Chapter 141
Gavin nodded. “Whoever did it covered their tracks well, so it’s been hard to trace p>
He had started looking into it the moment the brooch appeared at the auction, but after all these days, he had only just managed to uncover a small lead.
“Do you think Fabian Kane might be involved p>
Fabian had the strongest influence in the border region. But if this really was connected to Fabian, how had the brooch ended up in his hands?
Chris closed his hand around the brooch, thinking back to what Winter had said about someone in the Xander family working with Fabian Kane.
“Someone in the Xander family gave it to him p>
Putting the brooch up for auction had been a deliberate provocation, an opening move.
And there were not many people in the Xander family who would think to do something like that.
Chris set the brooch back in its wooden box and ran his thumb across the bottom a few times.
Then he got to his feet, walked behind his desk, placed the box in a drawer, and opened a file lying on top of the desk.
Lately, both the Davis family and the Zeller family had been making moves. There was no doubt they were trying to pressure him into signing the divorce papers.
Zac Davis. William Zeller.
Chris’s face darkened. The coldness in his expression lingered.
At two–thirty in the morning, Chris finally took off his glasses and rubbed the space between his brows.
Gavin gathered the files and said, “Mr. Xander, you should get some rest. The doctor told you not to overwork your eyes, and lately you’ve been p>
“I know,” Chris cut in. “Go get some rest p>
He picked up his phone. Without even checking the time, he opened his contacts and called Dominic.
The phone rang several times before Dominic finally answered. His voice sounded irritated. “What is it p>
“Shut Nocturne down tomorrow. We’re doing a full cleanup p>
Dominic sucked in a breath. “I thought you handed that place over to me and stopped bothering with it. Why the sudden cleanup p>
Chris wasn’t someone who made a fuss for no reason. Dominic immediately realized how serious this
was.
1/3
Something had happened.
+25 Bonus
Winter spent the whole night struggling through one dream after another. One moment she was back in Nocturne’s hallway with people chasing her. The next, Chris was trapping her in the locker room, his dark eyes startlingly bright in the dark.
At the crack of a gunshot, she jolted awake, drenched in sweat even in the middle of winter.
Then she realized it was just her alarm.
Thinking back to the hallway the night before, she knew that if Zion had not been there, she probably would have been taken. With the skills she had now, there was no way she could have handled those two
men.
Just like Roy had said, hard work could make up for weakness. She had to train even harder and use every spare minute she had. Otherwise, when it was time to leave for Eveland, she would be in real trouble. If something happened, she wouldn’t even be able to protect herself.
So after getting up, she sent Roy a message.
“Roy, are you free tonight? Same place as usual p>
After a while, Roy replied with a single word.
“Yeah p>
Winter let out a sigh.
Her cold–faced coach really was a man of very few words.
After work, she showed up at the gym as planned.
Once she changed, she pushed open the door, expecting to see Roy sitting on the couch again, fiddling with his leather gloves like always.
But the moment she stepped inside, the first thing she saw was a man standing with his back to her in front of the floor–to–ceiling window.
A loose strand of hair had slipped free from her clip and fallen across half her vision.
Winter froze for a second, then brushed it aside.
Standing there was Roy, dressed in black from head to toe, a black baseball cap pulled low.
Why had Roy’s back reminded her of someone else for that brief moment?
2/3
D
Florence
A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.