Jace pushed off the wall, wincing slightly. "Leo, I agree with Jay. This is dangerous. We shouldn’t have put Bella in this position."

Leo’s lips curved into a small, cold smile. "I’m not putting her in anything. She put herself there."

"She’s your wife!"

"She’s also the woman who faced down dangerous men in a basement." Leo’s voice was low, measured. "She’s the woman who tracked the stalker across the city using nothing but security footage and her own mind. She’s the woman who hacked into government systems when she was seventeen."

Jay opened his mouth, then closed it.

Leo walked to the window, looking out at the dark sky. "I haven’t forgotten. Not for a second. She’s not fragile. She’s not weak. She’s capable of more than either of you realize."

Jace exchanged a glance with Jay.

"I think," Leo continued, "we’ve been treating her like glass. Like she might break if we let her too close to the fire. But she’s not glass. She’s steel."

Jay rubbed his temples. "So what? You’re just going to let her run into danger because she’s ’steel’?"

Leo turned back to face him. "I’m going to let her make her own choices. And I’m going to be there, watching, ready to step in if she needs me."

"You’re going to follow her?"

"I’m already following her." Leo picked up his phone, glancing at the screen. "The tracker in her car is active. We’ll be right behind them the whole time."

Jay shook his head. "You’re out of your mind."

"Maybe." Leo’s smile widened slightly. "But I’d rather have her angry at me for following her than grieving because I let her go alone."

Jace sighed. "He has a point."

"Whose side are you on?" Jay demanded.

"The side of keeping Bella safe."

Jay groaned and slumped onto the couch. "This is insane. We’re all insane."

Leo looked back at the window. The convoy had disappeared, but he could still see the faint glow of taillights in the distance.

"I think," he said quietly, "Bella has been holding in a lot of emotions lately. I can clearly feel it. I think she needs to let it out."

"By hunting down a dangerous man?"

"By taking control." Leo’s voice was soft. "By reminding herself that she’s not helpless. That she can fight back."

Jay was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed.

"Fine. But if anything happens to her—"

"Nothing will."

"You don’t know that."

Leo smiled, cold, lethal, confident. "I know that I’ll kill anyone who tries."

Jay and Jace exchanged another glance.

⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹

Crash night bar 2020

The bar was loud. Music thumped through the walls, bass vibrating in Bella’s chest, making her teeth hum. Colored lights spun across the crowd, red, blue, gold, painting the dancers in flashes of neon. The air smelled of sweat and perfume and something sweet, like sugar and alcohol mixed together.

Bella’s beautiful brown eyes swept the room once, twice, memorizing exits, counting heads. She saw nothing she needed. She pulled her mask tighter, adjusted her ponytail, and walked toward the stairs.

No one looked at her. No one noticed her. She was just another shadow in a room full of shadows.

The second floor was quieter. A balcony overlooked the dance floor below, with private booths lining the walls. The lighting was dimmer here.

Bella found a corner booth, tucked away from the railing, hidden behind a large potted plant. She sat down, her back to the wall, her eyes on the stairs.

She tapped the screen of her tablet and pulled up the information Leo’s men had gathered. The stalker’s identity was still hidden, no name, no face, no clear background. But they had found connections. People he had talked to. People he had worked with.

Tonight, he was supposed to be here. To process a deal. With Jasper Ray.

Bella’s eyes narrowed.

Jasper Ray. Son of one of the council members. A man with power, money, and connections to the darkest parts of the underworld. If the stalker was meeting with him, he wasn’t just some random fan. He was someone important. Someone dangerous.

Leo’s men were scattered around her, some at the bar, some on the dance floor, some pretending to be drunk in the corners. They wore casual clothes, laughed too loudly, moved like normal bar customers. But their eyes were sharp, scanning around.

Bella’s earpiece crackled.

"Position secure," a voice murmured. "No sign of target yet."

"Copy," Bella whispered.

She settled deeper into the booth, her tablet hidden beneath the table, her gun pressed against her hip. Her heart was pounding, but her hands were steady.

All she had to do was identify the stalker. See his face. Confirm his identity. Then Leo’s men would move in and take him.

Simple.

She hoped.

The minutes crawled by. The music thumped. The dancers danced. The drinkers drank.

And Bella waited for around half an hour. But no one approached the stairs. No one looked like Jasper Ray. No one seemed suspicious.

The minutes stretched into an hour. Then longer.

Bella’s jaw clenched.

She pulled her tablet closer, her fingers flying across the screen. Within seconds, she had hacked into the club’s security system, cameras in the main hall, the private booths, the back rooms, even the alley outside. The footage flickered across her display in a grid of moving images.

She crossed her legs, her posture relaxed, her expression anything but. Her brown eyes were cold now, sharp as glass. She scanned each feed methodically, her gaze moving from one square to the next, missing nothing.

A couple kissing in the corner. A bartender wiping down the counter. A man in a suit talking on his phone near the restrooms. A woman adjusting her dress in the mirror.

No Jasper Ray. No stalker. No one who looked like they were waiting for a deal.

Bella’s eyes narrowed.

She zoomed in on the back alley camera. Empty. Zoomed in on the private booth camera. Three men, laughing, bottles in hand. Zoomed in on the VIP section. A group of women, taking shots, their heads thrown back.

Nothing.

Her jaw tightened further. The muscles in her neck stood out. Her lips pressed into a thin, hard line.

She was wearing all black, fitted shirt, comfortable pants, high ponytail, mask covering her face. The tablet glowed in her hands, casting pale light across her features. She looked like a Mafia goddess, waiting in the dark.

Her earpiece crackled.

"Anything?" a voice asked.

"Nothing yet," she replied, her voice low, steady.

"Keep watching."

"I am."

She was. Her eyes never left the screens. Her fingers never stopped moving. She was a predator now, patient and still, waiting for her prey to make a mistake.