Page 183 of I See You

The silence between them wasn’t peace. It was the calm before the deadliest storm Memphis had ever seen.

Minutes later, Hassan pulled up to the roadside where Von had tracked Sevyn’s last location. Smoke curled into the night sky, thick and black, rising from the wrecked front end of her Maserati. Flames flickered along the hood, licking up toward the windshield, and for a second, Hassan couldn’t breathe. Dorian’s voice cut through the air, frantic and sharp. “Is she in there?!” she cried, her grip on Roman’s hand trembling. Hassan didn’t answer. He stepped out slowly, eyes locked on the blaze, heart pounding against his ribs like a war drum. Each step toward the car felt like a step toward hell. If Sevyn was inside—if the one woman he ever truly loved had died because of him—he’d never forgive himself.

Grabbing a steel pole from the ground, he shattered the back window with a swift, brutal hit. Glass cracked, fire hissed, but when he leaned in to look, the inside was empty. No body. No blood. No Sevyn. Relief punched the breath out of his chest, but it was short- lived. If she wasn’t in the car, that meant she was taken. Kidnapped. And that thought sent a colder chill through him than the fire ever could.

“She’s not in there,” he muttered, turning back toward the others. Dorian broke, sobbing into Roman’s chest, her knees nearly buckling. But then she snapped. “This is your fucking fault, Hassan!” she yelled, hervoicebreakingastearsstreameddownherface.“Mycousin should’ve never tried to help your broken ass! She put everything into saving you, and now she’s gone—kidnapped or dead—and it’s on you!” He didn’t respond. He didn’t argue. He couldn’t. Because everyword she screamed was true. If he hadn’t blacked out on Sevyn, if he hadn’tlethispastdemonsbleedintoherworld,shewould’venever gotten in that car. She’d still be in his arms, safe, whole, alive.

“Take them back to the house,” he said, voice low and unreadable as he turned toward his car.

“Fuck no,” Dorian snapped, breaking from Roman’s hold. “You think I’m about to sit in some goddamn house while my cousin’s out there? Either I’m coming with you, or I’m calling our fathers and letting them know you got their daughter and niece fucking killed.”

He stopped cold. Not because he feared their fathers, but because of that word. Killed. The one thing he couldn’t even entertain. “She’s not dead,” he said through clenched teeth. “She’s not.” His eyes cut to hers, and for a moment, the fury boiling behind them was enough to make even Dorian step back. “Well, we don’t know, now do we, Ice?” she bit back, and that truth sliced deep.

“Aight, bruh. Let’s go,” Roman said, stepping in to deescalate the rising tension before it blew.

Hassan didn’t say another word. He turned, stormed toward his Ferrari, and slid behind the wheel. Harper was already climbing into the passenger seat. Dorian jumped into Roman’s Lambo without hesitation. Hassan might’ve been the most feared man in Memphis, but Dorian was just as unhinged when it came to protecting the ones she loved. No one was sitting this out. Sevyn wasn’t just someone they loved—she was everything. And whoever had her just made the mistake of crossing the most dangerous people in Memphis. Hassan was going to burn the city down before he lost her.

Hassan stormed into the casino, his crew trailing behind as ifthe fury radiating off him had pulled them in by force. He breezed past security like they weren’t even there—like they didn’t exist. The casino roared with its usual chaos—chips clinking, machines ringing, people laughing—but none of it compared to the storm brewing inside him. Every second Sevyn was missing felt like acid eating through his chest. He couldn’t think straight, but he knew one thing: this shit was ending tonight.

They stepped into his office where Von was already glued to his computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. Jules leaned against the wall in his black designer suit, sipping Henny like it was just another day in paradise. Roman closed the door behind them, but all eyes shifted when Harper and Dorian entered the room.

Hassan never brought outsiders into his business—especially not women—but he didn’t care about protocol tonight. Not when Sevyn, the one woman he ever truly loved, was out there possibly being tortured... or worse.

Von lifted his eyes from the screen, locking with Harper’s. She gave him a subtle wave, and he nodded, instantly clocking the grief andrageinherexpression.Dorian,though,wasn’tsubtle.Shestood beside Harper, her arms crossed, eyes blazing like she was ready to burn the entire room down.

"You already know my cousin Harper," Hassan said, voice flat. "And this is Dorian. Sevyn’s cousin."

Harper gave a soft nod. Dorian didn’t move, didn’t blink—her energy said it all. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here for blood if necessary.

"Who the fuck is Sevyn?" Jules asked casually, like her name was just noise.

Hassan’s glare snapped to him like a bullet. Dorian’s did the same. "The reason we’re all here," Hassan said coldly.

Emotion tried to claw its way up his throat, but he swallowed it down. There was no room for softness now. The moment he let it slip, Sevyn was gone. Dead. And Hassan couldn't live through that—not again. He’d watched his parents get murdered in front of him at six years old. Somehow, he’d survived it. But if Sevyn died?

That would kill him.

"Norman, what's the status on the Desmond case?" Hassan asked, his voice flat, eyes cutting to the corner where his attorney leaned coolly against the wall. The smirk already curling on Norman’s lips told him everything he needed to know.

"Accordingtomysources,thatniggaBraxtongotyankedoff the case weeks ago," Norman said, casually adjusting his watch. "Prosecutorial misconduct. Insufficient evidence. The whole nine."

Hassan’s brows lifted slightly. "Then why the fuck was he in Sevyn’s office this morning showing her photos and trying to pin me for shit?"

"Because he still wants your head, even if the DA doesn’t," Norman replied. "He was so hellbent on bringing you down, he crossed lines nobody told him to. Withheld evidence, stole sealed documents, even used his legal pull to dig into old files without clearance. That nigga ain’t a prosecutor anymore. Fired from the DA’s office the second they found out."

Hassan’s jaw flexed, his face unreadable, but beneath that cold exterior, questions were forming fast. If Braxton wasn’t official anymore, what the fuck was he still doing sniffing around his life?

"And the shit with Desmond... my pops... and the DeVilles?" he pressed, needing to connect every dot before someone else got hurt.

Norman straightened up, finally wiping the grin off his face. "Desmond’s case doesn’t trace back to that old deal your father was caught up in. Braxton lied—he fed that angle to Carlos DeVille to stir shit up. Told him it was you who took out his nephew. That’s why Carlos coming at you sideways now. But far as that case goes? You in the clear."

Hassan gave a small nod, his expression unchanged, but Norman knew what it meant. One less weight on his chest—but Sevyn was still missing, and that was the only weight that mattered.

Norman caught the shift in his eyes. That cold, dark storm that always came right before blood spilled. He didn’t wait to be dismissed. Just gave a respectful nod and walked out, knowing when Ice Gaines reached this level of silence, shit was about to get violent.

“He starting with the woman I love.” The room froze.

Harper and Dorian whipped their heads toward each other, wide- eyed.

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