7. Silas
Silas
Almost a week had passed since meeting Ember, and I was starting to get antsy about how long Knox was taking. Luckily, the masquerade was tonight and preparations for it had kept me busy. Even now, my brothers and I were finalizing the last details of the floor plan.
All three of us moved around the silent space as we worked, securing lights and different fixtures. The stillness clung to me, only adding to the restlessness within my body. I knew this time, it was necessary to make sure everything ran smoothly, but I still missed the vitality from a full crowd.
Having the company of my brothers helped as we worked to secure the steel frames for the dancers.
The large metal cages had just been hung, and we were in the middle of making sure the attachments to the reinforced beams were secure.
Kyrin tested their chains twice but was still perched next to one on a ladder, tightening one of the bolts.
“You know,” he said, glancing down at me. “You could probably put a camera in this thing and livestream it.”
“The club is interesting enough without that,” I replied, kicking the bottom rung of the ladder.
Kyrin grinned down at me and steadied himself on the steel door of the cage. “Nothing can ever be too interesting.”
“The members have enough to watch here.” Shaking my head, I caught the wrench he tossed down to me and glanced over at Greyson, who was clearly done contributing. He leaned against the bar with one boot hooked on the foot rail, pouring tequila into his mouth from the spout of a random bottle.
Making a mental note to switch that one out before the event started, I turned back to Kyrin as he climbed down the ladder. Now that the cages hung straight, the tables were all that was left.
“We just need to line the walls now.”
Kyrin nodded in understanding and looked up toward the middle of the ceiling. “Is that where the silk will be?”
“Yeah, so we need to measure the space on both sides and make sure she has enough room.”
Greyson snorted behind us as he switched to another bottle. “For what? All the debauchery below her?”
I ignored him as the tables scraped softly against the floor. A couple more small adjustments later, and the entire space around us was done, our final task complete.
Kyrin looked around, wiping his hands on his pants. “We good?”
My phone vibrated in my back pocket as I replied. Pulling it out, I saw Knox’s name flash across the screen.
All information on Vale has been sent.
Perfect.
I looked up at them and quickly nodded before I headed for the door. “I’ll have the staff handle everything else. Just make sure to be back around five.”
Kyrin threw me a half-assed salute while Greyson grabbed the bottle he was drinking and wedged it under his arm.
I was so anxious to open the file, I didn’t even care that it was one from the top shelf.
I just wanted them out. As the door closed behind them, I grabbed a nearby chair and sank into it, opening the message.
I let the silence fall around me, finding solace in the quiet this time.
For once, I was thankful there were no members here, or anyone else in general.
Like this, I had no distractions, and that was exactly what I wanted.
I watched my finger hover over the attachment.
Ember Vale.
There were four pages, each one outlining a different part of her life.
The first included documents her name was legally attached to—a lease agreement, a petty theft when she was sixteen, and several online resumes.
There was no title listed anywhere, so it was clear she wasn’t married and had no corporate designation.
Everything I read fit her personality completely, exactly what I’d assumed would be in here.
I could tell by just reading over the first few things that Ember was someone who existed on her own, without anything else or any type of context.
I laughed under my breath when I realized her name wasn’t even connected to a vehicle registration.
I blinked, like it had to be a joke, then laughed again when I realized it wasn’t.
True to Knox’s personality, he’d included a note next to this section. “Who doesn’t own a car… or a bike for that matter?”
In terms of her family, things were pretty blank. Neither parent was listed anywhere, but a grandparent showed as a previous address.
Interesting.
Moving to the next page, I came across her occupations.
Most evenings, she worked at a local bookstore but was also under contract with a freelance photography company.
The shifts there were sporadic, making me think she was able to make her own schedule.
Digging a little further, it seemed that even with both jobs combined, her paycheck stubs proved to be just enough to pay her bills.
What money she did have left was usually spent on books, chai’s, and a few pharmaceuticals that were delivered monthly—anxiety medicine and birth control.
I read the second prescription again and felt all the amusement drain from my face.
As proud as I was of her for being prepared, that also meant that someone out there might already believe they had some sort of claim on her.
The realization settled wrong in my mind, awakening something territorial.
If someone out there actually thought she was theirs to take, theirs to touch—that would be an easy problem to eradicate.
Whatever hands had reached for her before had been operating under a time limit, one that had recently expired.
Finding no mention of a boyfriend anywhere in the file or in Knox’s notes, I decided to sort those details out later.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I moved on to the rest of the information.
The property she lived at was tied to Kinsley Monstat, but they seemed to have no familial relation.
Interestingly, Kinsley’s last name had been flagged as part of a well-known family and was attached to a string of multi-million-dollar companies.
In other words, Ember’s roommate had money, a lot of it.
So why was it that Ember didn’t even have a savings account?
On paper, it seemed like her personality bled into her everyday decisions.
There was no retirement or savings. No insurance.
She lived off impulse and blind optimism.
Even her bank statement was proof of this, the last few months full of small purchases that weren’t needed.
Ember’s a perfect example of someone who lived in the moment and left her future up to chance.
The money in her account was usually gone before her next payday, and to make matters worse, there was no one listed as her emergency contact.
That alone told me everything I needed to know.
I closed the file and exhaled slowly through my nose. Everything about this girl was chaotic, even the reply I’d received from the email I had sent.
If I can make it work, I’ll be there. If not, I’ll send another photographer in my place.
In her place? As if she wasn’t the whole entire goal.
I stood, smoothing my jacket and moving toward my office. If it wasn’t Ember Vale who walked through those doors tonight—if she thought just anyone could stand where she belonged… there would be hell to pay, and I would enjoy every second of it.