Ashton had no choice but to give Briar a quick rundown of the news from Brandon. As soon as he finished, Briar shot up in bed. “Where is he?” she demanded.

    Jake, just a street thug, had somehow caught the attention of a foreign underground organization. There had to be something about him that drew those kinds of people in.

    If they could just get a proper interrogation out of Jake, they might be able to dig up the secrets behind that

    organization.

    It was clear that Briar was thinking the same thing as Ashton. She couldn’t lie still any longer and was itching to interrogate him herself.

    Ashton wouldn’t dare let Briar go interrogate anyone at this hour, especially with her bloody, no–holds–barred style. Jake wouldn’t even survive a single round with her. She’d probably y him to death ibefore /ithey got any

    answers.

    “Baby, it’s toote now. We can interrogate him in the morning. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s all yours to question. No one else will touch him,” Ashton said, gently pushing Briar back under the covers. “I’ve got Brandon watching him personally. Nothing’s going to happen to him.”

    Briar reluctantlyy back down, but then, btedly, she realized something was off. “Ashton, why are you in my bed?”

    She’d been so focused on the news Ashton had just shared, and she trusted him so much that she hadn’t noticed how close he’d gotten. Now she finally found that they were lying so close together.

    Ashton cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh… I was just following your method for getting me to sleep. Is there something wrong with that?”

    Briar was speechless. ‘iSeriously/i, can you at least try to have some shame?‘ she thought.

    “Well, you can leave now. I can sleep on my own,” Briar said, kicking Ashton off the bed without a second thought. She yanked the covers over herself, burying her whole body underneath, refusing to listen to any more of his

    excuses.

    Only then did Ashton obediently go back to the couch and sit down.

    With everything weighing on her mind, Briar woke up early the next morning. She turned her head and saw Ashton curled up on the couch. The single sofa was way too small for his long arms and legs, so he looked really ufortable, his brow furrowed even in his sleep. Briar quietly got up, grabbed a thin nket, and tiptoed over to cover Ashton with it.

    Ashton’s instincts were razor–sharp. The second Briar got close, his eyes snapped open. Even though there was still a trace of sleepiness in them, his gaze was alert and piercing–nothing like someone who’d just been woken up.

    ?

    Briar froze, holding the nket. “Did I wake you?”

    Ashton shook his head. “I was about to wake up anyway.”

    He stood up, took the nket from Briar, folded it a few times, and put it away. “Go wash up and grab some breakfast. Once you’ve eaten, I’ll take you to see Jake myself.”

    Briar nodded. “Alright, give me ten minutes and I’lle find you.”

    Ashton left. Briar was quick with her morning routine, and ten minutester, she was already at Ashton’s dining table. Brandon had arrived too, briefing Ashton and Briar on Jake’s background.

    In just a few hours, Brandon had turned up everything there was to know about Jake, from his childhood all the way to now.

    “Jake isn’t local. He showed up here at fourteen, tagging along with some street thug to the outskirts. That guy was a real savage. That year, the thug took him under his wing, and together they muscled in on a bunch of territories, bing the new kingpins of the suburbs. But when Jake turned twenty–two, he offed that thug, took over his turf, and became the new big boss himself,” Brandon exined.

    “Over the years, Jake’s crew just kept growing, and his turf’s expanded to more than three times what it was. He’s got some serious muscle now. That’s probably one of the reasons Ben noticed him,” Brandon added.

    Brandon nced at Briar, who was quietly eating, and hesitated before going on, “And there’s something else. Anyone who showed even a hint of disloyalty under Jake got shipped off to Ben to beb rats. He says he was just ‘sending them off,‘ but ording to Jake himself, Ben paid for every single one. So it’s basically trafficking people and selling organs under the table…”

    Briar’s hand froze halfway to her mouth. ‘So that’s how it is… Disgusting.‘ she thought.

    Ashton reached over and kneaded the back of her/neck, trying to soothe her. “Don’t let it get to you.”

    He hadn’t let her go interrogate Jake in the middle of the night because he was worried she’d hear about these twisted things and end up fuming herself sick.

    “Got it,” Briar said with a nod. “Anything else? Did you find out why Jake and that Ben guy ended up falling out?”

    Normally, once Jake got involved with Ben, he wouldn’t just break the rules out of nowhere. And Ben wouldn’t just cut off a valuable connection like Jake for no reason, unless something really big went down that forced them to turn on each other.

    Brandon shook his head. “We haven’t asked about that yet. Ashton said to save it for you to handle personally.”

    Briar nced at Ashton. “Wow, that generous? Aren’t you afraid I’ll dig up something you’d rather I didn’t know?”

    Ashton gave her a calm smile. “Nothing gets past you, huh? You’re right. Jake fell out with his backer because Hamish and Reece messed with things behind the scenes.”

    13:26 Thu, 21 Au

    That was when it hit Briar that ever since they’d caught Zayne, Hamish and Reece hadn’t shown up again.

    36%

    “So how should I handle the interrogation?” Briar asked. If she just went by the book, she might end up exposing a

    lot of Ashton’s connections.

    To track down Jake and then dig up Ben hiding behind him so quickly. Briar was sure Ashton hadn’t just relied on his usual bodyguard crew. She figured even Xavion, who’d never shown his face, probably had a hand in it too.

    “Interrogate him however you like. There’s nothing here you’re not allowed to iknow/i,” Ashton said with a smile. He thought, ‘She’s trying to y mind games with me, huh?‘

    Ashton made a go–ahead gesture. Briar smiled back. “Great, then I’ll just wing it!”

    After breakfast, Briar was about to drag Ashton out the door when they bumped iinto /iFrank, who was hurrying in. Spotting Ashton, he asked, “Ashton, where’s Connor?”

    Ashton noticed how anxious Frank looked. “He went back. Why? Did you need something from him?”

    Frank’s face fell even more. “What? He left? Why didn’t he tell me?”

    Ashton and Briar both shot Frank a suspicious look. Briar circled around him. “You didn’t have a fight with Connor, did you?”

    Frank looked both anxious and a little embarrassed. “N–No way! That was just some husbandly fun. How could you

    call that a fight?”

    Ashton asked, “Did your parents give Connor a hard time?”

    ‘They used to be totally fine with him!‘ Frank thought, feeling even more frustrated. Frank’s shoulders slumped, and he nodded weakly. “Yeah, after we split up that day, my parents basically locked me up. They wouldn’t let me see Connor at all. Ashton, why are my parents suddenly so against him?”

    Ashton nced at Brandon, who looked a little sheepish. Meeting Frank’s anxious gaze, Brandon said, “I think I

    might know why…”

    AD

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