Novel-novel oleh Becca jiri

Chapter 74:Gina’s POV"How long are we going to keep pretending like we trust him?" I asked flatly, arms folded, eyes fixed on the screens in Diane's room.Diane didn’t look up from the blueprints she was scrolling through. “Long enough for him to hang himself.”“Jayson doesn’t hang,” I muttered. “He cuts others down.”She smirked slightly. “Then we sharpen our blades before he reaches for his.”I paced the room. Every step echoed in the cold silence. My thoughts wouldn’t sit still.“I know he’s not Jayson,” I said.Diane looked up slowly, her face unreadable. “You’re not supposed to say that.”I stopped. “But you think it too.”She sighed. “I think a lot of things. But it doesn’t matter. He wants Kane. We want Kane. Until our interests split, we smile, nod, and feed the devil sugar.”I swallowed back the bile in my throat. “Caroline doesn’t deserve what’s coming.”Diane’s voice sharpened like glass. “This again?”“She’s not the enemy.”“She’s with Kane,” Diane said. “That’s enough.”

Chapter 73Kane's POV“I still don’t get how you managed to untie yourself,” I said, tossing my jacket onto the armrest as Caroline stepped into the living room.She gave me a look. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the sheer will to not die a horrific death?”“Fair,” I murmured.She flopped down onto the couch like she’d just run a marathon. Which—emotionally—she had.“You okay?” I asked, crouching in front of her. My fingers brushed her knee.She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. Just… still processing. One minute I was tied to a chair about to bite someone’s junk off—”“Successfully, I might add.”She smirked. “—and the next, you and Kelly burst in like angry Avengers.”“Well, you didn’t exactly make it easy for us to find you.”She narrowed her eyes. “You trying to blame me?”“No. I’m trying to distract you.” I grabbed her hand. “Because if I stop talking, I might start yelling. Or pacing. Or punching something.”Her lips parted, and for a second… I saw it. The weight, the fear. All swimming

Chapter 72: Maybe I was the traitor.Or maybe I was just stupid.Because even now, with my feet deep in enemy territory, surrounded by people who would slit my throat the moment I failed them, my thoughts kept circling back to her.Caroline.Her laugh. Her stubbornness. Her belief in me — even when I didn’t believe in myself.I stared at the cracked mirror above the sink in the lair’s guest quarters. My face looked the same. But it wasn’t. Not anymore.“You can still fix it,” the voice in my head whispered.But I knew better. I had already made the choice when I gave Diane that information. When I showed up here in the black coat she’d given me. When I stood still and watched Robertson bleed out without blinking.A door opened somewhere down the hall. Heavy footsteps.I straightened, brushed my hair behind my ears, and walked into the war room. The others weren’t back yet. I had time to pretend I wasn’t suffocating in my own skin.Until he walked in.Kelly.My heart stuttered before

Chapter 71:Gina's POV “I hope you’re not still sulking,” Diane said sweetly, strutting into the candle-lit hall like she was walking a runway instead of a villain’s lair.“I’m not sulking,” I muttered, arms crossed, watching her fix her lipstick in a compact mirror like we weren’t in the middle of planning someone’s destruction.“You’re frowning. That counts.”“I’m thinking.”“Mm. Dangerous.”I didn’t answer.She shut the compact with a snap. “I need you alert tonight. We’re making our move.”My gaze lifted. “Already?”Diane turned to face me fully. Her eyes — steel blue and cold as hell — glinted like polished knives. “Robertson’s death changes everything. We can't afford to wait. Reynolds is panicking. Jayson’s pretending he’s not, but you know how boys get when they lose their toys.”“So what’s the plan?”A slow smirk spread across her face. “We hit where it hurts. Not just Kane. Everyone close to him. Friends, allies, secrets… including Kelly.”My heart skipped. “Kelly?”She nod

Chapter 70:Kane's POVI didn’t think I’d ever see the inside of my home and feel... peace.But there she was — barefoot, wrapped in one of my hoodies that hung ridiculously off her frame, walking around the living room like she owned the place.Which, to be fair, she basically did now.Caroline plopped onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. “You call this a couch? It’s the size of a small boat, Kane.”I raised an eyebrow, watching her get swallowed by the plush cushions. “You’re just small.”“No,” she said, squinting at me. “You’re just abnormally large. You know what you are?”“Charming? Devilishly handsome? A living nightmare?”She pointed a finger. “A wall. An emotionally constipated, broody, soft-hearted wall.”I barked out a laugh, tossing the bag of snacks onto the coffee table and settling beside her. “You forgot ruggedly attractive.”“No, I didn’t forget,” she said with a smirk. “I just didn’t want to boost your ego more than it already is.”We both sat there for a second, the

Chapter 69:Raymond's POV“He’s dead,” I said flatly, tapping the edge of my phone against the desk.I didn’t need to say who. Reynold already knew. The news had hit the underground channels this morning. Robertson Perez, the loyal, loud, and ultimately a liability found with two bullets in his chest was dumped like garbage near the woods.Father didn’t even look up from his tea. “Hmm.”That was it. Hmm. Like we’d lost a janitor, not a man who had nearly crushed Kane and left Caroline half-broken.I clenched my jaw. “He was valuable.”“He was reckless.” Reynold finally met my eyes, his expression unreadable, as usual. “Sloppy. Kane escaped. Caroline’s still breathing. Kelly turned ghost. How valuable was he, really?”“He was a distraction,” I replied, calmly swirling the amber liquid in my glass. “And now I have to find a new one.”Reynold leaned back in his chair. “Good. Then do it. And this time, not just distractions. Make moves.”I hated that tone — like he was instructing a serva