“Ah.” He stretches his arms out and raises an eyebrow. “You thinking stalker ex? Or just dickhead ex?”
I shake my head. “Don’t know. I don’t think he’s the guy who’s been leaving the notes. But something about him doesn’t sit right with me. The timing. The way he just… popped in. Like he wanted her to know he still could.”
Asher leans his hip against the doorway, watching me carefully. “You want to know if he’s hiding something.”
“Exactly. Not jumping to conclusions. Just… I’ve got this gut feeling.” I glance up.
“Talk to Kade,” he says. “He’s got the kind of people who can dig. Subtle. Quiet. Dangerous, if they need to be.”
Kade Kingston. Old friend, old blood. His family doesn’t deal in ink—they deal in power. Quietly. Effectively.
I pull my phone from my pocket and dial.
“Elijah,” Kade answers, voice cool and deep like always. “It’s been a minute.”
“Yeah. Wish this was a social call.”
“I assume it’s not,” Kade says, no real surprise in his tone. “Talk to me.”
I keep it direct. “Ava’s ex. George Whitmore. He’s been popping up uninvited. She’s rattled. I don’t like it.”
“You want me to look into him.”
“I want to know if he’s a problem. If he’s stalking her. If there’s anything I need to prepare for.”
There’s a pause. I can hear him thinking. Calculating. Another beat of silence, then Kade’s voice comes low and sure.
“Come to the house.”
“Tonight.”
“Bring anything you’ve got.”
He doesn’t ask questions he doesn’t need answers to.
“We’ll go over it with the team,” he adds. “My brothers’ll be there. Kaleb, too.”
I exhale, already feeling steadier. “Thanks, man.”
“You care about her,” Kade says simply.
“Yeah,” I answer without hesitation. “A lot.”
“Then we’ll handle this right.”
Click.
***
The Kingston estate looms ahead, sprawling like a fortress built not just to impress, but to intimidate. Beauty hides its teeth. White stone walls gleam under the sun, flanked by wrought-iron gates and hedges manicured to military precision. Every corner hums with the weight of old money, generations of dominance etched into the land itself.
But beneath the surface, there’s more—everyone knows it. The Kingstons don’t just own wealth; they command fear. In the city, their name is spoken with a reverent hush, like a prayer—or a warning. Billionaires whose businesses stretch across oceans, whose secrets are buried deeper than their vaults. Whispers of Mafia ties drift just beyond the reach of evidence, persistent and unanswered.
The Kingstons are power dressed in silk—elegant, untouchable, and lethal. Their companies are so pristine the SEC doesn’t blink. But behind every polished deal and flawless smile, there’s a shadow no one dares to trace.
I park in the circular drive and approach the grand front doors. No guards in sight—they don’t need to be. Everyone knows better than to come uninvited.
Inside, the den is quiet but charged. Kade sits like he owns the air in the room. Because he does. CEO of Kingston Enterprises, he’s the face of the family—clean-cut, cold-eyed, and far moredangerous than he lets on. Kaleb is perched on the arm of Kade’s chair, relaxed, casual. The gesture is casual, almost dismissive—unless you know them.
