登入DrentI sat in my father's office and kept my face even, which was becoming an increasingly practiced exercise every time Marcus was in the room.He had made himself comfortable already. That was the thing about Marcus. He moved into spaces quickly and completely, like a natural occupation, and by the time you noticed he was already settled. He sat across the desk from me with his legs crossed and his expression open and pleasant, and I kept my eyes forward.My father ran through the matter on the table, a business decision that needed input, and he looked between us the way he used to when we were younger and he was testing to see who had the sharper instinct that day.I gave my answer. It was sound. It was strategic. I had thought through it the way I thought through everything, methodically and with full information.Then Marcus spoke.He didn't raise his voice or make a show of it. He just laid out his perspective in that calm, considered way of his, and the answer he gave was bet
RenataFive months.I stood in front of the calendar on my wall and stared at the date I had circled in red pen what felt like a lifetime ago. Five months since I had shaken Drent Ardent's hand and agreed to something I had told myself was simple. Straightforward. A deal with a clear beginning and a clear end.Nothing about it had been simple.I turned away from the calendar and reached for my bag, stacking my books on top of each other and sliding them in. Five months of battles I hadn't signed up for. Five months of Theodore, and Finn, and tied ropes in dark buildings, and Drent dragging me from one high-stakes situation to the next like I was a permanent fixture in a war that had started long before I arrived.Five months of him.I stopped for a second, holding the strap of my bag. That was the part I didn't like sitting with. The part where I tried to be honest with myself about what these five months had actually done to me. Because somewhere in between all of it, somewhere betwe
DrentI stood up before I had even made the conscious decision to stand.Marcus. Here. In this room, in this building, in this city, standing in that doorway like he had simply stepped out for a while and was now returning to collect what he had left behind. Like no time had passed. Like I hadn't spent years making sure I was so far ahead of him that the gap between us couldn't be closed.My father rose from his seat on the other side of the table, and the smile that crossed his face was one I hadn't seen directed at me in longer than I cared to remember."Marcus," he said, warm, open, the kind of welcome that filled a room. He crossed to him with his arms out and embraced him like a man greeting the son he had been waiting for.I stood there and watched it and said nothing.Marcus returned the embrace and then looked over my father's shoulder directly at me. That smile was still there. Comfortable. Unbothered. The smile of someone who had spent a great deal of time preparing for this
DrentWhere was Javier when you needed him? He should have noticed my ear chip was out long ago. He should have known something was wrong and sent backup by now.But I was still sitting there, still tied up, still hoping for Javier to burst through the door and rescue me and Renata's sick mother.I hadn't expected it to go this way. I had expected an easy extraction, but I guess Javier was right. Maybe I should have involved the police.My hands struggled against the ropes but they didn't come loose. Until finally Theodore walked in with a sick smile on his face. The kind of smile that showed satisfaction, like he had just caught his greatest enemy.I looked up. My expression didn't show fear or panic. The same dominant, fearless look stayed etched on my face, because I wasn't scared of him."You," I gritted.He walked in slowly."I can't believe I have the great and popular Drent Ardent in my home. What a dream come true." The sarcasm dripped from his voice."Your home. I should have
FinnI stood outside the door after I hung up the call, staring at the phone in my hand like it had done something wrong.Renata's voice was still in my ear. The fear in it, the way she had said *please don't hurt them* like she already knew the kind of people we were. Like she had accepted it. I slid the phone into my pocket and leaned against the cold wall, exhaling through my nose.I didn't want to do this.That was the thing nobody asked me. Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to be here, standing in a rotting building with a tied-up man in the back room and a sick woman barely breathing two doors down. Nobody asked if this felt right, or if this sat well with me at night. My father just pointed, and I moved, because that was what I had always done.But lately, something had been shifting.It started with the things Renata had been saying. The things that had been getting back to me, since when i tried to get her expelled from school. She had been talking, and the more I listened, th
DrentJavier spoke in my ear, giving me directions as I eased into the place they would have possibly kept Renata's mom. I arrived at the building. It was a quarters that looked like the kind of place you would never expect kidnapped victims, but there was a high chance things were even worse behind those walls.I smiled slightly. It was perfect. My mind might have seen the obvious red flags and called this dangerous, but Renata and I had already bargained. She was already on her way to stop Payton. I needed to keep my own word and rescue her precious mother.I looked sideways, preparing to go in, as I tapped the little chip on my ear. The chip Javier used to communicate with me and relay pending directions."Bro, I'm in," I said, holding the chip and looking sideways."I think you should tie that loosened hair of yours, bro, because the men I'm seeing behind this wall are going to require your full punching skills.""Don't worry about that. I have like ten men on the ground backing m
DrentI had worked so hard to convince my father my relationship with Renata was real. All the stress, all the effort. Now wasted because of Dija.The anger seethed through me. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end.I didn't care what my father had said, but I had put too much effort into t
Mr. ColeI had seen many things in my life.I had built an empire from nothing, buried partners who betrayed me, outlasted competitors who thought they could break me. I had weathered losses that would have destroyed lesser men and come out the other side standing.But nothing, not one moment in al
Drent"I can't do that.”The words left my mouth before I even finished processing her demand. Dija tilted her head, that slow smile still on her face like none of this was costing her anything."You can't?" she repeated softly."No." My voice was flat. "I'm not introducing you to my father. I'm no
DrentI walked into my office to maybe clear my head. Despite all the parties I had attended with Renata, the second kiss she gave me at the barbecue party that made me like it maybe a little too much, and the approval my father was already giving, all of it didn't seem to make me feel better. Beca







