Page 161 of Fallen Princess: Shadow Stalker

“You have news,” I say quietly, and it's not a question because she wouldn’t be coming in here looking all stoic and professional if she didn’t have any updates on the situation.

My heart is pounding so loud it’s about to break through my chest.

“Please have a seat,” the agent says.

We exchange worried glances before reluctantly sitting back down. The woman takes a deep breath, clearly aware of the gravity of the situation.

“We’ve been investigating the events surrounding the attack that occurred outside and inside the restaurant.”

“Inside?” Haze asks on behalf of all of us because we knew about the car bomb, but no one mentioned that something had happened inside the restaurant.

“We have some information regarding your two girlfriends. I need to know which of the two are the boyfriends.”

We quickly glance at each other.

“Brittney Davis is Eden Rivers’ friend. She’s not dating either of us,” Jagger clarifies. “Eden is.”

The agent nods their understanding.

“And which one of you four is dating her?”

“All of us,” Haze interjects. “We’re Eden’s boyfriends.”

The agent’s sudden, stoic expression changes to surprise.

“This is a polyamorous relationship,” Jagger explains. “Eden is not just our bandmate; she lives here with us as our live-in partner.”

At this point, I don’t think we care anymore if the media destroys us. We just want Eden back, and we’re not going to lie about the status of our relationship. We’re all in this together.

“I see,” the agent says, whose face quickly deadpans. “We tried to search for Eden Rivers’ next of kin.”

“She doesn’t have any blood relatives,” Haze clarifies. “She has Brittney as her power of attorney over all legal matters.”

“Why does that even matter?” I force the words out, dreading to ask and hear the answer.

But deep down, I know exactly what it means.

Asking for next of kin only means one thing—they found her, and she needs to be identified.

Fuck, my heart feels like it's about to go into cardiac arrest. I don’t think I want to know. To hear it means acknowledging it, and I'm not sure I can mentally or physically handle it.

“For a worst-case scenario, the next of kin needs to be established.”

“There is none,” Haze declares. “Unless you call Brittney, and if I’m not mistaken, she’s currently missing.”

“What info do you have? You walked in here and said you have new developments. Tell us, please. Are they okay?” I ask, the desperation lingering in my voice.

The agent looks at all of our worried-as-fuck faces. I probably grew a few worry lines around my forehead these last few hours.

“We've reviewed the security footage from the restaurant. It appears that one of the women was abducted by masked men. She was forcibly taken from the premises.”

Abducted?

“Which one?” Jagger asks as we eagerly await to hear the name.

“We identified her as Eden Rivers. We would appreciate it if one of you could confirm this,” and the agent takes out their phone.

We all gather around her as she plays back the footage and watch the main room of the restaurant erupt with chaos as everyone tries to escape, the bodyguards rushing to protect their clients and drag them to safety amid all the masked men entering through the crowds. We watch Eden and Brittney emerging in the corner of the screen, in full view of the camera. Rick’s nowhere to be seen.

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