Chapter 16 - THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BROTHERS
Julian poured Valerie a glass of water in the same kitchen where Sebastian had made coffee.
He moved with practiced precision.
Only the warmth was wrong.
Sebastian concealed kindness as though it were a weakness.
Julian displayed it like a weapon.
“You knew before the elevator opened,” Julian said.
Valerie kept her expression neutral.
“How?”
“You asked whether my mother was safe.”
“And Sebastian would not?”
“He would ask whether she was guarded.”
Julian smiled.
“You have studied him quickly.”
“He is difficult to ignore.”
“So am I.”
He stepped closer.
Valerie did not retreat.
Julian wanted the decoder and the capsule.
She told him the archive had erased itself.
He told her that deletion was only theater.
A copy had been transmitted to Margaret.
Conrad, Margaret, and Adrian were preparing to divide Project Meridian among themselves.
“And you?” Valerie asked.
“I am preparing to become the only Sebastian Ward the world remembers.”
The penthouse doors burst open.
Sebastian entered with Adrian behind him.
For one disorienting second, the brothers faced each other across the room.
They were nearly identical.
Valerie saw the differences immediately.
Sebastian’s anger turned inward before it became action.
Julian’s anger searched for an audience.
Julian pulled Valerie against him and pressed a gun beneath her ribs.
“Tell him to lower his weapon.”
Valerie looked at Sebastian.
He lowered it without hesitation.
Julian laughed softly.
“That is why you will lose.”
Sebastian’s eyes remained on Valerie.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“That is why you already have.”
Valerie drove her heel into Julian’s foot and twisted free.
Adrian fired.
The bullet struck Julian’s shoulder.
He crashed through the open office door and triggered the emergency shutters.
Steel divided the penthouse.
When Sebastian reached the other side, Julian was gone.
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On the desk, a countdown had begun.
PROJECT MERIDIAN: 06:00:00.
