Reagan’s POV
The car doors closed behind us, leaving the noise of the estate on the other side of the glass.
Neither of us spoke.
My father sat beside me, staring through the window as the driver pulled away from the house. I leaned back in my seat, arms crossed, watching the familiar streets pass by.
Peace had suddenly became a luxury.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
I finally glanced at him.
"You planning on saying something?"
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he kept his eyes on the road outside.
Then, without looking at me, he asked, "How much do you know?"
My expression hardened.
There it was.
He wasn’t asking because he had no idea what was happening.
He was testing me.
"Enough."
His eyes finally shifted toward me.
"That’s vague."
"So is your question."
His jaw tightened slightly.
I looked away.
"Enough to know we’re being watched."
He said nothing.
Then he turned back toward the window.
"Not just us."
I looked at him understanding what he meant.
"The family?"
He didn’t answer.
I exhaled sharply and rubbed a hand over my jaw.
"You should’ve stopped the wedding."
He remained completely calm.
"And give them exactly what they want?"
I looked at him.
"What they want?"
"Fear."
His answer came quietly.
"That’s what they’re looking for. They want us to start changing our plans because of them."
I scoffed.
"Someone’s already testing our defenses."
"I know."
"And you still want the wedding to go ahead."
"More than ever."
I stared at him before subtly smiling.
"That’s insane."
"No. What’s insane is allowing someone to dictate our decisions because they decided to make themselves known."
I leaned back.
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
Then I asked, "What happened?"
Devon was quiet.
"One of the men noticed a vehicle outside one of our properties."
"How long?"
"Three days."
"Same vehicle?"
"Same vehicle."
"Plate?"
"Fake."
I nodded slowly.
Of course.
"Anything else?"
"A shipment was intercepted."
My head turned.
"Intercepted?"
"One box was taken."
"Only one?"
"Everything else was left untouched."
I stared ahead.
That wasn’t theft.
It was a message.
"They wanted you to know they could get to it."
"Yes."
My fingers tightened against my arm.
"Who?"
"We don’t know."
"I have my suspicions."
Father didn’t answer.
Damn Atlas
I gave a humorless laugh.
"Don’t aim blindly, You might hit the wrong target."
I ignored him.
"One of our men was attacked yesterday."
I looked at him again.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
"How bad?"
He looked at me before answering, "Bad enough."
My jaw clenched.
"Did he see them?"
"No."
"Convenient."
"Very."
The car went quiet again.
I looked through the windshield.
The city moved around us as if nothing had changed.
People walked along the sidewalks. Cars stopped at intersections.
It all looked... Normal.
And somewhere in the middle of all that normality, someone had decided to start testing my our defenses.
I looked away.
The wedding had suddenly become a much bigger problem than flowers, invitations and seating arrangements.
It was going to bring powerful people into one place.
Friends.
Business associates.
Rivals.
People who smiled at my father while calculating how much his downfall might benefit them.
It was the perfect opportunity for someone to make a move.
And they knew it.
"How many people know the final guest list?"
"Too many."
"Then we have a leak."
Father looked at me.
"We do."
The car went silent again.
There were too many possibilities.
Too many names.
Too many people who could have access to information they shouldn’t.
Then Father’s expression hardened again.
"There is one thing I need from you."
I already knew I wasn’t going to like it.
"What?"
"You don’t leave Rose alone."
I stared at him.
"She’s not my responsibility."
Devon looked at me.
"She is now."
I looked away immediately.
For some reason, those words irritated me more than they should have.
"She’s an adult."
"I know."
"She can take care of herself."
"Not in our world."
"I’ve already finished my duties. I’m reapplying."
"Too bad. You’re hired"
My fists balled beside me, "why me?"
"Because you’re the person I trust to notice when something is wrong."
I didn’t respond.
He continued.
"I don’t need you hovering over her. I don’t need you explaining anything to her. Just make sure she isn’t somewhere she shouldn’t be if someone decides to make a move."
I rubbed my jaw.
"She doesn’t even know what’s happening."
Devon’s gaze remained on me.
"That’s the point."
I frowned.
He looked toward the window again.
"If she knew, she’d become afraid. If she’s afraid, she’ll act differently. People notice changes."
"And if she doesn’t know?"
"She behaves normally."
I understood.
Normal behavior made her harder to track.
Harder to predict.
Harder to use.
Still, I didn’t like it.
"I’ll handle it.", I said before i changed my mind.
Devon gave a small nod.
"Good."
That was all.
No more details.
Just enough information to make me understand that something was moving around us.
And not enough to know who was moving it.
---
Rose’s POV
By the time they left, I had almost forgotten what happened.
Mom had dragged me into another wedding discussion, this time involving bridesmaids dresses.
I sat beside her outside on the varenda, holding two sample materials between my fingers while many others lay on the table.
"Which one?"
"This one.", i pointed at the Teal material.
"You didn’t even look at them properly."
"I did."
"You looked for three seconds."
"Three seconds is enough."
Mom gave me a skeptical look.
"Why the second?"
I held it up.
"I just like the vibe."
She laughed.
"That’s ridiculous."
"I’m being for real."
"You have no taste."
"I have excellent taste. That’s why I’m choosing this one. It’ll look good as a dress."
She shook her head, smiling.
I was about to say something when movement farther out caught my attention.
A man stood near the eastern side of the property.
I didn’t recognize him.
He was speaking quietly with one of Devon’s security men.
At first, I didn’t think anything of it.
There were always people coming and going around the estate.
But then the stranger looked up.
Straight at me.
I stopped talking.
He didn’t look away.
There was something unsettling about the way he watched me. As though he already knew who I was.
I lowered the samples slowly.
Mom noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
I looked to his direction again.
The man was gone.
I frowned.
"Who was that?"
"Who?"
"The man outside."
Mom followed my gaze.
"I didn’t see anyone."
"He was talking to one of the security men."
She looked again.
The security guard was still there.
Alone.
"Maybe he was one of Devon’s people."
"Maybe."
There wasn’t much else I could say.
So I picked up the samples again.
"Anyway..."
Mom continued talking.
I listened.
Or at least pretended to.
My attention kept drifting toward where I’d seen him.
Something about that man had bothered me.
I just couldn’t explain why.
---
Reagan’s POV
It was late when we finally returned.
The estate was quieter than it had been earlier.
I stepped through the front door and immediately saw Rose.
She was sitting outside in the garden, her attention fixed on her phone.
For a moment, I simply watched her.
She looked completely unaware.
Exactly how she was supposed to look.
I walked toward her.
She looked up.
"You’re back."
"Yeah."
She studied my face.
"You’ve been gone for hours."
"Mmn"
She was watching me carefully.
I could already see the questions forming.
I didn’t have the patience for them.
"Don’t go anywhere alone."
Her eyebrows lifted.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Why are you suddenly giving me instructions?"
"Because I’m telling you to."
She stared at me.
"And why should i listen to you?, you wannabe boot camp leader.", she said pointing a finger at me.
Normally, I’d have thrown the comment right back at her.
This time, I didn’t.
I turned away.
"Stay inside."
"Reagan!."
I kept walking.
"Answer me you impenetrable humanoid"
I stopped for half a second.
I could hear the irritation in her voice.
Then I continued toward the house.
Behind me, she continued her rants.
I didn’t look back.
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