เข้าสู่ระบบRENZO I remembered a lot of things: especially who Talov was. He was a loyalist. We call a loyalist, someone who surrendered from an old gang to a new one.He had surrendered from Emilio's gang… to mine.How fucking fantastic. Slowly, the dots were connecting.Hawk studied me carefully. He had known me long enough to recognize the shift in my tone, and the slight flattening that meant I was filing something away rather than reacting to it.That was one of the parts I allowed those close to me to see and understand.“You think it’s him?” Hawk asked.“I think,” I said calmly, “that men show you who they are when they believe you’re distracted.”“And you’re not distracted.” Hawk wasn't asking a question.I almost smiled. “I’m dying, Hawk. That doesn’t make me stupid.”He nodded once, accepting that.Yakov laughed at something across the room, looking a little too relaxed for a man who had just challenged me publicly, and when his eyes met mine he didn’t look away.He held the stare for
RENZOBack at headquarters, the mood was volatile, as half the men were still arguing over their names.“Clifford sounds like I fix plumbing,” the big man grumbled.“You look like you fix plumbing,” someone shot back.Hawk was pacing.“Eric,” Asher said casually.Hawk stopped walking.“Don’t.”“Eric.”“I swear—”“Relax, Eric,” Asher added.I held up a hand.“Enough.”They quieted.I pulled out my phone and dialed.It rang once. Then a voice answered, smooth and lazy.“Rafael,” the man greeted.I smirked. “You heard.”“I always hear.”“That means it’s working. I need you in two hours anyway.”“For what?”“Full facial work. You’ll have to be subtle but exceptionally convincing this time around. I don’t need sloppy work…like the one you—” I snuck a glance at Hawk, who had frozen at my pointed look.Yeah. None of us appreciated what we saw last time. The skirt and full-on makeup? Jesus. Everyone knew it was Hawk, apart from Asher, who just wanted to mess with him.There was a long pause o
RENZO “I’m going to ask her,” I continued. “If she wants this war to continue. If she wants me dead. If she wants freedom without me.”“And if she says yes?” Syl whispered.My jaw tightened. “Then I let her go.” That hit harder than any threat I’d made all night.Even Ivan stopped arguing.Asher searched my face. “You’d give up everything?”“I’d give up control,” I corrected. “Not everything.”Silence again.Then Hawk gave a slow nod, looking at Asher disdainfully. “Now, that’s how you win,” he said.I didn’t care to ask what had happened between the two of them. “I don’t need to win,” I replied. “I need to know.”__________That fucking governor did not call us back into his office. Once I gave him something to think about, he made us wait. Which was worse than I had expected.If not for Asher and Hawk trying to make me see reason. With them working together for once was enough entertainment to pass the time.Back at the warehouse, the Doctors had nearly shat themselves, trying to
RENZO The governor’s fingers trembled against the polished wood of his desk. He tried to recover quickly, leaning back as if posture alone could restore authority.But it was obvious to me.The man was nervous.“You’re bluffing,” The governor finally said, but there was no conviction in it. “Zurich was handled.”“As was Brazil,” I replied evenly. “And yet here we are.”He pressed his lips into a thin line. The urge to smack that proud-looking face rose from within… but I held back. Even raising my voice or threatening Jaunita wouldn't help my case… neither would reminding him of the favors I'd done. Several favours that never made the news.What I was supposed to do was throw a bone.Which I have done. I simply watched him. Waiting patiently for him to bite through. They say after all that patience was the highest virtue.The governor took a deep breath. He must have come to a conclusion. “You want flights,” he said carefully. “Off-grid.”“Yes.”“To China.”“Yes.”He studied my f
RENZO The bed was cozy enough but I couldn't sleep.Sleep was a luxury for people who weren’t dying and weren’t being hunted by time and ghosts wearing the face of the woman they loved.I've been confined to bed in the house again. But I wasn't complaining. Until a cure is found, this will be my life. I washed my hands until the water ran cold, until the smell of antiseptic replaced the metallic tang of blood and IV fluid, then pulled on a black shirt and jacket.The mirror showed me what I already knew: my pale face, my sunken eyes, and my jaws locked so tight it ached… but I didn’t blink. If I cracked now, I would shatter. For three years, I never let anything break me. Today, we were going to try something new because everything and every method we used in the past failed. But now, I was going to use my wild card.I stepped into the briefing room without announcing myself.They all stopped talking.Hawk leaned against the table, arms crossed. He didn't talk much after reporting
RENZO When Hawk hesitated for a long second… I might tear the room apart with my bare hands. I gripped the gun harder, ignoring the sharp pain from my wrists… where the IV and the drip were supposed to be. Everything felt mocking so my men knew not to laugh.“Really?” I growled, eying him up and down. “Don't play games with me, Hawk. Tell me what you know. From beginning to end. You are dressed up a bit too much to lie and you fucking know it.” Hawk cleared his throat then wiped the lipstick smear from his mouth with the back of his hand. If Hawk felt conscious of how pretty he looked, he didn't show it.He met my gaze. “We found her,” That easy? My stomach twisted. “Say that again.”“We found Zaria,” he repeated. “Of course, she used street tactics to get away from us several times but the spies sent word of her last known location.”I nodded, interested in whatever gibberish he was saying.It was starting to make sense. “Which means, Brazil was not a coincidence.”Hawk shook hi
ZARIA I could only gawk at the woman waving her hands dramatically and the man who slammed his palm on the table.“You always shout!” the woman yelled. “Always face like bittermelon!”“You talk too much!” he fired back. “You scare people with your mouth, not me!”I looked up through my tears, stun
RENZO I didn’t sleep. That was the first thing I understood once the house settled again. ‘Sleeping’ to people like me implied drifting across my unconscious state. So… No. Instead, what happened to me was closer to being held underwater while everyone else kept moving above the surface. I cou
RENZO I should have felt relieved. Well, part of me did, but another part… was still thinking something else.I wanted Zaria to be found too.Just not yet. Of course, I needed to hear her voice again, to ask why, to see her face when she explained… and that meant only one thing. I had to wake up b
RENZO “…he shouldn’t still be here.” Time didn’t pass the way it used to or the way I wanted it to. It seeped or rather pooled annoyingly, like I was buried under something soft that refused to let me surface. A week could have been a minute. A minute could have been a lifetime... I had no w







