LOGINLEON.She walked in on her own two feet.That was the part I kept circling back to as I watched her cross the room—no one dragging her, no one's hand around her arm, just Billie, spine straight, chin up. Duchess trailed a step behind, twisting her hands together like she was rehearsing an apology she hadn't been asked for yet. Ella stayed close enough to Billie's shoulder that the two of them might as well have been one silhouette in the doorway.Billie was afraid. I could see it in the tight line of her jaw, the way her fingers curled slightly at her sides like she was fighting the urge to fold her arms across her chest and armor up. But she wasn't on her knees the way half the people who walked into this room eventually ended up.That, more than anything, told me exactly who I was dealing with now."Don't touch them," she said, before anyone had said a single word to her. "Duchess and Ella. Whatever you're planning, it's not theirs to answer for."Law leaned back against the wall,
Billie. The gunfire stopped, but none of us moved.We stayed pressed into the corner of the basement long after the silence had gone on too long to trust. Duchess had her hand flat against the door like she could feel through it whether it was safe. Ella's grip on my arm hadn't loosened once."We can't stay down here forever," I finally whispered."We're not going up until I know," Duchess said, unsure how long that would take.It was another twenty minutes before she eased the door open.The house upstairs looked like something out of a nightmare. Glass everywhere,the kitchen window gone entirely, curtains shredded and hanging in strips. The smell of gunpowder still hung thick in the air and sharp enough to make my eyes water.There were bodies, near the back door. Three of them filled with holes and from the way they were stacked on top of each other. I knew immediately this wasn't the work of whoever had been shooting at us."Duchess."I said in a shaky voice. She stepped past
Billie.“Are they brothers?”Duchess glanced at me over the rim of her glass. “Who?”“The three of them.”She gave a short laugh. “No. Not by blood.”I frowned. “Then how are they so…”“Attached?” She finished for me.I nodded.Duchess leaned back in her chair. “They grew up together in the same orphanage. They were three boys with no families and nowhere to go.”“All three?”“They were practically a package deal.”I couldn’t help a small smile. “And someone adopted all three?”She nodded. “A married couple. They couldn’t have children of their own, so they took the boys in.”She took a sip of the wine. “Were they good parents?” I asked.Duchess snorted. “Their mother was… unconventional.”I raised an eyebrow.“Let’s just say she had very few boundaries and an impressive collection of things children should never have known existed.”I stared at her.“Their father wasn’t much better,” she continued. “Mob business. He wasn’t interested in raising innocent boys. He raised three succ
Law.Two days.Two fucking days and we still couldn’t find her. She hadn’t taken a single bag, not even a change of clothes. That was what kept circling in my head. How the fuck did she walk out of this house with nothing?Silas had the surveillance footage running on the main screen. Leon stood off to the side, phone pressed to his ear. “Stop,” I said.Silas froze the frame. In the far corner of the exterior camera, almost lost in the shadows, a blurry figure slipped into a dark car. The headlights never came on. The vehicle simply rolled forward and disappeared.“Replay it.”He did. I wrote down the plate number the second it became clear enough. Running it took less than a minute. The car was registered to a private company out of Toronto.Strange.Silas slammed his fist against the keyboard hard enough to make the desk rattle. “She’s gone. Just fucking gone.”He scrubbed the timeline backward until the kitchen feed filled the screen. Billie stood at the counter eating pizza, hum
Billie.I woke up to a man standing over me.He was glaring down at me. A small towel hung from his hand. I let out a sharp shriek and scrambled back against the headboard.“Morning,” Duchess’s voice came from the doorway. She walked in looking completely unbothered. “That’s James. He was cleaning you up.”James gave me a brief, professional smile, then left the room with the towel.I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to slow my heart. “How long was I out?”“The whole night,” Duchess said. “You’re fine. The men hardly ever come near this place.”I sat up carefully. My body still ached, but the panic from yesterday felt a little further away. “Thank you… for helping me.”“You’re welcome.”I couldn’t help noticing what she was wearing — a short, almost see-through lace dress that showed off a body most people would kill for. Before I could say anything else, the shy maid from Judy Sierra’s funeral rushed into the room and straight toward me.“Ella,” Duchess called, “be gentle. She stil
Billie.I slipped out through the pathway exactly as the message said. The black Toyota was waiting in the shadows with the engine already running. I threw myself into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the estate without looking back.For the first few minutes the road stayed empty. Then headlights appeared in my rearview mirror — a black sedan, closing the distance fast.My phone buzzed.“Where are you?” Duchess’s voice came.“Someone’s following me, it's a black sedan.”“Take the next right, then stay on the service road that runs along the old industrial park. Lose it. ”I did as she said and pushed the accelerator harder. The sedan stayed glued to my bumper. A sharp crack split the air. Something punched into the rear of the car. Another shot. The whole vehicle lurched hard to the right as one of the back tires blew out.I fought the wheel, trying to keep the car from spinning while more shots sparked off the trunk. The sedan pulled up beside me, trying to force me off the r
Billie. By morning, I had made up my mind. I was going back to the devils mansion. I came up with a story about being sick yesterday and hoped they would buy it.The men were already gone when I arrived, so I slipped into my uniform and started with cleaning chores. First Law’s room, then Silas’s
Billie. "So how was work, babe?" Brian asked as we sat down for dinner."It went well. It's at a swanky estate that's really secure and super clean," I replied, taking a sip of the orange juice. My phone buzzed just then. A notification popped up from my bank: $3050 deposited. He even added a $50
Law.“We ship on the designated route. Everything’s been handled, so don’t screw this up,” I snapped into the phone. I gave clear instructions, yet half my crew acted like they had a collective lobotomy.I hung up and walked through the hallway, as I scrolled through shipment logs. Leon said the n
Billie.“Order for fries, diet Coke, and crispy fried heart attack, last one!” Milly chirped. “That customer’s a no-show. The place is empty.”I replied. “Shit,” she winced. “Dan left early for some family emergency. Please deliver it? I swear, I’ll pay your Uber. If Malcolm gets a customer compla







