Chapter 18

Aiden felt sick to his stomach, the sensation not going away even as he calmed himself and stifled down the last remnants of the desire Darren had stirred within him.

Why was he reacting this way? Why did his body betray him even when everything had gone according to plan? His mind kept circling back to Darren's face, to his thick cock gliding between his fingers, to the noises he made.

Aiden flared his nostrils as a surge of want speared through him. He hadn't touched another person in so long and Darren's erection had been so hard and hot even through the fabric of his overalls. Aiden's dick jerked at the memory in that same way it had when he'd been teasing the man. Shuddering, he tried not to fixate on his reaction or the pleasant sparks tingling down his spine. He fished out Claudia's stone from his pocket, but that only made him angrier because it couldn't make the desire go away. It couldn't stop the liquid fire inside him.

A few more hours.He had to endure this unwanted need for just a few more hours and then everything would be back to normal. Not his current normal, but the one where things finally made sense and Claudia's murderer paid for what he'd done.

Taking a deep breath, Aiden grabbed his personal tablet and opened the files he had on the case. He needed something to occupy himself with so he would stop these appalling thoughts. As he went through the police report, he wondered if Darren's charismatic smile had been how he'd lured Claudia outside that Martian club. If he'd seduced her just like how he was trying to seduce Aiden. But… Claudia wasn't the type to cheat. She was also good at reading people. Better than Aiden even, so how come she'd followed a stranger when the police report confirmed she hadn't been drunk either?

Claudia could take care of herself. She'd been top of her class during military service, so she could put up a fight, given the chance… Did that mean there was some kind of foul play? There had to be.

Aiden loaded up Darren's file. He was an ex-Intelligence trainee and then a shipping mercenary with a backlog of questionable jobs for high-profile clients. Among those, it wasn't surprising that the person to order the assassination of the DuLaurent Corporation's only heir was a long-time competitor and one of the most generous patrons to Howe's firm—Liu Zhihao of the Huangsin Conglomerate. But then… Liu had canceled the hit. According to the police, the phone call they'd found proved as much, yet Darren had still gone through with the assassination. And then he'd killed Liu to tie up loose ends.

But why would Darren turn on his benefactor like this?

Aiden rubbed his forehead, tension settling in. This whole thing didn't make sense, it never had. He was exhausted. Sleep-deprived, stressed, on the verge of losing it. His mind was a jumble and even thinking was becoming a challenge. He'd hoped the autopsy would shed some light on the case, but all he had were more questions. More inconsistencies, more things that made no sense. More lies. He had no new answers, but at least he had a clue, a direction, even if he had no idea what to make of it. It was a start, one that was two years too late.

For the next few hours, Aiden focused on the findings from his visit to the morgue and Cleveland's estate. He called PI Deverson too. Unfortunately, the PI had little other than a second confirmation that Cleveland had most definitely not been at the morgue when Claudia's body had been handed off to the pathologist.

"And nothing on Cleveland's visit to the DuLaurent's HQ on February 4th?" Aiden followed up with, circling the date on the tablet's screen with red. That was probably the biggest question of all, seeing as Cleveland would have had no reason to go to Marcus before the police discovered Claudia's body on February 8th.

"I got in touch with a contact, so I should have something for you soon, Mr. Kesley. I've also hunted down a few of the men who were in Cleveland's team, but I'm still working that angle."

Aiden minimized the files and opened the DuLaurent Corporation's website. He traced the logo with his finger, the design majestic not just in its strokes but also in its black-gold colors and the royal red outlines. All of it worked in unison to create the crowned mountain that represented one of—if not the most—influential of the big players.

"Do you think they'll talk?" he said, not holding out too much hope since Cleveland had lied to his face.

"It's hard to say, but worth a shot. If one of them gave Miss DuLaurent's body over to the morgue, I promise you I will find out who it was. Then I'll find out if it was taken to another place. You have my word."

Aiden sagged in his chair and let out a deep sigh. "Thank you, Kyle. For everything so far. I just wish I'd found you earlier."

The PI chuckled in his deep, raspy voice. "I'll be honest with you, Mr. Kesley. It's a tricky case you've got on your hands. But I'm damn good at my job, so we'll get to the bottom of this no matter what."

Aiden ended the call after that, the pulsating pain in his head spiking. He caved and popped two pills, realizing he'd forgotten to take today's dose of his supplements. They helped with his calories intake since his appetite didn't always cooperate, but he must've been more out of it in the morning than he'd thought if he'd forgotten them. He hadn't really slept since starting the warden job, and even when he managed, he didn't get more than two-three hours at a time. He was barely functioning some days, and today was especially bad.

Just a few more hours and this will be over.

He focused on that thought and pushed through. He drank an obscene amount of coffee, went by the lecture suite to make sure all the guards were there, and then headed toward Block G, because it was time, finally, for this game he'd been playing to end.