LOGINDrentI 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
PaytonFour hours laterI had the tape and I had a plan and tonight was the night everything finally fell into place.I checked my reflection in the lift doors as they climbed. Hair perfect. Expression composed. The small USB drive was in my clutch and I had played out this moment so many times in
DrentI was mid-sentence when my phone lit up.The boys were talking loudly around me, someone had just said something worth laughing at, and I would have laughed if the name on the screen hadn't stopped everything cold.Payton.I stepped away from the table and answered."Drent." Her voice was bre
RenataMr. Cole's eyes were cold as they settled on me, and I felt the weight of everyone in that room pressing down on my chest like a stone.Drent immediately steeped forward to Defend me making Mr Cole already confused, but Payton had other cards to play Payton's eyes filled with tears so quick
DrentHer voice hit me before anything else did."Drent. Drent, listen to me. The one in blue. His man is wearing blue, stop him, don't let him get to your father, he's wearing blue, you have to stop him now."Renata. Ragged and breathless and real. I did not know what had happened in that room to







