A dangerous truth

Chapter Seven

The silence in the penthouse was suffocating.

Leila stood across from Cassius, her arms folded tightly over her chest, her pulse hammering against her ribs. The black-and-white surveillance photo on the table felt like it was staring back at her, mocking the illusion of control she had clung to.

She had expected Cassius to gloat. To throw another one of his cryptic power plays at her. But instead, he was still. Too still. The kind of stillness that came before something shattered.

Cassius exhaled slowly, his thumb grazing the edge of the envelope. "This isn't from me." His voice was low, measured, but there was an edge beneath it—a warning.

Leila dragged her gaze from the photo to his face, searching for any sign of deception. She found none.

"Then who?" Her voice came out quieter than she intended.

Cassius didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his back to her, staring out at the city skyline like the answers were hidden somewhere in the lights below.

Leila clenched her jaw. "You expect me to believe that you, Cassius Beaumont—the man who makes it his business to know everything—have no idea who's watching me?"

His head tilted slightly, his fingers tightening around the glass of whiskey he had yet to sip. "I don't like being blindsided, Leila."

She scoffed. "Join the club."

He finally turned, his gaze locking onto hers, sharp and unreadable. "You think I'd let someone else track you right under my nose?"

Something about the way he said it made her stomach tighten. Cassius didn't share power. If someone else had been watching her, it wasn't just an invasion of her privacy—it was a direct challenge to him.

And Cassius Beaumont didn't take challenges lightly.

Leila swallowed hard. "So what now?"

His gaze flickered down to the photo again before he stepped toward her, slow, deliberate. "Now, we find out who's playing this game."

His proximity sent a shiver up her spine, but she forced herself to hold her ground. "And what happens when we do?"

Cassius didn't smile. Didn't smirk.

"When I find them," he murmured, "I'll remind them why I don't share."

The weight of his words settled between them, thick and inescapable.

A part of her knew she should be scared. Maybe she was. But fear wasn't an option right now.

Not when someone out there had been tracking her every move.

Not when Cassius was the only person who could help her survive it.

The Other Side of the City

The dimly lit bar reeked of stale whiskey and desperation.

Jaxon Carter leaned back against the worn leather booth, his fingers drumming lazily against his glass as he watched the man across from him.

"You're playing a dangerous game," the man said, his voice low, almost amused.

Jaxon smirked. "I don't play games. I bet on them."

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "And what's your bet on this one?"

Jaxon took a slow sip of his drink, savoring the burn before setting the glass down. "That depends on how badly Cassius wants to keep her."

The other man leaned forward, the dim light casting sharp shadows across his face. "And if he doesn't?"

Jaxon's smirk widened.

"Then it gets interesting."

Cassius wasn't the only one making moves.

And Leila was the prize at the center of it all.