Page 48 of Sardonic Burn

Is he another one of her affair partners?

I’ve never run across him during the research I did on her. His face is unknown, too. He has a bag filled with papers inside, and he’s slowly showing them to her. I’m pissed because I can’t hear them over the music and can’t see what the papers say.

I lower my head when he stands from the table and comes to stand next to me, paying his bill. His eyes are on the bartender, who gives him the receipt. The man hands over a card and waits patiently.

My head rises slightly, only to notice that the bag is with Noelle and she’s leaving.

“You’re too obvious,” the man next to me says, and I snap my head in his direction. “At least try to disguise yourself.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“No one important.” He takes his card back and looks at me. “She noticed you, too.”

With that, he leaves me, and a bitter laugh slips my lips.

The motherfucker is too damn bold for my liking. He doesn’t glance back as he leaves, and I don’t see where he’s headed. If he’s going home with her, I’ll just have to kill him tonight. It shouldn’t be difficult.

However, knowing Noelle and her damned personality, she’ll throw quite a fit.

“I guess I’ll need to find a bigger basement.”

With a chuckle, I finish the drink and food before leaving the place. Noelle isn’t anywhere in sight, which is both good and bad. Who knows what she has planned for me now that she knows I’ve been following her every move?

She’ll be pestering me and screaming at me a lot more.

Somehow, I’m eager to see the expressions on her face when she’s filled with rage. It’s the most adorable sight.

It makes this whole fucked-up situation worth my time.

FOURTEEN

I’m stressed.

There is no chance of me handling all of this on my own. I’d like nothing more than to be capable of taking on a human trafficking organization by myself, but I can’t. Something is telling me this is far different than the small flies I’m used to.

Ray will jump at the opportunity to help me but then it’s all pointless. I need resources and information that we cannot obtain—someone like Hudson. The two families have different ways of finding things out, and, if combined, this could potentially get resolved quickly and with little-to-no casualties.

But that means I have to set my pride aside and ask Hudson for help.

I’m tempted to bash in his skull and pull out his brain to check if there are any working brain cells. There is no reason for him to be stalking me to this extent. I noticed him the moment he walked in, despite remaining calm.

Lucas didn’t comment on that, but Hudson’s face is easy to spot, even when he’s wearing that god-awful beanie as a disguise.

Distrusting me is one thing; stalking my everyday movements is another. It’s pissing me off. He’s not giving me any space to breathe from him and to act the way I truly want to act. After all, I’m currently pretending to be a very virtuous and calm person who only kills people when necessary.

I’m in Hudson’s house.

To say it’s one of the biggest and most luxurious homes I’ve ever seen would be an understatement. It falls right below Ray’s manor and definitely above my penthouse. It makes my home seem like a little box.

However, the house is empty.

He doesn’t have a housekeeper, a cook, or a butler. That is odd, given that our families take pride in traditional values and back when the two households were established, there were at least ten workers inside the homes at all times.

Ray still has them on the clock every day.

I turn my attention to the sleeping Hudson. I did my best not to fuck up his entire security system and the lock on the front door. Then I remembered that he choked me, stabbed me, and sliced my cheek and all of a sudden, I no longer gave a shit.

While trying to navigate my way through this enormous house, I heard some faint noise coming from the basement. My curiosity was piqued, but I quickly shot it down. If he has someone locked up, I want no part of it.

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