AIDEN"I will officially resign from the company if you pull this kind of stunt ever again!" Logan roared and gulped down his whiskey as if he were trying to emphasize how mad he was. "I made myself look like an absolute idiot in front of those cops!""You're exaggerating and being overdramatic." I chuckled and leaned closer to clink his glass. "You've done an amazing job and helped your friend out. I would even call your acting skills superb.""Screw you," he grunted and poured himself more whiskey.The truth was, I was amazingly grateful for what he did. He came to the hospital after I called him before six in the morning, and told the policemen that there was a man dressed in black at the end of the corridor. He even ran two floors back and forth with them before awkwardly announcing that the man whom he had found suspicious must have been one of the cleaners working for the hospital."I hope you at least found what you wanted," he grumbled before taking another sip of whiskey.My
CHARLIE"Aiden… You're allegedly ex-boyfriend, Aiden fucking Hart, was in your room in the middle of the night?!" Emily shrieked.My lips twisted in an awkward smile. "Those words you used... It's just..." I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Never mind."Mischief curled up her mouth. "Words like fucking… Hart?"I gave her a look. "Like allegedly."I glanced at the IV drip, which was, thankfully, almost empty. It was the last one, and the doctor promised me that I could leave the hospital by the end of the day.Emily followed my sight, carefully scanning the drip before quickly shifting her eyes to me. "Anyway, I think that's adorable—a little bit creepy, but adorable.""I'm not even sure if he was there or if I just wanted him so much to be there that I made him up." I threw my hands up in frustration."You said you smelled him, and the sheets looked oddly wrinkled at one side," she reminded.I sighed. "Yes, but there could be other explanations, like—" She placed one finger on my mouth."
AIDENComing home whenever my father needed us to pretend that the Harts were a perfect and loving family was one of the things I hated the most. Since the news about my father's condition leaked out to the press, the gate outside the residence was crowded with reporters. I hated the fact that my father lied about his condition. Was I the only one who didn't know? Had he shared this sensitive knowledge with Ceasar and Christopher? Rage filled my veins with liquid fire, and I spent a decent amount of time debating whether I could handle being a part of this family masquerade. Finally, sentiments had won.I couldn't recall the last time I sat in my office in our family mansion, but here I was, working on my laptop while hearing my mother's raised voice coming from the corridor. My patience flew out the window in less than a second, and before I could evaluate the situation, I slammed the door open and barged outside. As soon as I did, I saw Mother spitting venom at the poor, obviously f
AIDEN I stared at the man in front of me, the man whose blood was running through my veins. He tried to steer my life from the day I was brought into this world. I had always been one of his assets, and I knew that it was how he treated me. Undoubtedly, all of his sons were, in his mind, considered assets at his disposal, but the first wife's sons had higher values and a lot of privileges. As the second wife's son, I received not only the least of Alexander Hart's time and interest but also the least freedom. When he wanted me, I was there, and I left his side when he wanted me gone. But this? His request had nothing to do with him trying to fix my life. He simply wanted to control me, even after his death. "No." My one-word answer caused him to choke on his breath. He collected himself quickly and cleared his throat. "No… what?" I dragged a deep breath. "I will NOT marry Pearla or any woman my mother is going to choose for me. That was NOT our deal." He shook his head and waved
CHARLIEThe message from Julienne proved something I hoped wouldn't turn out to be true. Someone from the Hart family was involved in Julienne's murder. Julienne accused Christopher, but I knew too damn well that if I had brought her recorded message to the police or the FBI, they would have begun to suspect the entire family of some kind of conspiracy. Julienne's message could be used as a weapon, able to make many people suffer and cause much greater damage to the company than the manipulated footage had caused. I couldn't make the same mistake twice.It had nothing to do with protecting Aiden's brother; if he had anything to do with Julienne's death, I would gladly hand his ass to the police after severely kicking it first. It was about doing the right thing. It was about not hurting innocents.I studied all the files from Julienne's flash drive, and Emily helped me read the list of transactions. Neither of us specialized in business and economy, but the sole shipment destinations
"I need a drink," I announced as I passed the threshold of our apartment.I could see a thousand questions surfacing in Emily's expression. She began with: "What happened?"Growling out a curse, I slumped on the sofa. "I met with Vivienne Hart."Her mouth opened, and she stared at me for a few heartbeats before saying, "I think I'll have that drink too."A moment later, she brought a glass for me and herself and sat next to me. Then I told her about my not-so-pleasant meeting with Aiden's mother in detail. "I'm surprised she didn't offer you money to leave her son," she stated when I finished.I chuckled dryly. "Yeah, that would be fun... I wonder how it feels to tear a million-dollar check into tiny little pieces."Emily snorted. "Do you think she would have offered you a million?"My lips formed a thin line. "No. I think she would have offered me a hundred bucks so I could ‘afford’ a taxi home." I could even hear her voice as I imagined that scene, and once I did, my blood began to
AIDENThirty minutes earlierChristopher and Landon Allard knew each other. They could have known each other for years. And they were meeting in secrecy in the middle of the night. Knowing what Landon and his twin brother were capable of, I began to believe that I could have been greatly underestimating my quiet half-brother…Instead of looking for new suppliers of components for Hart Global's newest invention, I was sitting in my office in the residence and drawing a diagram of Landon's and Kastor's connections. Using Thomas Badley's notes and my own knowledge, I slowly matched the dots and filled the blind spots. The image I received saturated my guts with dread.Kastor had been cooperating with all kinds of underground organizations, from the Italian Mafia, Yakuza, and Chinese Triads to all groups connected to the Islamic State. The kind of services he offered remained unclear. Some called him their supplier, others the cleaner, but as I looked closely at my diagram, I began to ass
CHARLIEI heard someone's deep laughter just around the corner. My eyes swept the empty corridor, looking for any place to hide. I saw three other doors, all with key panels and red lights signaling that they were locked."Shit," I murmured as my thundering heart increased its rate. "Kevin… I'm begging you. Do something!""10 seconds!" he exclaimed through my earpiece, and the numbers on the panel started spinning once more.Two men appeared at the end of the corridor. Gasping, I plastered myself to the door as if I were trying to become invisible. The men were busy conversing, but as they walked forward, it was a matter of seconds before they would notice me, and I wasn't sure how I would explain standing in my awkward position. The numbers on the panel stopped...The light turned green.Sucking a sharp breath, I grabbed the decoder, jerked open the door, and leaped inside Christopher's office. I closed the door behind me just as I heard the two men a few feet away. The relief almost