Amanda almost snapped. Almost. God help her, she almost let the real Amanda jump out. Maybe don’t call the woman an old hag, but it was sitting right at the back of her throat.“I want to change, granny. If you can give me another chance—”“I said get out of my sight!” the matriarch snapped again, her eyes burning holes through Amanda like she wished she could slap her into another century.“I want to be a good granddaughter to you,” Amanda muttered, voice small but steady. “If you can give me just a little chance, I promise to be better. If you can—”A laugh echoed from the hallway.Amanda’s head lifted slowly, dread curling in her stomach. One of her uncles walked in, a smirk plastered on his face. If humiliation had a face, it looked exactly like him.Why did she listen to Cole? Why did she agree to this stupid, degrading plan?She looked at the door again.Cole hadn’t moved. He was still there.Still wat

“Amanda, I have a plan, okay?” Cole started quickly. “And I promise you’re going to fall in love with the plan.”“I have never ever worked as a cleaner all my life!”“Oh, Amanda, is that the problem?” Cole walked over to her. “That’s nothing hard at all. It’s even fun. You’ll get a lot of experience.”She darted him a stare that could have killed if looks were weapons.“You’ll be able to add it to your portfolio even.”“Don’t get on my nerves, Cole. This isn’t funny,” Amanda snapped. “I might snarl at every single one of them tomorrow. Arghhh!”She suddenly screamed. “Cleaner??”She pointed at him. “How can I work as a cleaner????”Okay. That was good, Cole thought.Much better than silence.“I can’t do it!!”“You can,” Cole countered immediately.“Are you me?”Cole shook his head.“I can’t do it. I’ve never done such a lowly job all my life. Do you know who I am? I’m a celebrity, for crying out loud!” She scoffed. “What if one of my fans sees me?”“Research.”Amanda laughed—but it wa

7:30 a.m., Cole was fumbling with his phone to call Bella when he noticed headlights creeping behind him. Prison's instincts kicked in. Just then, Scarface’s call came in. “You’re cornered, sir. The car to your right, the one on the left, and two up front—they’re the ones. Our men are around too, but I wanted to warn you.”Cole’s stomach sank. Too many cars. Too many men. Too early in the morning. The streets would soon be packed with workers and commuters—this wasn’t going to end cleanly.He swerved down a narrow road less traveled, and, as he’d predicted, the tailing cars followed like bloodhounds.“Five cars, sir,” Scarface warned. “All armed.”Cole pressed the accelerator harder. His pulse raced. “They won’t shoot unless they know you’re safe,” Scarface added. “The ring… they want it, but they don’t understand it. You’ll need to stay alive.”Cole’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror. Two of the cars surged ahead, trying to box him in. The road emptied—eerily quiet. He eased the

Cole shook his head. “This is my first time hearing about it. If we want to know what they know, then we pretend we already know.”Scarface opened his mouth to object—then stopped. Cole wasn’t someone you argued with. Not when his mind was already made up. Still, a bad feeling churned in his gut. It had to be a trap. He had never, ever heard of the ring possessing any power beyond levitation.A few minutes later, Cole was dialing the only number on the phone.The line crackled faintly before a voice came through.“If you wanted to see the ring,” Cole said calmly, “you could’ve just called me. Invite me to a meal instead of causing a scene.”Silence answered him.Cole glanced at Scarface.“Since I’m a bit bored,” he continued, unfazed, “let’s meet in one hour. I’ll be waiting for you.”He named the location.Then he ended the call.“Let’s move,” Cole said, already turning away as he walked out of the room.Scarface was one step behind Cole. Cole had barely taken his second step outside

“Hey—what’s going on?” Marcus said over the line. “Remember the necklace the Masters gave me before they were arrested? I only started wearing it two days ago, but it’s… moving. Like it’s reacting to something around my neck.”Cole stayed silent, waiting.“One of the Masters gave me his necklace as a vow,” Scarface said quickly, filling in the gap. “To keep the brotherhood alive. Marcus got one. I got the other. Just the two of us.”Cole’s gaze shifted back to the bar entrance.So who the hell was powerful enough to make the ring—and the necklaces—react like this?They stepped inside carefully.The bar was almost empty. Too early in the evening for a crowd. The air felt still, expectant.Cole’s thumb brushed his phone again—accidentally redialing the number.This time, the ringing didn’t come from his ear.It came from the middle of the bar.From a table where a woman in a brown coat sat alone.Cole stopped.The researcher?That’s her?What did she have to do with the ring… with the M