Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 2563

At least, street violence and murders had all but disappeared these days.

Inside the city’s largest nightclub, scantily clad women were still working the floor, trying their best to lure in customers. People came and went as usual, the scene no different than any other night.

A black Maybach idled at the club’s rear entrance. Bruce stepped out, opened the back door, and stood respectfully aside. “Gab, Giles is already here!”

Gab climbed out, dressed in black boots, olive camouflage pants, and a fitted black tee. His imposing figure seemed even more intimidating in the low light.

He headed inside. Four men at the door, each armed with an assault rifle, straightened and nodded in greeting, then silently fell in line behind him.

They took a private elevator straight up to the sixty-sixth floor.

Up here, the hush was a stark contrast to the chaos below. Their heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, the only sound in the quiet hall.

At the far end, outside the VIP suite, another row of guards stood watch, each masked in black and gripping a submachine gun. Only their cold, hard eyes were visible, but when they saw Gab approach, their menacing aura faded. Heads bowed, almost deferential.

As Gab drew closer, one of the guards opened the door, called out in English to announce his arrival.

The four men with Gab took their places opposite the guards already stationed there, both groups eyeing each other warily.

Inside, Giles sprang to his feet, wearing the ingratiating smile of a seasoned wheeler-dealer. “Gab, I’ve been waiting for you!”

Gab strode in, his chiseled features cast into shadow by the dim light, making his expression even more severe. “Got held up by something. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Bruce, standing at Gab’s side, cut in coldly. “Even if Sean betrayed Gab, it’s not for you to punish him. That’s Gab’s decision, not yours.”

Giles grinned, sly as ever. “I won’t touch Sean. But I did find him for you, Gab. That’s got to count for something, doesn’t it?”

Gab exhaled a ribbon of smoke, his gaze unreadable behind a haze of blue-gray. “So, what do you want?”

Giles leaned back, running a hand through his silver hair with a sigh. “Triceratops is dead. The promises I was given are dust. Now Citadel’s split between you and Alvis, and the Brennan family’s closing in too. I’m stuck trying to survive in the cracks between giants. Business is drying up, my people are barely scraping by—I’m struggling, Gab.”

Gab watched him, cold and inscrutable behind his veil of smoke. “So?”