Chapter Three

Leo

I sat there, staring at the empty doorway Brynn had walked through. The air in the room still felt thick with the tension that had crackled between us just moments before. My hands clenched into fists on the table, slowly relaxed as my mind raced, trying to make sense of everything she had just thrown at me.

“What the fuck is going on?” I muttered to myself, the words barely louder than a whisper.

I glanced around the kitchen and took in my surroundings for the first time. It was nicer than I expected. Not some dingy, run-down hole in the wall. The place had clean lines, sleek appliances, and an open layout that screamed money. An apartment, sure, but a high-end one. Brynn always did like nice things even back in the day.

Before I could get too deep into my thoughts, the man who had grabbed me at the airport walked in. His footsteps were quiet, deliberate. He moved like he was used to being in the background, unseen until it mattered.

“You Sig?” I asked, my voice a low growl. I looked him over as he stepped into the light. He was a tall guy, broad-shouldered, with dark hair cropped short. He wore dress pants and a crisp white button-down shirt, neatly pressed like he’d just walked out of a boardroom. But the gun holstered at his side told me he wasn’t some corporate stiff.

He nodded once, eyes steady, unreadable.

“Brynn didn’t tell me why the hell I’m here,” I grunted, the frustration bubbling up again. “So maybe you can.”

Sig shook his head. “I’m just Ms. Brynn’s security.”

I tipped my head to the side, eyeing him. “What does she need security for?” I asked, though about fifty other questions were swirling around in my head, each one more urgent than the last.

“That’s something you should discuss with Ms. Brynn,” he said, his tone polite but final.

I narrowed my eyes. I hated this kind of runaround unless I was on the other side of it. And now I was smack in the middle of something I didn’t understand, with no one willing to give me a straight answer.

I had thought I understood everything, but I was clueless once I stepped off the plane.

“Where are we?” I asked, trying a different angle. I wasn’t exactly sure where they’d brought me after picking me up from the airport. This place could be hers, for all I knew. Years ago, when I became a silent backer of Wayne Plastics, the company she worked for, I’d bought an apartment building. Maybe it was this one, but I bet Brynn had no idea. She thought she knew me inside and out like she was two steps ahead, but she didn’t know about this apartment or how deep my connections to her world ran.

“One of Ms. Brynn’s buildings,” Sig replied.

My brain came to a screeching halt. One of her buildings?

I straightened in my chair, confusion turning into disbelief. “Wait… what?” I stared at him, trying to process that. Brynn was a secretary for the CEO of Wayne Plastics. I knew she made a decent salary—more than decent, especially for someone in her position—but owning a building? Let alone more than one? That didn’t add up.

“And what building is it that she owns?” I pressed. Getting information from this guy felt like pulling teeth.

“Downtown,” Sig said, his tone maddeningly calm.

I rolled my eyes. “Downtown where?”

“Charleston,” he clarified.

Charleston. That meant I had been right about Candace being here and coming for Brynn. Except Brynn had got me first.

It didn’t make sense. The past twenty hours made zero fucking sense.

I leaned back in the chair, my mind racing to put the pieces together. Had she been playing a game all along, moving in the same circles without me realizing it? Or had something happened after we lost touch, something that turned her from the Brynn I used to know into… this? But what was this?

I glanced at Sig. “How long you been working for her?”

“Few years.”

“Doing what?”

“Security, mostly.” His answers were short, clipped. He wasn’t giving me much to work with, but there was something about the way he stood, the way his hand rested near his holster, that told me he wasn’t just some hired muscle. He had training. Military, maybe. Or something more dangerous.

“You always carry?” I asked, nodding toward the gun at his side.

“Always.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t push it.

The silence stretched between us, but I could feel the weight of everything unsaid. Brynn had changed—hell, she wasn’t the only one. But the person she’d become? That was someone I needed to figure out and fast.

I stood up from the table and paced to the window. The view overlooked the city and it was beautiful. It felt surreal standing here in a place that seemed so far removed from the Brynn I remembered. The girl I’d known was smart, sharp, and quick to laugh. She was the kind of person who lit up a room just by being in it.

But now… now she was something else. Something dangerous. I didn’t know whether to trust her or not.

“Are you just going to keep staring at me?” I said, turning back to Sig.

He shrugged. “I do what I’m paid to do. Keep her safe. That’s it.”

“Safe from who? Candace? Me?” I asked, my mind snapped back to what Brynn had said earlier. The mention of Candace was surprising. Shocking. How did she even know that name?

Sig didn’t answer, but his silence spoke volumes.

I clenched my jaw. If Candace was involved, things were worse than I thought. Candace wasn’t just some player in a game—she was a wildcard, the kind of person who could burn down an empire without a second thought. And if Brynn knew about her, then there was more going on here than I thought.

I turned back to the table, raking a hand through my hair. “Where’s she now?”

“Ms. Brynn?” Sig asked, his voice neutral.

“Yeah.”

“She’s busy in her office. She said she was letting you cool down.”

I glanced at the door again, half-expecting her to walk back in any second. But she didn’t. And part of me wasn’t sure if I wanted her to.

“Look,” I said, fixing Sig with a hard stare. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here. I don’t know why Brynn’s involved or why she thinks she can save my life. But I’m not gonna sit around and wait for answers to fall into my lap.”

Sig remained still, not giving anything away. It was like talking to a brick wall.

I moved back to the table and patted my pockets, looking for my phone. I wasn’t going to wait around anymore. If Brynn wanted to play games, fine. But I had my own moves to make.

“Tell her I’m going to find some answers,” I said over my shoulder as I made my way toward the door. “And she doesn’t need to try to save me again.”

Just as my hand reached for the handle, Sig’s voice stopped me.

“Mr. Banachi.”

I paused, not turning around.

“You might want to reconsider.”

I turned just enough to catch his expression. His face was still calm, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes. A warning.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“Because you aren’t going to find the answers you are looking for outside that door.”

I stared at him, considering his words. There was something about the way he said it that sent a chill down my spine. But I wasn’t about to back down. Not now. “Then take me to where I’m going to find my answers.”

Sig nodded and motioned to the hallway Brynn had disappeared down. “This way.”

I followed behind him down the hallway until he stopped in front of a closed door.

Brynn was on the other side of that door, and I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight until she answered every last one of my questions.