Broken Man
Broken Men
“You must have some idea,” Derek pressed.
Alexander hesitated, then said, “Adrian Cole.”
“Adrian?” Derek blinked. “Victoria’s ex–husband? That nobody?”
“That’s what I thought too. But somehow…” Alexander shook his head.
Derek’s expression changed. Something dark flickered across his face.
“What?” Alexander asked.
Derek stood and walked to the window, staring out at the city lights. “It’s not Adrian.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s Sophia.” Derek’s voice was tight with barely contained rage. “My bitch cousin got her company back. Stellar Dynamics. Worth billions now.”
Alexander stared at him. “Sophia did this?”
“I don’t know how she did it. But she did.” Derek turned back to face him, and his expression was twisted with something ugly. “And my father disowned me because of her. Said I destroyed our greatest family money connection.”
Derek laughed, but it sounded like he was dying inside. “He kicked me out. Cut me off. All because of her.”
They sat in silence for a moment, two broken men staring at the ruins of their lives.
Then Derek stopped pacing and looked at Alexander with an intensity that made Alexander sit up straighter.
“Do you want revenge?” Derek asked quietly.
Alexander thought about the past three months. The humiliation, the poverty, the constant rejection. The feeling of being completely powerless.
“Yes,” he said.
Derek’s smile was cold and empty. “Then we do whatever it takes to get Sophia back. Whatever it takes.”
“Anything?” Alexander asked.
“Anything at all.”
Alexander stared into his coffee mug for a long moment. Then he looked up and met Derek’s eyes.
“I’m in.”
Derek nodded slowly. “Good.”
They didn’t say anything else. Just sat in the quiet apartment, two desperate men who’d lost everything, united by a single
purpose.
Neither of them noticed how far they’d already fallen just by agreeing to this path.
The study was quiet, filled only with the soft rustle of turning page and the distant hum of the city below. Adrian sat in his favorite leather armchair by the window, a worn copy of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations resting in his hands. The afternoon light made everywhere look peaceful
Marcus knocked once and entered without waiting for permission a privilege he was very proud of by the way.
Adrian looked up from his book, marking his place with one finger “What is it?”
Broken Men
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“We have a problem.” Marcus’s voice was steady, but there was tension in his shoulders. “The families have started again.”
Adrian’s expression didn’t change, but he closed the book carefully and set it aside on the small table beside him. “Go on.”
Marcus moved further into the room, his hands clasped behind his back. “The five families…Blackwood, Harrington, Sterling, Ashford, and Thornton. It seems they are getting more desperate to find you.”
Adrian nodded slowly, his gaze drifting to the window.
The five families. Were old money, with vast wealth accumulated over generations.But more than that, they controlled the underground trade…the real power structure that existed beneath the surface of polite society. To put it lightly if Adrian was the king of light, then they were pure darkness.
Every major business deal passed through their hands in some way. Every politician worth knowing owed them favors. Every industry had their fingerprints on it somewhere. They weren’t just wealthy; they were the gatekeepers. And for the past six months, they’d been obsessed with finding someone.
Mr. X.
A mysterious figure whose power was more superior than theirs. Someone untouchable.
Marcus watched Adrian’s profile, and something heavy settled in his chest. He felt bad for them.
Marcus had seen what Adrian was capable of. Had witnessed the casual ease with which he could dismantle empires, redirect the flow of power, make the impossible happen with nothing more than a phone call or a quiet word in the right ear.
Adrian was dangerous in ways the five families couldn’t begin to comprehend.
And they were dancing closer and closer to the fire, completely unaware they were about
to
be burned.
Marcus had always admired Adrian’s restraint. After everything he’d been through…the past Marcus knew about but would never speak of…Adrian had every reason to be ruthless. Cruel. To take what he wanted and destroy anyone who stood in his way.
Instead, he chose patience. Choose to live quietly, to love genuinely, to give people chance after chance to do the right thing.
It was commendable. Noble, even.
But Marcus also knew there was a limit. A line that, once crossed, would change everything.
“What would you like me to do?” Marcus asked.
Adrian was quiet for a long moment, his fingers tapping gently against the arm of his chair…a rare display of active thought.
“Nothing yet,” he finally said. “Let us see how far they go.”
But the five families were running out of time to realize their mistake.
“Understood, sir,” Marcus said. “I’ll continue monitoring their movements. If anything changes…”
“You’ll let me know,” Adrian finished. “Thank you, Marcus.”
Marcus nodded and turned to leave.
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