Page 21 of Seeds of Sorrow

With a sigh, Peyton dropped the dagger back into the drawer and slammed it closed. There was no way she could find anything if she stared at an inscription she didn’t understand, trying to figure out what it meant. She needed to find something concrete, something indisputable that she could use to blackmail her way out.

She stood and brushed herself off while her eyes flicked around the room again. She didn’t know where else to look, especially since she didn’t know what she was looking for. As if guided by some unknown force, her gaze drifted to the bookcases, noting the thin line of dust that layered the shelves. She would have to clean them at some point; she didn’t want the books to get damaged.

Stepping closer, Peyton looked over the titles—classics she had never heard of and large leather-bound tomes that looked almost ancient. There were books on law, which didn’t surprise her, and books in Spanish, whose titles she had to translate. She ran her fingers across the spines, pausing at two of the black leather tomes with gold calligraphy. Where all the other shelves had undisturbed lines of dust, signifying a lack of cleaning for a few weeks, there was a clean break in the dust in front of the present two.

With great effort, since the things weighed more than she thought they would, Peyton pulled the titles out and set them on the desk. “Jackpot,” she whispered as she pulled a folder out from the back of the shelf.

Flipping through the pages, she stopped on a single piece of paper, which was folded and stuffed between the other pages. It was crumpled, the creases from the folds ripped in places. She opened it up, huffing a sigh of frustration when she saw a list of names she didn’t recognize. Most were crossed out, a thick dark line struck through the middle, the pen pressed so hard into the paper that Peyton could feel the indentation on the backside of the page.

“Who are you?” she questioned out loud, looking down the list.

All the names were male, first and last names written down in cursive. That was why she found it so weird when a name was added at the bottom, written in bright-red ink and circled three times until the lines overlapped.

Regina

Peyton had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she looked at that name. Why were there so many crossed out, and why were they all men? What was so different about this Regina lady that made her the first woman on the list? Thoughts and questions swam through Peyton’s mind and she could sense the rising panic, anxiety clawing its way up her throat until her breath caught.

She had stumbled upon something—something important, just like she had wanted—but she didn’t know what it meant yet. She would have to do more digging.

Snapping a photo of the list with her phone, Peyton folded the paper and stuffed it back between the pages where she had found it. It was when she started looking through the rest of the folder, in hopes she’d be able to gather more information, when she heard the front door open, the familiar sound of Hadina’s heels clicking against the hallway flooring.

She was about to be caught snooping by the devil woman herself.

Chapter16

HADINA

The most annoyingthing about being the boss was thatevery damn thingfell to you when someone else didn’t pick up the slack. Hadina had, reluctantly, asked Zellie to meet one of the informants to see if they could tell her anything about Regina. The eldest Adis girl had said she was busy and hung up the phone, leaving Hadina to meet the informant instead.

Sometimes Hadina really hated her sister.

She was halfway to the meeting point when her phone rang, Zellie’s caller ID flashing on the screen. “What is it?”

“Grosera.That’s no way to answer your big sister, Hadina.”

Hadina rolled her eyes, checking her mirror as she signaled to move into the next lane. “What do you want, Z? I’m driving.”

She could practically hear the smile in Zellie’s voice as she spoke. “Just letting you know that I’ve canceled my plans and I can cover the meeting now.”

“Mierda. I’m halfway there!”

“I’m already here,hermana.”

“Oh, youpinche puta! You just like fucking with me, don’t you?” Hadina yelled, smacking her hand on the steering wheel.

Zellie cackled in response. “Maybe. I’ll deal with the informant and let you know how it goes.Adíos.”

Hadina fumed as she turned the car around, driving home with rage brewing under her skin. Zelina was a pain in Hadina’s ass and sometimes she wished her father had just cut the woman off for good. Working with her on the rare occasion was torture enough for a lifetime.

Slamming the front door to the house on her way inside, Hadina stormed through the hallway and down to the office. She threw the door open and stopped in her tracks. Sitting in the chair behind the desk, legs thrown up and ankles crossed the way Hadina had done so many times, was Peyton.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?”

Peyton smiled innocently. “Waiting for you, obviously.”

“Miss Dimitra, stop fucking around. I don’t have the energy for whateverthisis. Get out of my office.”

“Make me.” Peyton kept her gaze level with Hadina as she swung her legs down and crossed her arms, the perfect picture of defiance.

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