?Chapter 413:


    Half an hour wasn’t so bad.


    Ste gave a quick nod and suggested, “Let’s go find the victim’s family and stay with them until Luca arrives. There’s safety in numbers—and it’ll be easier to keep everyone calm.”


    William just nodded, clearly content to let her take charge. “Whatever you say. I’m following your lead.”


    That caught her off guard. The words hung in the air, unexpectedly gentle, strangely familiar—almost like a memory of another moment, when he’d quietly pointed out how long “they’d been together.”


    Both lines stuck with her, leaving Ste feeling adrift. Who would have imagined the famously stoic William would so easily hand over control—or would’ve even made a remark like that?


    William and Ste found the shop where Finley’s family had been hiding. It turned out they’d tucked themselves away in cer cabs, which was why no one had found them until now.


    Finley’s daughter, Brenna Hammond, who looked to be around Ste’s age, breathed a visible sigh of relief when she saw her.


    “Grandma is over there!” Brenna said quickly, hurrying over to a tall cab and helping her grandmother out.


    “Let’s wait here for a while—the police should be here in about twenty minutes,” Ste assured them. Then, turning to Brenna, she added, “Don’t worry about this gentleman. He’s a friend. We came here together, and he’s the one who called the police today.”


    Brenna gave a quick nod. “Those men outside—they must be working for Nixon. They’ve been looking for us since morning. I left after your call and never went back home.”


    “Good thing you didn’t,” Ste told her. “Your ce waspletely ransacked.”


    Brenna’s face paled for a second, but she quickly gathered herself.


    The twenty-minute wait felt painfully long.


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    Atst, William heard police sirens outside and signaled for everyone to head out.


    Street vendors nearby looked confused by the sight of police cars on their quiet street. Curious, some peeked out of their shops to watch.


    The men who had been hunting for Brenna and her grandmother heard the sirens too and rushed over. But when they saw armed officers, they froze.


    They weren’t about to risk their lives just to grab two women.


    All they could do was watch in frustration as Brenna and her grandmother were safely escorted away.


    Once the police had gone, one of the men quickly made a call to Nixon.


    “Did you get it done?” Nixon’s voice came sharp and cold on the other end. The man hesitated before answering, “No, the police showed up. They took them.”


    Hearing that, Nixon exploded. “What do you mean the police got involved?”


    “There was nothing we could do,” the man exined. “They were armed. We couldn’t stop them.”


    The line went quiet for a split second before Nixon’s rage returned, louder than before. “Useless! Every one of you! You can’t even track down two defenseless women! What’s the point of paying you?”


    Standing there in the middle of the street, the man clenched his jaw and took the abuse without saying a word.


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