"Now, let's get started, shall we?" The demonic grin on Aren's face wasn't encouraging at all. I responded with a slight nod. Even though I was the one who suggested learning self-defense from Aren, I was beginning to regret that decision more by the second. "You should warm up first," he said, taking my hand and leading me to the center of the mats. We did a bit of stretching, which I found close to unbearable, and it wasn't because of my stiff body. Every single ounce of my willpower was aimed at restraining myself from looking at Aren's body. It's been two days since we hadn't slept together, and I was starting to behave like a junky at the beginning of rehab. I whimpered inwardly and bit my lip when he wasn't looking, but I could proudly say that I managed to keep my serious face throughout the warm-up. Unfortunately, my struggle had barely begun. "My, let's start with something easy," Aren said, standing some distance in front of me. "I will attack you, and you will try to def

I emptied my glass in two big gulps, cursing myself inwardly for even thinking of asking more questions about Lanfen. The sole fact that she was Aren's first girlfriend and he had nightmares in which he called her name should be enough to label her as a serious threat. Nonetheless, when he said that he was the one who proposed, it was a hard hit to take. It felt like a punch in the gut. I guessed that my mask had finally fallen off since Aren looked at me with sudden concern in his eyes while watching me refill my glass with wine."Are you OK, sunshine?" he asked, touching my hand that held the glass.I sighed and shifted my eyes to him. "I wish I could say that I am OK, but no, I am not," I said, irritation more than clear in the tone of my voice.He smirked. "Are you jealous, wife?"I glared at him. "Of course I am!" I exclaimed. "You were her hero. You had a normal, loving relationship that lasted four years, and you proposed to her without offering her a contract! Sure as hell I a

The entire net of endless connections was making my head spin. We all knew that if we gave that evidence to Jack Collins, it could help bring down not only Lester Packton but the entire Marshall clan along with him. It was impossible for all of it to be merely a coincidence. Norton, Alan, and I were ecstatic to present all of those photos and documents, confirming Francis Marshall's and Lester Packton's cooperation, but Aren didn't seem to share our enthusiasm..."These are all assumptions and circumstantial evidence without a real meaning to the case. It might help Jack later, but it will not clear him of all charges," he said grimly. "What we need is Packton's confession, and Jack was also very aware that without something this evident, no one from the higher-ups would even look at the rest of what you've found."I sat back behind my desk and lowered my head. It was clear to me that those guys were corrupted. They covered each other's crimes and gained illegal profit."It would be e

A few minutes later, Aren and I were back in the car on our way to meet Jack and a group of military specialists gathered by Aren to help. They were operating from the basement of one of the buildings that belonged to Lan Diamond Corporation. The place wasn't too far away from the Federal Plaza, but since the whole building was locked due to renovation, no one even got near it. Despite the inconspicuous façade, the inside of the building was filled with high-tech security equipment, including a thermal imaging scanner at the door and a row of cameras in every corridor. Once we got down to the basement and entered the temporary center of command, everyone stood up and bowed before Aren as if he was their general. There were six men, including Jack, in the room. Two of them were listening to the live signal with their headphones on. Two others sat by their computers, trying to clear the sound of the previously recorded fragments. Jack and the fifth man, who seemed to be the group's leade

Aren's team shot a few sleep darts at those from Packton's and Mr. C.'s side, but they were quickly discovered. Those who weren't knocked down by the drug responded by firing their guns toward the rooftop. The real battle began. I stood in front of the screen, squeezing my hands together and praying. My heart pounded wildly as I tried to figure out what was happening while looking at the surveillance footage. All I could see were gunshots, briefly lightening the air, and people from all sides running around. I glanced at Damian and Eli, but they were completely composed, only glancing at their watches. “Sixty seconds up, time to make the call,” Eli said to Damian, Damian nodding in response. “What's going on?” I asked, muttering. Eli turned my way with a finger on the mouth gesture and motioned his head, pointing at Damian. A second later, his colleague was on the phone with the police making an anonymous call, informing that there was some kind of fight with gunshots at the Red Ho