Gannon Farley POV:
I sat in my penthouse overlooking Central Park West, the city lights glittering beyond the windows. I took a slow sip of whiskey, savoring the taste and the rare sense of satisfaction that came with it.
On my phone, the message I'd sent to Estela sat unanswered: "Well done. Need help?"
I wasn't surprised. She needed space, not a stranger's intervention.
I put down the glass and switched to another screen on my tablet—a custom program monitoring Jaimen's social circle in real-time. A little toy my security team had built for me.
His friends were in a frenzy. Texts, calls—a digital storm of people looking for Estela.
I smirked. Jaimen. That weak, arrogant fool. He probably thought she was crying somewhere, waiting for him to find her and feed her more lies.
He didn't know her at all.
But I did.
I'd been watching her for three years, ever since she first appeared at his side. I saw the steel beneath the quiet exterior, the pride she tried so hard to hide.
My phone rang. Leo Sullivan, my lawyer and best friend.
"You magnificent bastard," Leo's voice came through, laced with amusement. "I just got word. Jaimen is trashing his locker at the arena."
I could picture it. The smirk on my face widened. "He deserves it."
"His little posse is splitting up to search for Estela," Leo reported. "I've already got my people 'blending in' with them."
Leo was the one who executed my plans, the only person I trusted with the details.
"Good," I said. "Make sure they find nothing. I want Jaimen running in circles, stewing in his own pathetic desperation."
Leo whistled on the other end. "You're really going for the throat. Is this still about him stealing that MVP nomination from you in college?"
My eyes went cold. "It's not just about that."
It was about him having Estela and not cherishing her.
I switched to another feed on my tablet, this one from a discreet camera I'd had installed across from her office building.
A taxi pulled up. Estela got out, her shoulders squared as she walked into the old, unassuming building.
Relief washed over me. I knew she wouldn't go back to the Hicks' place. That house was just another kind of hell for her.
Jaimen's search party, thanks to Leo's misinformation, was currently scouring bars and nightclubs on the opposite side of town.
Jaimen himself, I saw from another update, had just been summoned back to the Blackburn estate by his mother, Judith. The old dragon was probably already in crisis management mode.
I watched the light turn on in Estela's office window, imagining her in there. Calm, strong, and maybe just a little bit lost.
A fierce, protective urge surged in my chest. I wanted to storm over there, scoop her up, and lock her away in my own castle, safe from everything.
But I couldn't. Not yet.
The timing hadto be perfect. I needed her to walk into my world willingly.
A text from Leo buzzed on my phone: "Jaimen thinks Tessa tipped you off. He's going after her."
Fool. It would lead him even further from the truth.
I took another sip of whiskey, my mind already on the next move. Estela wouldn't let this go. She would go after Judith.
I glanced at the monitor again. The light in her office was still on. She was at her computer, working.
After a while, she stood up, put on her coat, and moved towards the door.
My body tensed. I zoomed in on the camera feed as she exited the building and hailed another cab.
I immediately sent a text to my driver, who was parked a block away. Follow that cab.
A few minutes later, the reply came.
An address: The Blackburn Estate.
I stood up and walked to my closet, selecting a perfectly tailored black suit. "Chris," I said into my personal comms, calling my assistant. "Have the car ready. We're going to the Blackburn estate."
