I leaned back in my leather chair, fingers steepled as I stared out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office. The London skyline stretched before me, a city pulsing with life, oblivious to the battles waged behind its gleaming facades.
It had been a week since I'd slipped the note under Reina 's apartment door. A week since I'd put myself on the radar of whoever was watching her. I didn't make moves carelessly, and that one had been calculated—but still risky. She hadn't contacted me, and the silence gnawed at me more than I cared to admit.
Hudson Security was my empire. Top Secure, the elite division within it, handled high-profile clients, corporations, and governments. I had built it from the ground up, and no one questioned my authority. My employees feared me, respected me. And that's the way I preferred it.
Yet, this crime syndicate, the one Reina was after, was proving to be a deeper infection than I had anticipated. They had infiltrated places they had no business being, bribed people who should have been untouchable, and left a trail of blood that even the authorities couldn't or wouldn't—trace. And now, they were in my city. That made them my problem.
A sharp knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. Nathan Carter, my right-hand man, stepped inside, his expression grim.
"We have a problem."
I arched a brow. "Only one?"
Nathan dropped a file onto my desk. "Reina hasn't been seen for three days."
My fingers tightened around the armrest. I had anticipated surveillance. Maybe intimidation. But silence? That meant something was shifting in the shadows.
Nathan continued. "Neighbours say they saw her leave her apartment last Tuesday. No one's sure where she went, but there haven't been any signs of trouble. No credit card activity, but that could mean she's lying low. We don't have proof that anything's happened—yet."
My jaw clenched. If she was keeping her head down, it was either out of fear or because she'd been warned.
"Keep eyes on her building," I ordered. "Check for unusual movement. She's still in play, but I want to know why she's gone quiet."
Nathan nodded. "Already on it. But there's something else." He hesitated. "Reina was seen near her building two days ago. I think she's still looking into the case."
I exhaled slowly. Persistent. Sharp. A problem and a potential asset. If she was digging, she might already be in danger. If she wasn't, she soon would be.
The game had just changed.
I paced my office, my mind a storm of calculations and unanswered questions. Reina was too smart to disappear without reason. Either she was hiding, or someone had forced her to. And if it was the latter, my involvement had just made things worse for her.
The door swung open without a knock. Only one person got away with that.
Adrian Knight, my personal assistant, my best friend and the closest thing I have to a moral compass, strolled in with a file tucked under his arm. His easy-going nature masked a mind sharper than most, and while he might have been my assistant in title, in truth, he was the only person who saw through me.
"You look like you're planning a war," Adrian said, dropping the file onto my desk. "Should I be concerned?"
"Maybe," I muttered, rubbing my temples. "Reina's gone quiet."
"Ah." He didn't look surprised. "Did you really think she'd run into your arms after a cryptic note? The woman has trust issues, Lorenzo."
I shot him a look, but he smirked. "Kidding. Sort of."
I opened the file he had brought. Surveillance photos, transaction records, a pattern of movement. "What's this?"
"A little something to ease your paranoia." He leaned against my desk. "No sign she's been taken. She's still moving. Carefully, but moving."
That meant she was still in play.
I exhaled. "Good."
Adrian studied me, his expression shifting into something more serious. "You actually care about her."
I ignored that. "Anything else?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Zane's back in town."
I stilled. "Zane?"
Adrian nodded. "Got word he's been making rounds, reconnecting with old contacts. Thought you'd want to know."
Zane Carter. My second-best friend. My brother in everything but blood. The only person who has ever understood the weight of the life I left behind.
I haven't spoken to him in years—not since I walked away from the syndicate. And yet, not once have I doubted his loyalty. If Zane was back, then maybe it meant things weren't as bad as they seemed. Maybe I had another ally in this fight.
Zane is just as much a brother as he was to me. He believes in me the way I do, I trust him without hesitation.
And why wouldn't he? Zane had been there through everything—the three of us have always had each other's backs.
"I should meet with him," I said, more to myself than to Adrian.
Adrian nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's been a long time."