LOGINAudrey's POVThere were days when silence felt peaceful. Today wasn't one of them, something was wrong.I couldn't explain why. Nothing had happened, there was no alarming phone calls, no frantic messages, yet a strange heaviness had settled over me the moment I woke up.I stood in Logan's office, staring through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Los Angeles. The city bustled below, oblivious to the storm that seemed to be gathering around us.Behind me, the television played on mute. Every news channel was still discussing the recent developments surrounding the Hargrove family.About the missing heiress, corporate scandal, and all. The headlines had become impossible to escape.I reached for the remote and switched the television off. The silence that followed wasn't much better. After a while, a gentle knock sounded on the office door."Come in,” I muttered.Miss Martha stepped inside with Nia skipping happily beside her. The moment Nia saw me, she smiled."Mama!" N
Logan's POVEvery instinct in my body screamed at me to force the door open. Instead, I held up a fist and everyone behind me stopped. Silence settled over the tunnel once again, as the faint voice came a second time.It was weak, broken, and impossible to make out. John's breathing grew heavier beside me."You heard it too," John whispered and I nodded once."It wasn't mechanical,” I muttered."No,” John replied."It was a person,” I added."I can force it,” the officer working on the keypad said, as he glanced over his shoulder."Too loud," I replied."We don't know what's waiting on the other side,” he muttered.He returned to the keypad, pulling a small electronic device from his vest.The tiny screen flickered to life as wires disappeared beneath the access panel."Give me three minutes,” the officer said.I looked back down the tunnel and there was nothing. There were no footsteps, there was no movement. Everywhere was just too quiet.It was almost as if whoever had built this
Logan's POV The order rippled across every radio channel."Charlie Team, maintain visual, no contact, no confrontation,” I ordered."Understood," came the immediate reply."If the man with the backpack is only carrying equipment, then he's expendable,” I said, turning to John."You think he's a courier,” John said, as he frowned."I think he's the lowest person in the chain,” I replied."And the higher-ups?" John asked."They won't expose themselves unless they believe the route is secure,” I muttered."The jammer just went offline,” Kimmie said, looking up from her laptop.Every head snapped toward her immediately."What?" I muttered and she refreshed the screen."The interference stopped six seconds ago,” she said and I stared at the monitor."They're moving,” I muttered."Or they've finished what they came to do," John said.Neither possibility was encouraging. The technician monitoring the ground sensors spoke again."Movement,” the technician said."Where?" I asked."The western
Logan's POVBy noon, every member of the surveillance team was in position.The abandoned psychiatric hospital looked exactly like the photographs had suggested, forgotten by the world.Nature had reclaimed most of it, vines climbed cracked brick walls, broken windows stared back like empty eyes.The iron gates had collapsed years ago, leaving only rusted hinges swaying in the breeze.From a distance, it looked lifeless. That was precisely what bothered me.Places that were truly abandoned didn't consume fuel every night. They didn't receive armored vehicles and they certainly didn't attract Victor Hale."Status,” I said as I lowered the binoculars.The command crackled through my earpiece."Team Alpha in position.""Bravo in position.""Charlie covering the eastern access road."I looked toward the tree line. John stood a few feet away, studying the property through his own binoculars.Neither of us had spoken much during the drive. There wasn't much left to say.The truth was somewh
Logan's POVSleep had become a luxury.Not because I couldn't close my eyes, but because every time I did, another piece of the puzzle shifted.Victor Hale wasn't running anymore, he was retreating. There was a difference.A man who ran wanted to survive, a man who retreated already knew where he was going. That made him far more dangerous.The conference room at Lowill Group headquarters was quiet when I walked in just after six in the morning.John was already there, standing beside the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Los Angeles. Without turning around, he spoke."Did Audrey sleep?" John asked and I nodded."Eventually,” I said."And you?" he asked and I smiled faintly."I watched her,” I replied.He turned to face me, studying me for a long moment."You love her,” he said.It wasn't a question. Months ago, I would have denied it. The contract, the revenge, that had been the plan.Now… There wasn't a contract in the world strong enough to explain what Audrey had becom
Matteo's POVPeople always assumed power came from money. They were wrong, money bought influence.Power came from information; information ruined reputations; information started wars; information buried men long before they reached a grave.I stared at the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, a glass of whiskey untouched in my hand.Los Angeles glittered beneath the night sky. Ordinarily, I enjoyed this view, but tonight, it looked like a battlefield.My phone buzzed and there was one message. “The Hargroves searched Margaret Doyle's apartment.”That was too late. I just deleted the message immediately. Someone else had already cleaned the apartment before the Hargroves arrived.That wasn't my work, it wasn't Victor's either, which meant someone else was still protecting the truth.That thought unsettled me. I hated unknown players.A knock sounded at my office door."Come in,” I said and Grant, my head of corporate security, stepped inside."They're moving faster
Matteo's POVI hated silence. Not ordinary silence, not the kind that settled over a room after a meeting ended.I hated the silence that came when people stopped fearing you, the silence that came when people stopped caring what you thought, the silence that came when you were losing.My office ha
Audrey's POVThe drive to the Hargrove estate was one of the longest drives of my life.Not because of traffic, not because of distance, but because every minute gave me another opportunity to change my mind.I could tell Logan knew it too. Twice, he glanced at me. Three times, he opened his mouth
Audrey's POVI barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the DNA report. Every time I drifted off, I heard John's voice. “We believe you're our daughter.”By three in the morning, I had given up pretending sleep was going to happen.By four, I was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea tha
Audrey's POVThe drive home was quiet. It was not awkward, not angry…Just quiet.The kind of silence that settles between two people after their entire world has shifted.I sat in the passenger seat staring out the window while Los Angeles glowed beneath the night sky.The city looked the same, the







