ログインChapter 80 Kegan✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦My phone was clutched in my hand, James Ashford’s ultimatum still ringing in my ears.Ten minutes. Walk away from London or your girl dies.Making it to wherever the fuck he was in ten minutes was literally impossible.But that wasn’t the only call I’d received.Two minutes after James hung up, another voice. Distorted, filtered, mechanical.“Kegan Gaetano. So nice to finally speak directly.”“I was expecting more of a physical meeting,” I answered tersely. “But I suppose you’re too scared for that.” “Think that for now. But I also want what James wants. Your territory. Your connections. Your weapons network. Everything.”“Two people can’t have the same thing.”“Exactly. Which is why you’re at Gold Golf. Alone. As instructed. Because you’re about to make a choice, Mr. Gaetano. James Ashford gets nothing, and you give me everything. Or James kills your girl, and you lose everything anyway.”“You have a personal beef with the Ashfords, don’t you?” And then
Chapter 79Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦“No, no, no, James. Please don’t shoot.” I was improvising, stalling, desperately trying to keep everyone alive until Kegan could do something. “We can figure something out, please.”“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”“Look, I have a seventeen-year-old brother,” I sobbed. “My mother hasn’t reaped anything from raising us single-handedly yet. My friend Millie is in the hospital, and I haven’t visited her in weeks because of this stupid job. I only recently got a boyfriend and finally know what sex feels like—” I caught myself with my hand over my mouth.Oh my God. I’m scared and nervous. I’m blabbing.“Please,” I continued regardless. “I can’t die right now, James. Please.”“What the fuck?”The burner phone buzzed. A call this time. Private number.“Answer it,” James ordered. “Speaker.”I answered, my hand shaking so badly I nearly dropped it.“Estelle.” Not Kegan’s voice, but someone else. The voice was distorted, filtered through some kind of voice modul
Chapter 78Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦James read it over my shoulder. “Interesting. So you are working for someone. Someone who wanted information from Carrie’s house.” He looked at his sister. “What did she find?”“Nothing,” Carrie said quickly. “She didn’t have time—”“Don’t lie to me!” His composure finally cracked. “What was she looking for? What files? What evidence?”Another text: *If you don’t respond in 60 seconds, your friend dies. And then you die. And then everyone in that house dies.*My hands were shaking so hard I could barely type. *I have the photos. Who are you?*The response was immediate: *Someone who wants something only you can help me get. Did you send the files to anyone?*“What are you typing?” James demanded, reaching for my phone.I jerked away. “Don’t touch me.”He raised the gun then. Not pointing at me—at Carrie. “Give me the phone. Now.”“James—” Carrie’s voice was steady despite the weapon aimed at her. “Don’t do this. You know we can always talk about things.
Chapter 77Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦“Elara,” Carrie’s voice was ice. “What are you doing in my bedroom?”My mouth opened. Closed. No words came out.Because what could I possibly say? Sorry, a mysterious stalker texted me threatening my friend’s life unless I broke into your bedroom and photographed your personal files? That sounded insane even in my own head.“I—” I tried again. “I got turned around. Looking for the bathroom.”Carrie’s expression didn’t change. She stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind her with a quiet click that felt impossibly loud.“The bathroom,” she repeated slowly, “that I specifically told you was second door on the left. Not the last door at the end of the hall. Not my bedroom.”“I must have miscounted—”“Don’t.” The single word cut through my fumbling excuse icily. “Don’t insult my intelligence by lying poorly. You’re smart enough to know better.”She moved further into the room, and I instinctively backed up, my spine hitting the dresser. The drawe
Chapter 76Kegan✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦To the ordinary eye, this place was just an abandoned dream slowly being reclaimed by nature.To anyone passing by, it was just another failed business venture, unremarkable and forgettable.Which was exactly why it was perfect for storing millions in product.I’d arrived two hours early, positioned my car six blocks away, and approached on foot through the service entrance that only five people knew existed. The security system showed green across all channels. No breaches, no unauthorized access since I’d been here earlier disposing of bodies.I moved through the underground bunkers with practiced silence, checking each storage room, each corridor, looking for anything out of place. The product was exactly where it should be, undisturbed since Marco’s team had cleaned and reorganized everything.But in the main storage room—the one where I’d killed three men just hours ago—someone had left a gift.A single emerald dress, hanging from a support beam like
Chapter 75 Estelle✦༺⚜︎☠︎⚜︎༻✦I tried not to think about Oliver’s implied threat or the way Carrie’s face had gone white when she saw that call.The afternoon crawled by. Marco brought me coffee at regular intervals, each cup accompanied by a look that said *I know something’s wrong and I’m ready to extract you at any moment.*But nothing happened. Oliver stayed in his corner of the office, typing away at his computer like he hadn’t just implied he knew I was lying about my identity. Carrie remained locked in her office for hours, only emerging once to snap at Barbara about something inconsequential.By seven PM, most of the staff had cleared out. By eight, it was just me, Marco somewhere in the building, and the skeleton crew that handled security and essential functions.By eight-thirty, I was starting to think maybe the summit wouldn’t be so bad after all.Then Carrie’s office door flew open.She looked like she’d been really stressed in the last few hours, her hair was even sligh







