Page 41 of Shattered Reign

The door of a black SUV opened, and I watched as she carefully stepped out of the vehicle.

I turned my gaze back to my newspaper for a moment to appear to be reading it once more. But I didn’t read a single word. All of this was just to appear as if I was doing nothing more than sitting here waiting for someone, anyone, outside of the two women who were about to interact. As soon as I was certain that no one was paying me any mind, I turned my attention back to Bianca. She was about to get another big surprise. Her life seemed to be full of them these days.

Diana walked up to Bianca, and I watched as the sparks flew. I could feel the tension radiating off of both of them from here.

I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying, but it was obviously contentious based on the emotions on their faces. Here they were, Bianca Henson and Diana Caldwell, two women on opposite sides of a political race, and I was the one who’d brought them together.

I watched as they both stopped talking for a second before the two women walked through the lobby and past me, going to where I knew there were workspaces for tenants of the building.

While I could try to follow the two women, there was no need. I already knew what their meeting would be about and why Diana was there. It was because of me, after all. I was the one who had made sure Diana’s team would get those risqué photos of Bianca. Based on Diana’s desire to work and perform with dignity, I thought it was a safe bet that she would give them to Van Henson versus leaking them herself, and I was right.

I folded up my newspaper before standing up and walking to the exit. While I was only a spectator, I’d held a puppeteer’s control over the events that had just unfolded and ones I hadn’t anticipated, like Van being willing to set up an arranged marriage for his daughter.

It was time to retreat because I’d already overstayed my welcome. This game was slowly coming to an end as I’d set out to do what I wanted to do, including leaving a small present in Bianca’s apartment for her. With a final glance around the lobby, I walked to the glass doors and stepped into the cold, rainy weather.

After all, I had other places to be.

23

EASTON

Iunlocked the door to my apartment and stepped across the threshold as I took in a deep breath. The familiar sight was relaxing in a way and always had a way of welcoming me back home. Nothing had been changed or disturbed since I’d left days ago. I shrugged off my coat and tossed it on the back of a chair in my living room before I headed for my bedroom.

I quickly pulled out some of the clothes that I would need to use at Bianca’s. While Bianca had decided to wait to shower until she got home, I’d showered in my old bathroom and only needed to change out of some of the clothes I’d left at home. I quickly changed into a pair of jeans, a faded T-shirt, and a hoodie and repacked my bag that I kept in my car. I needed to call the laundry service I sometimes used to wash and dry my clothes.

As I was walking back into the living room with my bag, I debated grabbing a bottle of water before I left when my phone buzzed in my pocket, pulling me out of my thoughts. The screen flashed Nash’s name, and I answered it before it could buzz again.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” I asked as I wondered why he was calling me instead of texting.

“Easton, I want you to check this out,” Nash said, his tone urgent. “I’ve got some intel on Soren Grant that you need to see. But this is confidential information, so you didn’t see a thing.”

This hadn’t been what I was expecting him to say, but I was happy, nonetheless. “Alright, I get it. Send it over,” I said. If there was something about Soren that could help us get Iris back, I needed to know.

“You’re going to need to access the secure network on your laptop. I’ll guide you through it,” Nash instructed.

“What are you talking about? I don’t have access to any other network outside of the school’s.”

“Yes, you do. Let me help you through it.”

“But—”

“We don’t have time to waste.”

He was right. I needed to focus on the information he’d gathered, not how I suddenly had access to this network I could have sworn wasn’t on my computer a few weeks ago, but was definitely there now.

Nash walked me through the process of accessing the secured network, and I saw a list of files before me. “Which one do I need to view?”

“File 4-3-7-9. You won’t believe the shit this guy can do, Easton. But before you look—”

“Holy shit,” I said as I scanned the file before me. There wasn’t much about Soren’s personal biography in it, but specific details on some of his specialties were nothing to mess around with, to say the least. Nothing in his file alluded to why he would bother kidnapping Iris though.

“See what I mean?” Nash said with a dark laugh. “The guy can track anyone, anywhere.”

“Fuck,” I muttered as I adjusted my phone. “How is this even possible?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“And are we absolutely certain that he’s not the one after Bianca?”

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