Mag-log inCECILIA’S POVMy phone vibrated quietly inside my purse.The sound almost disappeared beneath the low conversations surrounding me, yet I recognized that notification instantly. It was Dr. Venom. Finally!My heart skipped as I reached inside without drawing attention to myself.Keeping my movements small, I lowered my gaze and unlocked the screen beneath the cover of my purse.A single message waited.[The target is close to the sword display. She’s wearing a dark pink dress and white mask. Proceed.]Plant the chip.I slipped my phone back into my purse and slowly lifted my head, to search for the person I’d be planting the microchip on. I adjusted my mask before searching through the crowd again. A few seconds later I located the target.Just as Dr. Venom had described, there was a woman near a sword display, wearing a pink gown and white mask. There were still several people between us. Good. That gave me enough cover.I began moving naturally through the crowd, pausing briefly b
Jude’s attention remained fixed on the figure that had slipped behind the crowd.It had only been a brief moment. Just a passing silhouette among dozens of masked guests. Still, something about that person refused to leave his mind.The dark dress. The careful way they had moved. The strange feeling that they had noticed him first before disappearing into the sea of people.It felt familiar.He remained where he stood, his eyes searching between the moving guests. Whoever that person had been, they clearly hadn’t wanted to be seen.His phone vibrated inside his jacket, and pulled it out to see a message from Roman. [She’s here. She arrived arrived alone.]Jude immediately understood Roman was referring to Brittany. He had made her electronic invitation special, to notify all his tech guys, the moment she entered the premises. She had purposefully arrived without her family, and had been in some hideout where she kept the twins.Yet she still had the audacity to come here!He typed b
CECILIA’S POVWhen morning came, adrenaline began coursing through me, because I knew the day had come.Mae forced me to eat breakfast, but I barely ate more than a bite. I skipped lunch entirely, my mind too focused on the countdown.By 8 PM, I was dressed. By 9, I could see cars pulling into the penthouse's grounds, and moving towards the parking lot. I was waiting for Mae to come back to the room, so she could distract the guards stationed on our floor. She came back a few minutes later, with a big box beneath her arm.“What’s that? Where did you go to?”I had watched her argue with the one of the guards to let her downstairs so she could pick up a box of sanitary pads.I knew it wasn’t true, of course.“Benjamin sent something.” I raised an eyebrow at her, and watched her open the box. At the top were sanitary pads, probably for Jude’s guards who would’ve searched the box.Underneath them all, was a slimmer box. She opened it, and brought out.....a gun!Mae gave me a levelled
His text stared back at me.[Benjamin: Any updates?]I decided to scroll upward.The messages stretched back to the night before the twins disappeared. They’d been talking ever since.The bathroom door opened.Mae stepped out while drying her hands with a towel. The moment she noticed the phone in my hand, she stopped walking.Neither of us spoke immediately. Whatever expression was on my face, was enough to tell her what I had just seen.And the suspicion I was having.“Cecilia. It’s not what you think.” She said.“I’m not thinking anything.” I said quickly, setting the phone down.It was obviously a lie. I was on edge and my emotions were on overdrive, shaking to know if my children were okay. Seeing that Mae and Benjamin had began to talk, the day before Brittany took them......Well, my mind was spiralling really fast. “I know you are. But I can explain.” Mae crossed the room slowly before sitting opposite me. “After I unblocked him the day that I showed you, I didn’t have it in
Back at the penthouse, Jude remained inside his office long after everyone else had gone to their rooms.Night time had come, but he wasn’t getting rest. Not when Cecilia’s children...possibly his children had been kidnapped by Brittany. Several plans ran through his head. He had to fight the urge to just seek out Brittany and put a bullet through her head. That would cause a large scale war in the mafia world, and that was exactly what him and the rest of the inner circle were trying to avoid. The only way to take down Brittany and her family, was if the rest of their allies first turned their backs on them.It was only then he could tear them apart.And the moment was tomorrow night. “I have to focus.” He muttered to himself, as he forced himself to go through the preparations one final time. To ensure there were no loopholes. The masked auction would be happening here at the penthouse. He considered moving Cecilia out, but that would alert her that he was about to do so somethi
One moment the twins were squealing happily on a ride.In the next, men dressed in black pulled them away, clamped their hand over their mouths and pulled them into a van. Neither of the twins spoke very much during the drive. They sat side by side in the back of the vehicle, watching everything through the darkened windows. Every road looked unfamiliar, and every turn carried them farther away from the festival.Allison quietly reached for Alex’s hand. She squeezed his fingers. He was about to cry, but his sister ever the perceptive one, could tell crying wouldn’t free them from the men who took them. “Where’s mum?” Alex mumbled, blinking back tears and not wanting whoever had taken them to think he was weak.“She’s probably at the festival.” Allison didn’t want to add that she probably didn’t know they had been taken, so she wouldn’t alarm Alex even more. Eventually the vehicle slowed.Tall iron gates rolled open without anyone stepping outside to greet them. The compound beyond
I sensed Jude’s eyes on me, but I worked hard to ignore him.Even when he wasn’t looking at us, I knew he kept watch. He said he needed to negotiate something with me. I wondered what it was.One thing I knew for sure. I was sick and tired of being in his world. By pulling Mae, Allison, Alex and I,
CECILIA’S POV“Allison! Alex! Come back here!”I glance up from my computer screen, to see Mae running after the two kids.I stretched my back, careful not to knock the laptop off my lap, and enjoyed the view of the sea that spread for miles and miles in front of me. It took my breath away every si
I stare at the bundle of cash on the table like it might suddenly disappear if I blink. My eyes slowly lift back to Mae’s face.“Mae.” I say carefully. “Where did you get this?”She bursts out laughing. The sound catches me off guard because I’d been fully prepared to hear something terrifying.“W
I stand there for another second hoping she’ll soften.She doesn’t.Slowly, I take the paper from her desk. My fingers feel numb around it as I walk out of the office.The lobby suddenly feels too suffocating. I can feel some of the workers looking at me as I pass.Daniel included.He’s standing ne





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