Page 21 of Colton

My eyes flick to the empty seat before I look back at Serena. “Dahlia is otherwise occupied. I’ll relay all of this to her. Now, shall we proceed? What was so urgent for you to call for me, Artemis?”

Blake opens his mouth to speak, but Artemis beats him to it. The rest of the room falls silent, and although they’ve all noticed that Artemis’ goal seems to be to prevent her brother from talking, no one comments on it. No one wants to bother themselves with their sibling rivalry, or, in this instance, their nonsense.

“The robberies we’ve been having have… evolved into murders.”

I blink, leaning back. “Go on.”

Artemis stands up and pulls out a thick folder. She starts handing out stapled files to each person, her movements quick and easy. “Clyde and I have been monitoring everything closely. However, last night, another jewelry store was robbed, and this time, the worker was murdered.”

“I didn’t sign up to play cops,” I sigh, rubbing my temples, my eyes closing briefly. “Continue.”

“Open the file, Colton.”

My eyes open, and the commanding tone of her voice catches me off guard. I slowly look back down, then open it. My breath hitches slightly, and my eyes widen. Tonight, after God knows how much time, I have truly been thrown off my game, and the shock, the surprise, is something I cannot hide.

“What the…”

My words die in my throat, and the tie around my neck starts to suffocate me. The first thing in the file is the image of the crime scene. There’s a lot of blood, and I can tell it was overkill. However, it’s not the thing that gets me this astonished — it’s what’s written on the counter.

It’s definitely blood, and nothing but the words ‘I know what you’ve been up to’ stare back at me. Underneath the words is number five, engraved into the wooden counter with a knife. I’m unable to think, and before I can control myself, I slam the file shut, looking up at Artemis.

“No one leaves this room until you tell me who the hell found out.”

“That’s the thing,” Abraxas says, folding his arms in front of his chest. “Our clients have more to lose than to win by letting the news of this get out. They all come here and play the game because it’s discreet. Because no matter how much money they lose, no one will ever speak. Serious NDA contracts bind them.”

My jaw clenches, the anger bubbling inside of my chest. True as his words may be, someone had to have leaked the information. The number five is directed toward the five families, and although there’s no concrete proof, I’m not foolish enough to think otherwise.

“Why now, though?” Celine asks, pulling her hair into a high bun. “This isn’t the first robbery. Why not send us the message in any of the prior crimes? And why kill the worker?”

“How many robberies have we had, exactly?” I ask.

“This is the fifth one,” Artemis says, crossing her legs, tapping her finger against the table. “Meaning, each of the previous ones was a clue that we missed.”

“Yeah, because we have better things to do than to play cops,” Clyde says with a scoff.

“It’s all your fault.” Artemis throws him a glare, and I already feel the bickering coming; somehow, I have no patience or strength to deal with these two. “If you had paid more attention to what we were looking for during our stakeouts, rather than finding women to sleep with, we might’ve been able to catch the signs sooner.”

Clyde scoffs. “Alright, we get it, you’re bitter that you’re getting no action.”

“I’ve been with more women than you, asshole. They do tend to prefer me over you.”

“All you’re proving is that you’re a whore,” he drawls.

“Is this you projecting because your mother is one?”

Clyde stands up abruptly, ready to strangle her. His mother’s infidelities are something that’s been known in the society we live in, though no one ever said it outright. He’s furious, his jaw clenched tightly.

“You little—”

“Enough,” Abraxas says, a bored tone to his voice. Thankfully, he stepped up before I had to. “You two are insufferable. Truth be told, both of you are the definition of whores, we all know that. Now, let’s move along. I have better things to do than listen to your nonsense.”

Clyde breathes out, then sits his ass back down. He’s grumbling under his breath, but no one pays attention to him anymore. With an eye roll, I turn to Celine, and as usual, she looks nervous to be looked at by me.

She’s twenty-five, and even back when she was at the Academy, she had issues with me. It’s not like I’ve ever done anything to her, but she would always go out of her way to avoid me. There’s a certain fear that I don’t quite understand.

“Celine, you go to the police and get the images from previous robberies, then look over them with Artemis. She has a knack for seeing what others don’t, and she’s been helpful.”

I don’t miss the way Blake’s body goes rigid when the compliments of Artemis leave my lips. He doesn’t say anything, but if looks could kill, I’d be dead long ago. Deep down, the bastard does care about his sister; however, in this world, it’s always about putting yourself above anyone else, including your own family, if you want to succeed. He’s taken it to heart.