Chapter 10 - The Final Stand
Willa returned to the penthouse.
It was a suicide mission. She knew it. She had left Brutus with a safe family she’d found—a quiet, kind couple who lived in the suburbs—promising she would be back. She carried no weapon, only the truth.
She climbed the building the way she had left—the maintenance ladder, the service elevator. She entered the penthouse, moving like a shadow through the halls.
Kensington was in his study, sitting at his desk. He looked different—older, more tired.
"You came back," he said, not looking up.
"I had to," she replied.
She walked to the desk and dropped the $100,000 on the wood. "Here’s your money. I don't want it. I don't want your protection. And I don't want your world."
Kensington looked at the money, then at her. He stood up, and for the first time, he looked truly vulnerable.
"I didn't want you to die, Willa," he whispered.
"You didn't give me a choice," she said.
"I’m giving you one now," he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a passport, a set of keys, and a one-way ticket to a city far away from New York. "Go. Live. Be free."
Willa took the items, her hand trembling. "Why?"
Kensington looked out at the city lights. "Because you taught me that even a beast deserves to be free."
Willa turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "What about you?"
May you like
"I am the cage," he said.
Willa walked out, the door closing behind her. She was free. And as she stepped out into the bright, morning light of New York, she knew she had won. But she also knew that a part of her would always remain in the penthouse, with the man who had let her go.
