I end the call, double-check my weapon. My backup team’s on standby, just out of sight. This could go sideways fast, but there’s no other play.
Lee and I drive through the gates and onto enemy territory. As we pull up the long drive, I spot Marcus and his right hand, Felix, on the grand porch steps. I know he’ll have every guard on his payroll standing by too.
Lee stays in the car but I step out and wait at the bottom of the steps. Marcus comes down to meet me, hands shoved in his coat pockets, jaw clenched. He gives me a long, suspicious look. “You alone?”
“No, I’m not a fool. I have backup. As for Ashleigh, she’s safe far far away from here.”
He sneers. “You better have something good, Kaden. I don’t have time for—”
I cut him off. “Ashleigh’s not marrying Owen. The arrangement is over, dead.”
Marcus’s face twists, a vein throbbing at his temple. “You think you can just call it off? That’s my deal. What makes you think—”
I hold my ground. “I’m marrying her. She’s mine.”
He explodes into a sputtering mess, absolutely outraged. “You-you what?! You arrogant—! You think you can just waltz in and—”
I let him rage. I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting that. When he’s out of breath, I speak, low and deadly. “If you make one move against us, every file I have on all of your operations, past and present, will go straight to the police and the FBI. I have dates, bank transfers and someone willing to testify. You’ll go down, hard, Marcus.”
His eyes flash, fury and fear tangled together. “You don’t have the guts.”
I step closer, voice hard as steel. “Try me.”
Silence stretches between us, dangerous and charged. Finally, Marcus spits on the ground, glaring. “Get out of my sight.”
I start to turn away when my heart stops. A shout rings out from my right, “No!”
14
Kaden
My body stutters as Ashleigh enters my eyeline. To my right, she strides purposefully across the grass, still barefoot, her steps silent but determined. Her arm straight out and unwavering, the barrel of her gun aimed right at her father. Her jaw is set, fixed with steely resolve. Every movement her body makes is precise, betraying no fear.
I’m certain that everyone around us freezes at the sight for a moment before Marcus’s guys snap into gear. Their weapons all trained on her in an instant.
I reach for my Glock, the weight familiar and comforting in my hand, and aim it at Marcus’s right-hand man - Felix. Lee quietly emerges from the car and moves into range. I trust that my backup and the fenceline are doing the same.
“Ashleigh. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I’m not living in fear.” Despite a half-circle of guns trained on her, Ashleigh’s gaze doesn’t so much as flicker. Her arm is steady, her posture defiant, and her intent unwavering. The sun catches in her hair, a stark contrast to the grim determination in her eyes.
“What? You’re going to shoot me, are you? I don’t think so, dear girl.” Her father has the audacity to laugh at her. What an idiot. He clearly doesn’t know a damn thing about his own daughter. I slowly edge closer to her side.
“Oh, really? But I’ve waited such a long time to see the tables turned.” Her eyes narrow at her father, and her voice carries elsewhere. “Felix? I have his ledgers from the past twenty-four years. Your name is plastered all over them. Lower your guns, and I’ll hand them over.”
Marcus sputters nonsense to Felix and his men, voice cracking with disbelief, but no one has a chance to react before Ash fires off a single, echoing shot. The bullet hits her father square in the chest, his body jerking with the impact before he collapses to the ground. A collective breath ripples through the air. I squeeze off warning shots at his men, forcing them to scatter, boots thudding frantically as they flee across the grass.
Felix stays behind. I follow close behind Ashleigh as she walks over to meet him, my gun at the ready. I don’t trust him; I don’t trust that he won’t try to kill her. Felix has been Marcus’s second for at least the seven years that I’ve known him. Surely his loyalty is unyielding.
Marcus lies on the ground next to them, bleeding out. He coughs and gurgles. I know we’ll have to get rid of his body later on - there’s no chance he’s surviving that shot.
“It’s all here.” Ash holds up a small, silver flash drive between her fingers. She drops it into Felix’s awaiting hand. His fingers snap shut around it, and he gives a single, curt nod before backing away slowly, eyes never leaving Ashleigh. He stays silent, a deep frown wrinkling his forehead, uncertainty flickering across his features. It’s all quite strange to watch, like a transaction between ghosts.
“A ‘thank you’ wouldn’t have been too much,” Ash whispers to herself, my chuckle seeming to startle her. But still, she doesn’t turn around. Her eyes lower to her father.
Is she okay?
What’s going on in her head right now?
