She was probably deciding whether he was mentally unstable, emotionally vulnerable, or—more importantly—how much money could realistically be extracted from him.Heartbroken clients, after all, tended to be excellent business.“You’re single,” she explained patiently. “Since you were never married to her, you can’t be divorced. And because you are not currently married, that makes you single.”The tone suggested she had dealt with far stranger people.Likely richer ones too.“Oh.”Lombard nodded slowly.“Okay.”As though she had just handed him life-changing wisdom.Miss Sylvie visibly relaxed.The wobble in her hand disappeared.She seemed to believe they had successfully moved past his earlier creepiness.“Go ahead,” Miss Sylvie said, easing back into herself, that polished smile returning. “You’re supposed to tell me anything that’s bothering you.”Lombard nodded solemnly.“I’m a very insecure man.”“That’s not a problem at all,” she said immediately. “I’ve had many male clients te

“I think we need Rowan’s help,” another suggested.“No.”Mireya's mother shut that down immediately.“Rowan is busy. He called me some hours ago. He has a major board meeting with members of his company.”The speed of that response was almost amusing.There was absolutely no chance she was about to drag her precious golden son-in-law into this mess.Let these people destroy themselves without him.The planning dragged on.Suggestion after suggestion.Argument after argument.Until they finally settled on something.Someone ordinary would approach Lombard.Somewhere less crowded.Less public.Then they would use one of their abilities to interfere with his brain just enough to make him lose consciousness.Once they had him alive, they believed they could force the truth out of him.Because surely—surely—he knew where Ron was.Eventually, the family filed out of Cassian’s room.Cassian remained in bed, still recovering.Still aching.And honestly?He had no idea what amount of therapy

Good luck to Lombard if he was somehow expected to survive a real conversation with this man.“Look,” Drake said, deciding to force the conversation back to planet Earth. “To be honest, I thought you might want to have a word with Lombard.”Barca’s face changed slightly.“You remember him, don’t you?”Drake leaned back.“Lombard August.”A beat.“Clara’s fiancé.”“Yeah,” Barca said immediately. “That asshole.”Then, casually—“Is he still alive?”Drake stared at him.“Unfortunately, yes.”The sarcasm dripped hard enough to drown a village.Barca caught it.Did absolutely nothing with it.“So I’m meeting him?” he asked. “When? Because I’m already late for—”Drake’s phone pinged.He glanced down.Message from Vivienne:“I talked to Lombard. They’re at my front door.”Drake froze.Well.Shit.“He’s here,” Drake said.Then immediately grabbed his cup.“I need to use the restroom.”He stood so fast it was suspicious.Because no.Absolutely not.This had already been a terrible idea.A genu

Barca let out a short laugh.“You want to kill me after killing my sister and parents?”“Unlike you, I’m not some idiot who sits around watching shit happen to my sister, then goes ahead to blame the one person who was actually there for her while I was busy being useless,” Lombard spat. That landed.Hard.Barca’s jaw tightened.“You’re begging for your face to be rearranged.”“Really?” Lombard tilted his head slightly. “Go ahead. Rearrange it into whatever fitting style you think it should be.”He still didn’t step back.Not even an inch.Outside the restaurant, the Belmont family’s representatives had already arrived.The first car—the one carrying the young man assigned to incapacitate Lombard—had parked by the roadside, far enough away that it wouldn’t attract attention or get flagged.The second vehicle, carrying backup, stayed several cars behind. If someone didn’t already know they had arrived together, there was no chance they would connect the two.The chosen operative stepp

The team sent to capture Lombard returned to the Belmont family estate.But not with celebration.Not with triumphant shouting.Not with the kind of smug victory the family would have absolutely thrown in each other’s faces.It was the exact opposite.They came back carrying silence.And fear.Of course, no one needed an explanation.They had all watched it happen.The live camera feed had shown everything.So when the team stepped back into the gathering room, every person there was already buried in thought.“I’m telling you,” the young man who had been assigned to incapacitate Lombard said, still visibly shaken, “he’s not human.”Nobody laughed.That alone said enough.“What are the chances?” he continued, voice rising. “The exact second I released my power... the exact second... he moved?”He dragged a hand over his face.“There’s no way. No way at all.”The room remained tense.Because he was right.Lombard had been the target.But somehow, the man standing beside him had taken t