LOGINChapter 22: Whose We AreThey found Reyna waiting in the front room, laptop open, her expression a mix of urgency and something more cautious."What did you find?" Glenmorrin asked, moving to look at the screen."A partial trace," Reyna said. "I narrowed Kray's signal to a district near the docks, but I need a few more hours to pin down the exact building. It's not enough to act on yet."Glenmorrin's jaw tightened, clearly wanting more, but he nodded. "Then we wait until you have something solid. I won't move the team on a guess.""Agreed," Reyna said. "I'll keep working on it overnight. Get some rest if you can — it's going to be a long day tomorrow."She retreated back to her own corner of the house, leaving them alone again, the tension of the discovery replaced by the quiet exhaustion of having nothing left to do but wait."You should rest," said Glenmorrin, turning back to Jhonatan, who still sat on the sofa, exhaustion clear on his face."I can't sleep," said Jhonatan. "Not with
Chapter 21: What He SaidThe voice on the phone still lingered in the silence after the call ended, Reyna having hung up the moment Kray's words finished landing, none of them quite ready to respond to what he'd just said.*I do hope you got my message about the child.*Glenmorrin's hand was still braced against the table, knuckles white, his breathing controlled in the deliberate way Jhonatan had learned meant he was holding something back by sheer will alone."Glenmorrin," Jhonatan said quietly.He didn't answer right away, his eyes fixed on some point past the wall, lost somewhere in calculation or memory, or both."Glenmorrin," Jhonatan said again, stepping closer, placing a gentle hand on his arm.That seemed to break through. Glenmorrin blinked, looking down at Jhonatan's hand, then up at his face, something raw flickering behind the careful control."I'm fine," Glenmorrin said, though the words came out rougher than intended."You're not," Jhonatan said simply. "And that's okay
Chapter 20: The TrapThe drive back to the safehouse blurred past in a haze, Elena's words looping over and over in Jhonatan's mind until they'd worn a groove there, sharp and unrelenting.*Kray has been waiting eighteen months for Glenmorrin to fall in love with someone worth destroying him over.*Glenmorrin was waiting at the door before the car had even fully stopped, pulling it open himself, his eyes scanning Jhonatan for any sign of harm before relief flooded his expression."You're safe," Glenmorrin said, pulling him close for a brief, fierce moment. "What happened? What did she say?""We need to talk," Jhonatan said. "Somewhere private."Something in his tone made Glenmorrin go still, his relief replaced instantly by wary attention."My office," Glenmorrin said, guiding him inside, past Reyna's questioning glance, closing the door firmly behind them."Elena will help us," Jhonatan started. "But there's a condition. And something else. Something about Kray.""What about him?" Gl
Chapter 19: TermsElena Verrone's expression didn't shift, but something in the room seemed to sharpen, her attention now entirely fixed on Jhonatan."Castellan," she said, not a question."You already knew he was involved," Jhonatan said, recognizing the certainty in her tone."I make it my business to know everything that moves through this city," Elena said. "Castellan's name attached to your father's debt reached me weeks before you likely knew any of this yourself.""Then you understand what he intends to do," Jhonatan said carefully. "He's given us a deadline. Forty-eight hours, less now, to hand me over, or he takes what he believes belongs to him by force.""And what exactly does he believe belongs to him?" Elena asked, though something in her eyes suggested she already suspected the answer.Jhonatan hesitated, remembering Glenmorrin's instruction—honesty, if asked directly."Me," Jhonatan said. "And the child I'm carrying."Elena's composure flickered for the first time since
Chapter 18: Alone"Absolutely not," Glenmorrin said instantly, his voice hard as stone."They were explicit about it," Reyna said, showing him the message again. "No exceptions. If you accompany him, the meeting is off.""Then the meeting is off," Glenmorrin said flatly."Wait." Jhonatan stepped forward, reading the message himself. "Why would they ask for that specifically?""Because the Verrones don't trust outsiders easily," Reyna said. "And right now, in their eyes, Glenmorrin is exactly that—someone with his own agenda, using you to secure his own advantage.""That's not what this is," Glenmorrin said, frustration sharpening his tone."It doesn't matter what it actually is," Reyna said. "It matters what it looks like from the outside."Jhonatan considered the message for a long moment, something steadying inside him despite the fear still coiled in his chest."I'll go," he said."No," Glenmorrin said immediately."You just told me an hour ago that I needed to learn how to navigat
Chapter 17: Old GhostsThe safehouse was smaller than the last, tucked into a nondescript row of townhouses that gave nothing away from the street. Reyna ushered them inside quickly, her team fanning out to secure the perimeter with practiced efficiency.Once the door was locked behind them, Glenmorrin sank onto the edge of a worn couch, elbows on his knees, staring at nothing."Tell me about him," Jhonatan said quietly, sitting beside him. "Sebastian Kray. All of it, not just the version you gave me during the heat."Glenmorrin was silent for a long moment. "My father ran his operation with absolute loyalty as the only currency that mattered. Kray had been with him since before I was born—more of a mentor to me, honestly, than my own father ever was.""What did he do to earn a death sentence?" Jhonatan asked."He tried to pull my father's organization out of trafficking entirely," Glenmorrin said. "Redirect everything toward less... personal forms of crime. Weapons, information, mone







