ログインJason POVMr. Asher lasted less than five minutes after Mr. Stait finished speaking about Jasmine before deciding he was done waiting."If members of my family are involved, I want to know which ones."Mr. Stait looked up from his phone. "My people are already investigating.""And they'll continue investigating," Mr. Asher replied. "But they're investigating a criminal conspiracy. I'm investigating my family."There was enough difference between those two things that Mr. Stait didn't argue.Mr. Asher stepped into the hallway with his phone already in his hand. I stayed beside Amber, listening to his voice through the partially open door as he started making calls. He didn't begin with accusations. He asked questions about family gatherings, recent conversations, Adrian's relatives and anyone who had suddenly changed plans after Amber was hospitalized.It didn't take long before the answers became strange.Mr. Asher returned almost half an hour later, looking older than he had when he
Jason POVwhen Mr. Stait checked his phone again, I finally understood the expression on his face.I'd seen it before.Not on him.On myself.It was the same sick mixture of anger and fear I'd felt when Amber collapsed. The same helpless fury I'd felt when the doctors took her through doors I couldn't follow her through. It wasn't irritation because Jasmine had ignored orders. It wasn't even the anger of a commander whose injured soldier had disappeared during an active investigation.It was personal.I thought back to the waiting room when Iris had handed me Jasmine's letter. Mr. Stait hadn't reacted like a superior discovering that one of his people had gone off mission. He'd immediately started pulling cameras, tracing routes and issuing orders with a kind of controlled urgency I recognized now because I'd spent the last several hours feeling it myself.He'd been scared.Noah had just told me Jasmine was safe, yet Mr. Stait was still checking his phone as though he needed constant
Jason POVI was sitting beside Amber when Noah called.The ventilator continued its steady rhythm beside me, pushing air into her lungs while the monitors tracked every heartbeat as if numbers could somehow reassure me that my wife was still here. I had been holding her hand for so long that my fingers had gone stiff around hers, but I couldn't make myself let go.My phone vibrated against the arm of the wheelchair.Noah.I answered immediately. "Tell me you found Jasmine.""I found her."Some of the tension left my shoulders. "Is she all right?""She's Jasmine."That wasn't an answer, but somehow it was."She's with me," Noah continued. "Leo gave her a location connected to the conversation he overheard. It led us to an Asher hotel."My attention sharpened. "What did you find?""Someone is using Mr. Asher's identity to reserve a suite. Room 355. We found Adrian's younger brother there, completely drunk. He wasn't alone."I looked toward Amber."Adrian?""Not Adrian. His younger broth
Jasmine POVLeo's location turned out to be a hotel, and not just any hotel—an Asher hotel. I stared at the name above the entrance before looking at Noah. "Of course it is." When he asked if I knew they owned this one, I shook my head. Amber owned enough property that I had stopped trying to keep track of every building attached to her family name.We crossed the lobby without drawing attention. Noah was still wearing the disguise he used while serving, looking nothing like the famous idol people would recognize onstage. At reception, he handled the check-in while I stood beside him, pretending to be interested in my phone."We'd like a room," he said.The receptionist smiled as she entered the information. "One bed?""Yes."I slowly turned my head toward him, but Noah didn't even look at me. He continued checking us in as though registering us as a couple and requesting one bed was the most natural thing in the world. Fine. I could kill him later.While we waited for our key cards,
Jasmine POV Leo was already seated in a booth near the back, positioned so he could see the entrance, the main dining room and most of the hallway leading toward the restrooms. At least his field instincts survived social events.Unfortunately, so did his face.Leo had jet-black hair that fell around his forehead with the kind of deliberate carelessness people probably paid ridiculous amounts of money to achieve. With his smooth features, dark eyes and annoyingly perfect proportions, he looked less like someone who had participated in a military operation on an island full of traffickers and more like he'd escaped from a K-pop group between performances.Then there was the smile.That smile was his greatest weapon.Warm, easy and just shy enough to make strangers assume he was harmless, it had probably been responsible for half the information he'd collected without anyone realizing they were being questioned. Women trusted it. Older people wanted to feed him. Security guards tended
Jasmine POVHospitals were designed to keep people alive, which was admirable, but they were also designed to keep people in bed, which became considerably less admirable when the person in that bed happened to be me.I had been shot in the arm. Not the chest, not the head and nowhere particularly essential to my continued existence. The bullet had gone through, the doctors had cleaned everything, stitched what needed stitching and spent an unreasonable amount of time explaining that blood loss, physical exertion and fresh bullet wounds were apparently reasons to rest.I had listened carefully.Listening and obeying were entirely different skills.Besides, Amber was unconscious because someone had poisoned her, Jason could barely walk, two babies had been delivered by emergency C-section, and a nurse who had spent two weeks inside Jason's hospital room had somehow gotten close enough to try to kill both of them. Under those circumstances, staying in bed seemed almost irresponsible.I
I didn’t cry. I didn’t shake. I didn’t look back, or mourned the life and the years i will never get back, lost forever. I just went home, time to pack and say goodbye to my old life. The penthouse doors opened with biometric recognition the moment I stepped inside. Floor-to-ceiling glass. Marb
We moved quickly through the hallway. Adrian walked behind me, gun raised, covering the corridor while I forced Henry Watson forward. The mansion was quieter than expected. Too quiet. Which meant either the guards were regrouping… or Jason was already on his way. I glanced over my shoulder.
Jason POV Marcus nearly slammed the brakes. “She shot the camera!” I leaned back slowly. Marcus looked at me. “What the hell was that?” I ran a hand over my face. “She said hello husband before she shot it.” Marcus stared. “…Okay.” Silence filled the car. “…What does that mean exactly?”
Family drama. Honestly, I was getting tired of it. I shifted slightly in the chair, letting the ropes around my wrists rub just enough to make the guards think I was uncomfortable. In truth, they had tied them loosely—political kidnappers rarely knew how to do proper restraints. Across from me,







