Someone had made her a target.
And now?
Now, Gideon wasn’t just protecting her from the people outside the circle. He was protecting her from the ones within it.
?
The loud buzz of his phone cut through the silence.
Gideon didn’t check the screen; he knew who it was.
“Talk to me,” he answered, his voice flat.
Leo didn’t waste time. “It’s escalating. Alex isn’t even trying to be subtle. My team’s trailing one of his guys. He’s been shadowing Arden. No direct contact yet, but it’s deliberate. He’s testing boundaries. Watching her. Watching you.”
Gideon’s grip on the phone tightened. His pulse thudded slow and dangerous. “And Sebastian?”
“Digging,” Leo said. “He’s been reaching out to people from her past. Nursing school contacts, old employers, even neighbors from Morgantown. He’s hunting for leverage, anything that’ll give him a crack to pry open.”
Gideon stood, tension rolling through his frame as he crossed to the security monitor. The feed showed Arden behind the bar, sharp and composed. Untouched by the storm she didn’t yet realize was closing in.
“What about Evelyn?” he asked, lower now, but no less dangerous.
Leo’s voice darkened. “Same tactics. She’s casting lines. Seeing what bites. Corporate records, off-the-books firms. Requests for old HR files, employment history, sealed background checks. Someone at her old law firm tipped us off.”
Gideon’s jaw locked. “She’s fishing. Quietly.”
“She’s good at it,” Leo admitted. “Knows how to keep her fingerprints off the file.”
“Then don’t just watchher,” Gideon said, pacing slowly behind his desk. “Watch Colton.”
Leo’s voice sharpened. “You think he’s the one on point?”
“I don’t think—I know. Evelyn doesn’t make moves herself. She keeps people like Julia whispering and people like Colton enforcing. If there’s pressure to apply—if it gets physical—it’ll come from him.”
Leo didn’t argue. “Then I’ll have a second team follow him directly. He’s not in any of the usual surveillance networks, but I’ve got a guy who can get inside that orbit.”
“Do it quietly. If Colton suspects he’s being followed, he’ll vanish.”
Leo’s voice came back crisp. “Understood. We’ll keep eyes close.”
Gideon let the information settle for a minute. The fury had chilled into something worse—measured, merciless. Ice that burned only once it was too deep to stop.
“And the car?”
Leo hesitated. “No movement from the precinct yet. No leads on the vandalism. Whoever did it—no prints, no cameras. Too clean. But you know the rose petals… that wasn’t random.”
“I do,” Gideon muttered. “Christian’s had her covered since the report came in. Soft shadow. She doesn’t know.”
Leo’s tone shifted. “You trust him to keep her close?”
“He’s not just good,” Gideon said. “He’s mine. Former military. Loyal. The second anything looks off, he’ll move.”
“Good,” Leo replied. “Because this isn’t about surveillance anymore. It’s a warning.”
“No,” Gideon said coldly, watching the screen where Arden moved behind the bar, oblivious to the storm circling her. “It was a mistake. And they’re going to learn the hard way.”
“I want Alex and Sebastian tracked. Every move. Every call. If they so much as breathe in her direction, I want to know.”
