CHAPTER 15: The Copycat
We met Marcus at the office before sunrise. Spread across the table were photos of the damage—buildings gutted, records burned, graffiti scrawled across the walls: Thorne’s legacy never dies.
“Elias is in custody awaiting sentencing,” Marcus said. “He couldn’t have done this. Someone’s using his symbol to start chaos all over again.”
“Someone who knows how Julian operated,” Victor added. “Someone who watched him and learned every trick.”
We spent the day going through old employee lists, former associates, everyone who’d been cut loose during the restructuring. One name kept popping up: Cole Rainer—Julian’s personal driver and enforcer for years, who’d vanished the day of the dock arrest.
“Cole was loyal only to Julian,” Elias told us over a secure video call from the detention center. “He hated Victor. Hated me for turning. Said we’d betrayed the only man who ever gave us a chance.”
That evening, I was walking out of the hospital when a man stepped out from behind a pillar—scarred knuckles, cold eyes, and a faint black rose tattoo peeking out from under his sleeve.
“Mia Voss,” he said, voice low and rough. “Tell your father this isn’t over. Everything he took… we’re taking back.”
Before I could speak, he turned and vanished into the crowd.
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