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I go to say yes, but the word withers on my tongue. I can’t be sure. I never know what she’s left until I realize that I either never owned one, or it’s not the same as the one I had. After she pointed out the chain, I realized that it was missing the diamond clasp.
“I don’t have much jewelry,” I say to him. “Only a few chains and my watch.”
I look down at the Rolex Daytona on my wrist. I’ve had it for a long time—it was one of my twelfth birthday gifts. A limited edition. It’s the very last gift I got from my mum. It’s one of the few things left of her, things that aren’t tainted by my father’s rage. I wear it everywhere.
As I look at the glimmering dial, there’s a sinking feeling in my stomach.
It can’t be…
I slip it off my wrist, just to be sure.
I can feel Ezra and Vance’s eyes on me, but I can’t take mine off the watch. I hold it in my palm, the cool metal a brand against my skin. My mum had it engraved. I can recite it by heart, and as I flip it over, the words come back to me.
To my littlest blessing. Keep shining, always.
Love, Mum xx
I run my thumb over the back of the watch, feeling for the grooves of the engraving. But it’s smooth. The back of the watch is fucking blank.
This isn’t my watch.
The next few seconds happen on autopilot.
I toss the watch into the wall and it shatters, falling in a pile of broken pieces in a corner of the room. I walk over to it, blood rushing in my ears. I already know what I’m going to find, but my throat closes when I see it all the same.
There, in the rubble of watch parts, is a small black chip.
I pick it up and hold it to the light. Sure enough, there's a tiny flashing green light.A bug. It’s too small to transmit audio, but just big enough to transmit my location. As frantic as I was about searching for the bug, I still cleaved to a tiny bit of hope that maybe I was overreacting and it was in my head.
But the evidence is right in front of me.
Vance and Ezra are standing behind me now. Ezra plucks it from my hands. Vance watches him curiously, leaning in to get a better look at it himself. I’m still stooping on the floor, considering my options.
I don’t say this to my friends, but I have the suspicion that all the problems I’m having recently could be Cassidy’s doing. She might even be the one who grassed up Alize.
In fact, it has to be her.
And when killing her that way didn’t work, she used Keller to get the job done. She was probably even the one who sent him the last time, now that I know she has my location.
How long have they been playing me like this?
She’s craftier than I thought. If the matter at hand wasn’t Alize’s safety, then maybe I could appreciate her assiduousness. But there are no second chances for anyone who crosses Alize. Not to mention the fucking fact that she fucked with a giftmy mumgave me.
I will get rid of her and this problem once and for all.
“What are you going to do?” Ezra asks, as if he can sense the macabre tone my thoughts have taken.
I stand, brushing invisible lint from my tailored pants.
The weight that was on my shoulders has lifted and my thoughts have cleared considerably. With the clarity comes a familiar sense of purpose.
My deal with Lev has all but fixed my problems with becoming Head Kingmaker. I can get back to fixing the problem that has given me sleepless nights over the past few weeks.
“I’m going to put an end to this once and for all,” I say with a smirk. “Do you think you can confirm that the bug belongs to her?”
Ezra nods. Vance takes it from him.
I know exactly what I’m going to do. Cassidy isn’t the only person who can play the long game. Unlike her, I always play to win. She won’t even see it coming.
