Him.
They didn't see me. Of course they didn't. Blaze, Ghost, idiots, all of them, were too wrapped up in that broken little girl to look anywhere but at their own goddamn feelings. Meanwhile, I watched from the black sedan at the edge of the lot, window cracked an inch so the smoke could drift out. They were relieved. Distracted.
Perfect.
This was far too important to leave in Marla's pathetic hands anyway. She's done her part, sure—kept Angelica and her useless lump of a husband out of real trouble longer than they deserved. They were my top earners. Degenerate trash, but lucrative. That's all that ever mattered.
Until Angelica forgot who made her valuable. She seduced me, slow, deliberate, every inch of it planned. I let her in. I let her near my computer. I let her close enough to smell the money on me. And while I was stupid enough to enjoy it, she was mapping every password I typed, every shortcut, every crypto key.
She stole everything. Every fucking cent. Years of quiet building, gone in minutes because I got sloppy with a whore who knew how to weaponize her smile.
I still see it when I close my eyes, the moment those numbers hit zero. The moment every account went dead.
So ,I corrected my mistake. I sent my men to the house with one instruction: kill everyone inside. I didn't care how. I only cared that it hurt. I wanted Angelica to understand exactly what happens when someone takes what's mine.
I watched the videos. All of them, every second. I replayed the moments where the girl screamed the hardest. Do I feel bad that Angelica's kid took the brunt of it?
No.
Empathy slows you down. And I don't slow down. Truth is, I should've bought the girl outright when Angelica offered hints. Waited too long for her to turn eighteen so I could bring her into the club. Hindsight's a bitch.
Now I need that USB drive back, the one with my millions locked behind a firewall even my best hacker couldn't crack. The girl knows where it is. She had to. Angelica kept her trained like a perfect little ghost, always listening, never seen. She was everywhere and nowhere in that house.
I hate waiting. And I hate that the Dead Lines are tangled in this mess now, but I've got leverage there too. I need what is mine. They took it. The bitch too my money and now the little knows where it is, I just know it. Everyone breaks for the right offer. I just thought a mother would break watching her child be tortured, but I should have known that husband of hers made her dead to the world.
My partners won't wait forever. And when cartel partners get impatient, people vanish in pieces. I'm not disappearing for Angelica's mistake. We tore that house apart. Couldn't find the drive. It's either buried with Angelica or the little mute freak has it. Either way, I'm getting my money back.
I lean forward slightly. "Follow them, but keep a distance."
"Yes, sir."
Then, casually: "How's your wife? And that new baby boy?"
His knuckles went white on the steering wheel. He stared at me through the mirror, shaking.
"F‑fine," he stuttered.
"Good," I said, smiling as I hit the button to raise the partition. "Make sure they don't notice us… and they'll stay that way."
I love fear. It is simple. It is efficient, and a tool sharper than any knife. And right now, I'm going to need every tool I have.