress' wasn't the only secret Arthur Woods kept."
Avery felt the world beginning to crumble. She had spent three years protecting a legacy, only to find out the foundation was built on shifting sand.
"My sister is dead, Julian. I saw the body."
"Did you?" Julian leaned in, his breath cold against her ear. "Or did you just see what Marcus Thorne wanted you to see?"
Just then, Avery's phone rang. It was an unknown number. Against her better judgment, she answered.
"Hello, Avery," a high-pitched, melodic voice giggled on the other end. It wasn't Melanie. It was a voice Avery hadn't heard in ten years-a voice that should have been buried under six feet of earth.
"Did you like the fireworks at Julian's house? I've always thought he lived too loudly. I'm coming for my throne now, big sister. And I think I'll take your 'king' as a souvenir."
Avery looked at the GPS. They weren't heading for a safe house.
The boat was slowing down, approaching a massive, black industrial tanker in the middle of the ocean. On the deck of the tanker, a girl stood in a white dress, waving a blood-red scarf.
Julian didn't look surprised. He looked at the girl, then back at Avery.
"I forgot to mention," Julian whispered as the boat's docking clamps engaged. "I never play for just one side."
Is Julian working with the 'dead' sister? And who is the real Avery Woods?
