Page 180 of Mason

Scar continues. “After that, we plug you in. Quiet work at first. Targeted.”

I glance at the exit, where Jayson waits like a fuse. “Your first job? Second eye on Jayson. New blood. Eager. Scar wants him protected, even if from a distance.”

Ghost raises an eyebrow. “Babysitting?”

“No,” Scar says, stepping forward now. “Guarding an investment.”

Kanyan adds, “You stay out of sight. Step in if the kid gets stupid.”

Brando pulls a cigar from his coat, doesn’t light it, just rolls it between his fingers. “After that? We’ve got bigger fish.”

I already know what’s coming next.

“Human trafficking,” I say. “We’ve been cutting off heads for years, and somehow they keep growing back.”

Scar turns to Ghost. “We want the whole body gone this time. The rot. The roots. Everything.”

There’s a pause.

Then Brando adds, “We think you might give a shit.”

The air shifts.

It’s subtle—but I see it. A flicker in Ghost’s eyes. A tension in his jaw. A heartbeat of memory he doesn’t invite but doesn’t fight, either.

We don’t know what happened to him. Don’t know what made him the way he is.

But I know this: you don’t kill like he kills unless you’vebeenwhere the screams come from.

Ghost looks at each of us. Then nods.

“Give me the names,” he says.

Scar smiles, faint and wolfish. “You’ll get them. After the makeover. After Jayson.”

Ghost stands slowly, shoulders squared, gaze unwavering.

And in that moment, I don’t see a man anymore.

I see a blade.

Forged in fire. Tempered in blood. Ready to be aimed.

And the terrifying thing?

He’s exactly where he wants to be.

46

SHELBY

Ibarely have the door cracked open before I see her.

Mia. Mason’s daughter.

She stands on the threshold like she owns the world and dares it to argue. Arms folded, chin tipped forward, her eyes scan me like she’s assessing damage.

She’s dressed in black—of course she is—but there’s a softness in her blouse, a lacy thing that makes her look strong and beautiful at once. She’s wearing heels. Her blond hair looks like a careful mess that’s had fingers running through it all night long. But her presence?

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