All Chapters of Chasing The Boss: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

The next morning, I found Lexi sitting in my study at dawn, surrounded by notebooks and papers, mapping out every interaction she'd ever had with Shaw."How long have you been awake?" I asked."I never went to sleep. I've been thinking about what Shaw said to me last night when you were asleep and I realized something." She said."What?!" I exclaimed, raising my hands to his mouth. “Shaw called you and you couldn't wake me up.”She shrugged. “I handled it already.” I let out a deep breath. “Have you informed Agent Chen?”“Not yet. I'm going to see her anyways.” she said.“Okay, what did he say?” I asked."He's not just angry about losing his organization. He's kind of desperate."I sat down across from her. "Desperate how?""Think about it, Lucian. He called me himself instead of using intermediaries. That's sloppy. It means he's running out of resources and people he can trust.""Or it means he's more dangerous than ever.""Maybe both. But if he's desperate, he'll make mistakes."My

Watching the operation unravel in a city-wide blackout was a special kind of hell. It was the ultimate demonstration of Shaw’s infuriating luck and our own powerlessness. We had mobilized the might of the FBI, utilized every resource, and placed the woman I loved directly in the crosshairs, all for nothing. A fluke of the power grid had rendered it all null and void.And the worst part was the look on Lexi’s face when the radio confirmation came in with No visual on the target. It was like watching a light inside her flicker and dim. She had been ready to face her monster, to reclaim her power, and the opportunity had been stolen from her by random chance.The drive home was silent. I could feel the tension radiating from her, a mixture of fear, disappointment, and simmering anger. I kept my hand on hers as a silent promise that she wasn’t alone in this. My own fury was a cold, hard knot in my chest. Shaw wasn’t just a criminal, he was a virus, corrupting everything he touched, and he

The moment the lights cut out, my body moved before my mind fully processed what was happening. Years of self-defense training and security briefings kicked in. I grabbed Lexi and pulled her down behind the nearest table just as I heard the distinctive sound of a gun being cocked."Everyone stay calm!" Agent Chen's voice cut through the darkness from somewhere across the room. "FBI! Nobody move!"But Shaw wasn't nobody. In the chaos of three hundred panicked party guests stumbling around in complete darkness, he was a predator in his element."Lucian," Lexi whispered against my ear. "Can you see him?""No." I could hear movement around us, the shuffle of feet, muffled curses, the crash of someone running into furniture. Emergency lighting should have kicked in by now. The fact that it hadn't meant Shaw had planned this carefully.A gunshot exploded in the darkness, followed by screams. Then another shot, and another."He's shooting into the crowd," I realized with horror. Shaw wasn't

I woke up to the steady beep of heart monitors and the antiseptic smell of a hospital room. My head felt like it had been split open with an axe, and when I tried to move, sharp pains shot through my skull."Mr. Cross? Can you hear me?"A woman in surgical scrubs was leaning over me, shining a penlight into my eyes. Behind her, I could see Agent Chen and another man I didn't recognize."Where am I?" My voice came out as a croak."You're at Metropolitan General Hospital. I'm Dr. Rebecca Walsh, your neurosurgeon. You've just undergone emergency brain surgery to relieve pressure caused by Shaw's memory modification drugs."The events of the previous night came flooding back. The party, Shaw appearing as a waiter, the revelation about the drugs in the ventilation system. But some details were fuzzy, like looking at them through frosted glass."How long was I unconscious?""Eighteen hours. The surgery took eight hours, and you've been in recovery for ten.""What about Lexi? Is she okay?"A

My head felt heavy and full of fog. A loud ringing noise filled my ears. There was a dull, pounding pain behind my eyes. Everything looked blurry. Bright lights and dark shadows swam in front of my vision. I tried to move my arms, but they were stuck. They were strapped down to the cold metal arms of a chair.The last clear memory I had was walking into this warehouse. I had a plan. It was a risky plan, maybe a stupid one. But it was the only thing I could think of. I would surrender myself to Shaw. I would let him capture me. I thought this would buy time for Agent Chen and the FBI to find us. I thought I could talk to Shaw, distract him. I was wrong.Then I felt a sharp pain in my neck. Everything went black.Now I was here. My mind was slowly clearing. I could hear voices. One voice was cold and smooth. It was Shaw. The other voice made my heart ache. It was Lexi. She was here. She had come for me. My plan had failed. Instead of saving her, I had led her right into danger.I forced