Impressive acquisition. Welcome to the inner circle. We should talk.
The inner circle.
Good. I got what I came for.
And so much more.
I finish the scotch and set the glass down.
Upstairs, Eden is probably testing the door. Finding it unlocked.
I left it unlocked deliberately.
She'll think it's a mistake. An oversight.
It's not.
It's a test.
Will she run tonight? Or will she wait?
Plan? Try to find another way out?
Either way, I'll know more about her by morning.
I check my watch. Two-thirty.
I should sleep. Long day tomorrow. Business calls. The usual obligations.
But I won't sleep.
I'll stay awake. Wait.
See what Eden decides to do with her first night of freedom.
Such as it is.
Because freedom is an illusion. I learned that young.
The only thing that matters is control, and I have all of it.
Eden doesn't know that yet, but she will.
I smile into the darkness.
She will.
CHAPTER THREE
Eden
I don't sleep.
I can't.
Every time I close my eyes, I see ice-blue eyes staring at me from the audience.
Hear that cold, certain voice sayingtwo million dollarslike it's nothing.
