She was going to find out which of her enemies had such urate intel and dared to make a move on her.


    Jimmie, his eyes wide with fury, struggled against his restraints until the tape over his mouth finally tore open. "Do you have any idea whose territory you''re on?"


    The men in ck exchanged confused nces. Of course, they knew. This was Mr. Schwartz''s turf.


    "What?" The leader chuckled. “Don''t tell me you know Shanley Schwartz."


    Jimmie''s eyes widened. The man had guessed correctly. "That''s right," he shot back, his voice cold. "You''d better let us go right now, or else—”


    Before he could finish, his mouth was taped shut again. The leader rolled his eyes. Knew Mr. Schwartz? He might as well have imed to know God himself.


    Five minutester, Felton and Flint arrived at the door, panting and out of breath.


    "Sirs! Where''s the boss?" the squad leader asked, eager to report his sess. "The targets are inside. I''ve got thempletely under control."


    Felton and Flint''s faces twitched.


    "O-open the door!" Flint stammered, his words tumbling out in a panic. "Let... let them all go!"


    "What?" The leader''s smile froze. He thought he''d misheard. After all the trouble they went through to catch them, they were just going to let them go? Especially Ebony Fox. She was a formidable fighter. If it hadn''t been for her threepanions to use as leverage, they might not have been able to capture her alive.


    "I said let them go!" Flint kicked the man in the rear, his expression grim as he swore under his breath. "We got the wrong people! Those are the boss''s future inws!"


    Future inws? The leader clutched his backside, his mind struggling to process the information.


    Impatient, Felton shoved him aside and threw the door open himself. In an instant, all eyes in the room snapped toward them.


    Felton? Flint? The brothers were bewildered. They hadn''t managed to make a call for help. How did Shanley''s men get here so fast?


    "So sorry for the trouble, haha,” the two men said, rushing forward to untie the siblings with frantic haste offering awkward, apologetic smiles. Seeing their superiors the other subordinates quickly joined in to help.


    Jimmie, Harold, and Melvin were utterly confused. Ebony Fox rubbed her sore wrists, equally perplexed, until she caught sight of the two figures standing in the doorway.


    It was her little sister. Ebony Fox''s eyes lit up, but her smile vanished when she saw the man standing behind her.


    “Boss!” The men who had just been holding them captive now stood in two neat rows, bowing their heads respectfully.


    Boss? Ebony Fox froze for a second, and then it all clicked. The mastermind behind her capture... was Shanley?


    Jimmie, Harold, and Melvin looked from the guilty-looking assassins to the sweat- drenched Shanley, and they too understood what had happened.


    ...


    Later, in a private room at a high-end restaurant, dimmie, Harold, Melvin, Juniper, and Ebony Fox sat on one long sofa. Shanley sat alone on the opposite side his hands resting on. his knees He looked awkward and restless, with beads of sweat dotting his forehead. He wanted to exin, but he didn''t know where to begin, especially with Ebony Fox ring at him as if she wanted to kill him.


    Shanley threw a desperate, pleading look at the three brothers.


    Jimmie stared at the wall to his left. Harold examined the ceiling to his right. Melvin pretended to be fascinated by the floor No one was going to help him. Their faces all said the same thing: Let''s watch the show.