ALL SEEING EYE

“I don’t understand why they need me,” Aylin muttered, breaking the heavy silence in the SUV.

She sat stiffly in the back seat with her fingers twisted in her lap. Zuri was tucked against her side, unusually quiet, with Tabby clutched to her chest.

In the front, Raff drove with one hand, his eyes flicking to the rearview mirror every few seconds to check if they were being followed. Kyros sat beside him with his face closed off and his eyes alert.

“Your face was caught on a dash cam,” Raff explained without taking his eyes off the road. “Some random driver passed the alley when you ran out of the warehouse for help. The cops must have pulled the footage after they found the bodies. With how hard the media is pushing this story, they’re moving fast.”

Aylin’s stomach rolled. “So they think I had something to do with it?”

“No,” Kyros answered calmly. “They don’t know what to think yet. But we’re not walking in there unprepared.” He glanced back at her. “Did you bring everything you were wearing last night?”

“Yes. I gave them to Raff.”

“They’re in the trunk with your bloody shirt, Ky,” Raff added before Kyros could ask, grinning when his alpha’s jaw ticked at the nickname.

“Good,” Kyros said, ignoring him as he pulled out his phone and dialed.

Aylin watched his whole demeanor shift. The tired, wounded man from her couch disappeared, and in his place sat someone colder and far more commanding.

“Get me the mayor,” he said the moment the call connected.

Aylin blinked. The mayor?

A few seconds later, a new voice came through the speaker. “Mr. Aldemir, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I’m involved in the warehouse case,” Kyros replied evenly. “I need you to make sure the right people handle it.”

The man paused. “You know I have limits, Kyros.”

“I’m not asking you to break the law or get me out of anything,” Kyros cut in smoothly. “Just make sure it’s handled properly, and my name and my companion’s name stay out of the press. My legal team will be landing within the hour.”

The mayor sighed heavily. “Understood. I’ll make some calls.”

Kyros hung up and dialed again. “Send the legal team now. Use the jet.”

“Yes, sir,” a voice replied before the line went dead.

Aylin stared at him. He had just arranged political cover and a team of lawyers in under two minutes, and she honestly could not decide if she should feel relieved or terrified.

In the rearview mirror, Raff caught the stunned look on her face and smirked. Welcome to Kyros Aldemir’s world, sweetheart, he thought.

Every head turned when they walked into the station.

Officers whispered among themselves, and a few stole wary glances at Kyros as if they recognized him.

Raff stayed in the waiting area with Zuri on his lap, already bribing her with a vending machine snack.

A middle-aged man with sharp eyes stepped forward. “Mr. Aldemir. We weren’t expecting you,” he said carefully.

His gaze slid to Aylin. “Miss Calloway. I’m Detective Roland. We spoke on the phone. I just have a few questions.”

“We’ll answer what we can,” Kyros replied smoothly. “With our lawyers present, of course.”

“We?” Detective Roland echoed. “I’m afraid I was only referring to Miss Calloway.”

“She’s in my care, Detective,” Kyros said, and his tone left no room for argument.

Aylin looked up at him in silent awe. The officers around them were suddenly very busy with their paperwork, as if none of them wanted to be caught looking at him. Just who was this man she had crashed into?

“Show us somewhere to sit while we wait,” Kyros added calmly.

The detective glanced around for backup, but every officer avoided his eyes.

As if on cue, the station doors swung open, and four sharply dressed attorneys walked in. The air in the room changed at once.

Detective Roland exhaled through his nose. This was exactly why he hated dealing with rich people.

“Fine,” he said tightly. “Let’s begin.”

Aylin sat stiffly across the table from the detective in the dim interrogation room, with one of the lawyers lounging beside her.

Detective Roland slid a photo across the table. It was a grainy dash cam image of her running out of the alley with her face caught in the glare of the headlights.

“That’s you, correct?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“What were you doing there?”

“Some men grabbed me and my baby on our way home from shopping,” Aylin said, her voice shaking. “I managed to escape, and I ran for help because she was still inside.”

He raised a brow. “And you didn’t think to call the police?”

“I wasn’t thinking at all,” she replied honestly. “I just ran.”

“My client has already stated that she was kidnapped and escaped,” the lawyer interjected before the detective could push further.

Detective Roland tapped his fingers on the table. “Then explain the bodies,” he said. “Some of them were mutilated, almost as if an animal got to them.”

Aylin stiffened. Kyros had only killed the gunman, and the rest of the men had been groaning on the floor, very much alive, when they left.

Before she could open her mouth, the door opened, and Kyros walked in with a female lawyer at his side.

“You’ve been lying by omission, Miss Calloway,” the detective said smugly, sitting back in his chair. “You never mentioned that Mr Aldemir was with you or that he killed men in that warehouse.”

“Careful, Detective,” the female lawyer warned coolly as she and Kyros took their seats. “Throwing around accusations of murder without the facts is highly unprofessional.”

“I fought to survive,” Kyros said evenly. “The only man who died by my hand was the one about to shoot her.”

“For now, all I have is your word,” the detective shot back. “We’ll need to process your clothing for blood and trace evidence.”

Aylin’s stomach twisted. Were they going to arrest her? What would happen to Zuri?

As if he could sense her panic, Kyros leaned forward. “I hope you have proper replacements,” he said. “I won’t have us sitting here in prison-issued clothing.”

Detective Roland scoffed. “I don’t think fashion is a priority here, Mr Aldemir.”

Kyros’s lips curled into a slow smirk. “It is for me.”

The intercom buzzed, and an authoritative voice came through. “Detective Roland, Mr. Aldemir’s team has already submitted the clothes from last night into evidence. Come and have them processed.”

“With respect, Captain, I’ll need what they’re wearing right now too,” the detective insisted.

There was a pause. “Is that absolutely necessary?”

“Yes, sir. We dot every I, no matter who’s involved.”

The captain sighed. “Fine. My apologies for the inconvenience, Mr. Aldemir.”

“No problem. I understand you’re just doing your job,” Kyros replied, still smirking at the scowling detective. “Please have someone from my team bring a Celine dress and Prada shoes for Miss Calloway, and Tom Ford for me.”

Aylin blinked. Was he serious?

The detective looked at him like he was about to explode. “Unbelievable,” he muttered.

Forty minutes later, they were dressed in their new clothes when an officer rushed in, looking pale.

“Detective, we've reviewed the CCTV footage we found inside the warehouse,” he announced. “It shows the attack, but something strange happens.”

Kyros’s eyes narrowed. “Strange how?”

The officer hesitated, then played it on the screen.

They watched Aylin and Zuri being dragged inside, then Aylin elbowing her captor in the nose and running out. They watched her return with Kyros, the fight, the gunshot, and Kyros killing the gunman.

Then, just as a tall figure walked through the door with a group of men behind him, the footage twisted into static and cut out completely.

When it came back, the warehouse was full of bodies and blood, and every intruder was gone.

“What the hell?” the male lawyer muttered.

“It corrupts the moment this man walks in,” Detective Roland said, pointing at the blurred figure frozen on the screen. “This isn’t normal.”

Kyros’s jaw clenched as his wolf pushed against his control.

“Regardless, this proves my clients acted in self-defense,” the male lawyer said firmly. “You have no grounds to hold them any longer.”

Before the detective could argue, another officer walked in holding a small evidence bag. Inside was a tiny black device.

“We found this,” he said grimly.

Detective Roland collected the bag and held it up to the light, frowning. “A tracker?”

Aylin’s blood ran cold.

“Where was it found?” Kyros asked, his voice sharp.

The officer shifted uncomfortably. “Sewn into the lining of Miss Calloway’s bag.”

“What?” Aylin gasped. “No, I... I swear, I had no idea that was there!”

“Are you certain?” Detective Roland sneered, eyeing her. “Or is another act?”

“Clearly someone has been tracking her without her knowledge,” the female lawyer snapped. “Stop asking questions that border on accusations.”

“There’s more,” the officer said quietly, and every head turned toward him. “That tracker is military-grade. Ordinary people can’t get their hands on tech like that. And when we ran it through the system, we got a match from a previous case.”

He turned and looked directly at Aylin.

“It matches the one found inside your parents’ car after their accident. Nobody investigated it, because the crash was ruled a drunk-driving accident.”

Kyros’s expression darkened.

The room spun around Aylin. Her chest tightened until she could barely drag in a breath, and her hands began to shake uncontrollably.