Chapter 47
Forty Seven
Kaden
The first light of dawn filters into the suite, casting a pale, grey glow over Wynter’s sleeping form.
I haven’t slept. I’ve spent the entire night watching her, my hand resting on her chest, feeling the steady, miraculous rhythm of her breathing.
Every rise and fall is a reassurance that the world hasn’t ended.
The rage from last night has cooled into something harder, colder.
A promise of methodical, absolute retribution.
I slip out of bed and dress in silence. Alrik is waiting for me downstairs in the living room, a tablet in his hand.
“Report,” I command, my voice low and gravelly from lack of use.
“She’s secure,” he says, not needing to ask who I mean. “Sub-level holding cell. Vinnie treated her injuries enough to ensure she doesn’t die on us. She’s conscious. And angry.”
“Good,” I growl. “I want her to be wide awake for what comes next. No one goes near that cell but me. Understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
“The breach?”
“Adien watched the surveillance footage. Evilin used a hidden access panel in the studio’s window frame.
It was an old feature, installed by the previous owner, never put on the new security schematics.
That oversight has been corrected. Craigston and Benji are doing a full sweep of the compound for any other legacy vulnerabilities. It won’t happen again.”
My jaw tightens. An oversight. An oversight almost cost me everything. “I want to amp up security. No expense spared. I want it all.”
“They’re already on it,” Alrik confirms.
I pour a cup of coffee, the hot liquid doing nothing to warm the ice in my veins. “And King?”
A grim smile touches Alrik’s lips. “Gavin has him. He’s ready for you. Our intel picked him up trying to flee the state. Pathetic.”
“Excellent. Stay here with her. No one, and I mean no one, gets into this suite.” The thought of leaving her alone, even for an hour, has me seeing red.
“I thought you’d want to see this.” He holds out the rolled up paper for me to take. Snapping the rubber band, the paper falls open and there it is on the front page.