Chapter 23 Shadow
The night was still, the heavy blanket of darkness settling over the cemetery like a shroud.
I had been watching them for nearly an hour, hidden among the shadows, unseen and unnoticed as I followed far behind in my car.
I had been surprised they hadn’t noticed, but who was I to question how good at this I am.
Aiden and Evie had been quiet at first, their movements slow and deliberate, almost respectful of where they were in relation to each other, but something at Syndicate had changed.
And now, as the minutes passed, that respect evaporated, replaced by something else entirely. Something carnal and . . . disgusting.
My hands clenched at my sides as I watched Evie lean in closer to Aiden, her hand brushing his arm in a teasing, intimate way that made my blood boil.
She thought she was so clever, so safe, didn’t she?
Thought she could dig into things that weren’t hers to touch and still play around with him like she wasn’t being watched. Like she wasn’t being followed.
I could see the way her lips curved up, that little smirk she always wore when she thought she had control.
It infuriated me—her arrogance, her audacity to flaunt herself in front of Aiden like that.
And him—Aiden. I had this idea that Aiden was smarter than this, stronger.
But there he was, playing right into her hands, letting her lead him around like a fool.
I hoped for more from him.
It wasn’t enough that they were prying into things they had no business looking into.
Now they were desecrating this place, making it their playground.
My jaw tightened as I watched Aiden’s hands move over her body, his fingers gripping her waist as he pressed her back against one of the cold stone mausoleums. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I didn’t need to.
Their movements said enough. The way his body loomed over hers, the way her head tilted back in a display of submission, letting him have her in the most twisted of places.
I watched as he ripped at her top, how he tied it around her face, how she finally shut her mouth.
This was a fucking cemetery, and here they were, treating it like their personal hideaway.
The rage that simmered beneath my skin boiled over, hot and fast, making my vision blur.
They had no respect for anything, no sense of the boundaries they’d crossed.
They were so focused on each other, so wrapped up in their little game, that they couldn’t see what was coming for them.
Aiden’s hand slid up her body, his fingers tracing the skin, and I felt something snap inside me.
My nails dug into my palms, the sharp sting a welcome distraction from the overwhelming anger coursing through me.
He didn’t deserve to touch her like that.
She didn’t deserve to be touched like that.
Not after all she had done—after all the lines she had crossed.
My mind raced as I considered my next move.
This wasn’t part of the plan. I hadn’t expected to find them tangled up in each other like this.
But now that I had, it only solidified what I needed to do.
Evie was out of control. She was getting too close, asking too many questions, and she was dragging Aiden down with her.
She was becoming a poison, infecting everything she touched.
And if they thought this was going to end with them being able to waltz around, fucking in the shadows like they were untouchable, they had another think coming.
I had to stop her—to save her.
I stepped back, blending into the darkness, careful not to make a sound as I retreated.
Watching them any longer would only enrage me more, and I couldn’t afford to lose control now.
No, I had to be smarter. I had to be careful.
They were pieces in a larger puzzle, after all.
There were others I needed to watch, others who had gotten too comfortable, too careless.
As I made my way out of the cemetery, slipping through the iron gates, I pulled out my phone.
The others would be easy to track. Rook, Hero, Mason—all of them were just as guilty as Aiden and Evie.
They thought they were safe, hiding behind their little crew, but they had no idea how close I’d been, how much I already knew about them.
They were just as deep in this mess, whether they realized it or not.
I thought about Rook first. He was always the hardest to catch alone, always surrounded by the others. But it didn’t matter. I could wait. I had patience. And when the time came, he’d be one of the first to pay for their arrogance. Maybe after Evie and Aiden.
Hero was next on my list. Always so confident, always thinking he was in control. I’d watched him before, followed him to Syndicate, watched the way he handled his business like he owned the world. But even he had weaknesses. Even he could be brought down.
And Mason . . . Mason was always lurking on the outskirts, never fully in the spotlight, but never too far from the others.
He thought that made him safe, that hiding in plain sight kept him out of danger.
But I’d been watching him, too, studying his every move.
He was as vulnerable as the rest of them—just as blind.
I could feel the familiar rush of adrenaline as I planned my next steps, the thrill of the chase coursing through my veins.
They thought they were untouchable, that their little games made them invincible.
But they didn’t know what was coming. They didn’t know how close I was, how easily their lives could unravel with one wrong move.
I slipped into the shadows, my gaze flickering back toward the cemetery one last time. Aiden and Evie were still there, lost in each other, oblivious to the fact that their time was running out.
Soon enough, they’d know.