Chapter 4
Four
CASS’S INTRIGUING PRESENCE
DAPHNE
I settled onto the couch, tucking my feet beneath me and curling my limbs around my body in a subconscious effort to find comfort.
Thal’s words echoed in my mind, stubbornly refusing to fade despite my attempts to distract myself.
I had just finished binge-watching three episodes of my favorite crime thriller, almost drained an entire bottle of expensive red wine, and cleaned my suite from top to bottom, all in a futile effort to shake off his taunting accusation.
Yet, no relief came.
Eventually, I gave in, realizing I could turn my focus on Thal into something useful. I chose to confront the distraction directly, knowing he wouldn’t yield easily, not without significant pressure. Zeno’s teachings replayed in my head: gather as much information as possible about your opponent.
Was Thal truly my opponent? Not quite. But as of late, it started to feel that way, especially when he was pushing me to do things I didn’t want to do. I dove into researching everything I could about him.
I didn’t need a search engine to tell me Thal was a self-made king.
I opened my custom-built rig—the one Zeno’s security team thought was just for streaming movies—and let the Ghost out of her cage.
The blue light reflected in my wine, but my focus was on the command line.
I more than bypassed firewalls, I dismantled them.
I ran a ghost-protocol script, layering my IP through six different countries until I was invisible.
My fingers hunted. This was the only place I was truly powerful.
Every line of code I cracked was a middle finger to the men who thought they owned me.
I knew Helena was sharp, but I was a scalpel.
If she caught a whiff of this breach, I’d be dead before the upload finished, but the risk only made the data taste sweeter.
I wasn’t interested in his triumphs but in his sins.
I needed to know if the man who promised me sanctuary was actually the one holding the match to the city.
I dug through layers of shell companies and offshore accounts, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm.
I wanted to find a reason to hate him. I wanted to prove that his dark alliance was just another leash, only made of silk instead of iron.
But tonight, I focused on uncovering the unreported information about Thal. Some of it I already knew from listening to Zeno.
Thal’s casino was one of the city’s major money-laundering operations.
Somehow, he had managed to stay neutral amid the endless power struggles.
Zeno, Aidon, Rhea’s syndicates, and others kept fighting to take control from each other, but Thal avoided direct conflict with any of them.
It seemed he preferred to keep his alliances flexible, likely keeping his enemies guessing in the process.
What struck me most was how Thal remained a powerful figure in the game without resorting to brute force or bloodshed, unlike everyone else who was forced to do so.
His story intrigued me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something. How could he have kept his hands clean all this time?
This was Vegas, after all. I knew about the bloody battles, the backstabbing, the betrayals. Nobody in this town got out unscathed.
None of us were innocent.
I was convinced that Thal wasn’t either.
I kept digging late into the evening, examining Thal’s banking records, operational data, and phone logs. The effects of the wine had started to fade, replaced by a creeping fatigue that weighed on me.
Then it appeared. Not a name, but a ghost. I traced a recurring encrypted signal that had pinged Thal’s private line every night for the past month. As the final corporate wall crumbled, I saw the destination.
My breath hitched, but my hands remained steady. The recurring encrypted signal wasn't a fluke. It was a heartbeat. I traced the packet return to a secure line belonging to Rhea’s syndicate—the very monsters Zeno used to justify my protection.
I found a traitor and uncovered the ultimate leverage.
Thal was engaged in a triple-cross that could incinerate this city if revealed.
A surge of lethal triumph coursed through me.
Thal thought he was the one offering me a lifeline?
He had no idea I was currently holding the detonator to his entire reputation.
I was sure that Zeno didn’t know what I knew. He’d asked me to shadow Thal and monitor his movements, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe Zeno secretly hoped I’d uncover something.
Now, standing at this crossroads, I faced a tough decision. What the hell was I supposed to do with this information?
If Thal was secretly working with the syndicate, what did that mean for his relationships with Zeno and Aidon?
Was he betraying everyone? Various possibilities raced through my mind, each more disturbing than the last. It was obvious that more investigation could reveal the truth.
My stomach twisted in discomfort as I thought about the tough choice I faced. I could directly confront Thal about my suspicions or just tell Zeno and leave the decision up to him.
That was probably what he would prefer. But ultimately, what did I want? Thal’s words echoed in my mind. Was I just a pawn in Zeno’s plans? Did Thal truly have my best interests at heart, or was he just using me too? Did either of them genuinely care about me?
I sighed, pulled the blanket around my feet, and reached for the bottle of wine, refilling my glass. I leaned back on the couch, my eyes drifting around my suite.
Zeno always treated me with genuine care. He gave me this amazing place to call home, trusting me to furnish it as I wished, and he never failed to ensure my safety and protection. Since the day my parents died, he had been there, steady and dependable, a rare find.
It was clear to me that only someone truly extraordinary could assume this role, particularly a single man in his prime who decided to bear this responsibility.
I owed him, that was undeniable. But did I owe him everything ... everything, forever?
That question lingered in my mind, tugging at me as I struggled with where to draw the line between loyalty and submission. Throughout my life, I had never once challenged Zeno. I had followed his every command and submitted to his demands, convinced that he always knew what was best for me.
Yet now, subtle doubts began to emerge, and I found myself questioning everything I’d ever believed about him, about us. I was at a crossroads, and for the first time, I wondered what it truly meant to stand on my own.
Fucking Thal.
I wanted to erase his words from my mind, but they kept looping like a drunken chorus that wouldn’t stop.
And then there was Zeno. His face kept popping into my mind, a constant reminder of this tug of war I was caught in.
If I didn’t inform Zeno that Thal was working with the syndicate, there could be serious consequences.
Honestly, I was a bit annoyed that Zeno had missed this crucial piece of information himself.
He should have had experts investigating every aspect of Thal’s operations.
They would’ve found it just as quickly as I had in one evening, no doubt.
Zeno was too busy trying to appear in control and be the biggest cock on the block, asserting his dominance with every step he took. He was convinced that he had more power than anyone else in town, and that arrogance was now costing him dearly.
Had Thal been undermining him all this time?
Could Zeno’s ego be creating a blind spot that endangered everything he had worked so hard to build? It was crucial that he knew about every alliance, enemy, and deal happening right under his nose.
Ironically, if I failed to share what I had discovered, he would eventually turn on me, accusing me of betraying him, siding with Thal, or betraying the very lessons on loyalty he had drilled into me.
He had tasked me with tracking Thal, but it was to monitor his location. Beneath it all, I sensed there was something much more important at risk. My decision felt heavy in my chest. I carefully considered each option, my thoughts swirling with emotion as I hoped for a sign from the universe.
A notification pinged on my tablet, not from the building’s security, but from the hidden infrared camera I’d installed in the hallway. Thal was standing outside my door. He hadn’t even tried to hide from the Olympus cameras. The man’s arrogance was a physical weight.
I didn't jump. I calmly closed my encrypted tabs, cleared my cache, and stood. I didn’t need the peephole to know the hallway air had already grown heavy with the localized, electric heat he carried like a storm.
I let him wait exactly five seconds, long enough to show I wasn't eager, but short enough to keep him curious.
Thal didn't wait for an invitation when I opened the door. He stepped into my foyer, his dark eyes scanning the room and me with a possessive hunger that made my knees weak. He didn’t look like a gentleman. He looked like a king who had found his favorite thief.
“You’re late for our next round, Daphne,” he rumbled, his voice a low hum that settled in my marrow.
“What are you doing here, Thal? My security detail—”
“Your security detail works for Zeno,” he interrupted, reaching to close the door. He turned the deadbolt with a finality that echoed through the suite. “But tonight, you’re beginning to realize you work for me.”
“It’s late,” I said, desperate to suppress the tension pulsing around us.
He faced me again, his captivating eyes locking with mine. The pull of attraction between us hummed its seductive song.
“I took a chance,” he admitted.
“Risky.” I stepped past him into the dim light of the living room, where the air grew heavier with anticipation.
He observed his surroundings, absorbing every detail in a slow, deliberate manner, as the space seemed to echo with the promise of what was yet to come.