Chapter One Hundred and sixty- Five
Asli’s phone rang the moment she shed the Midnight Reaper
persona.
The leather gloves were barely off when the vibration cut
through the silence. She paused, her senses flaring, and her eyes scanning her
surroundings; every corner, rooftops, and reflections. Only when she was
certain she had not been followed or spotted did she reach for the phone.
Her father’s name glared back at her.
She exhaled slowly and answered.
"Sir."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Marco’s voice roared
through the line, loud enough that she instinctively pulled the phone a
fraction away from her ear.
Something twisted low in her belly, the familiar sharp, and instinctive
tightening. Her fingers curled around the device as her mind raced. Did he find
out? The secrets she carried were layered, carefully buried, or so she hoped.
However, Marco was someone who had a way of sensing rot even
when he didn’t know where it festered.
She waited.
His silence stretched, as if deliberate.
"Cole had the audacity," Marco continued, "to tell me that
any orders I have for him should go through you."
Asli closed her eyes briefly. Was this what his outburst was
about? She thought he had found out about her relationship with Ahmet. She thought
Ahmet had ratted her out.
If only Marco knew the truth, his anger wouldn’t have been
because of this. He would have better things to explode about.
"What kind of training did you give him?" he continued, "Did
he think he is superior. Did he think he was untouchable?"
Why would Cole ask Marco that? Did he not know that her
father was already going through something only he understood? She was sure
Ahmet’s mission had shaken something in him.
Regardless, her father was their master, and everyone he ordered
obeyed. Cole knew that so why would he say that to him?
"I apologize, sir," she said evenly. "I will speak to him."
"You’d better," Marco barked. "Because it’s either his head or
Markus’."
The line went dead.
Asli stood there long after the call ended, the phone still
pressed to her ear, as the words echoed too loudly in her skull.
Why was her father asking Cole to kill Markus when she was
not involved in the mission? Why was her father trying everything to exclude
her? He would now rather ask Cole to do something other than her doing it, wouldn’t
he?
That alone was enough to ignite her interest.
Whatever this was, she wasn’t waiting for the sun or
permission to uncover the truth. She was calling Markus. Whether he liked it or
not, he was going to tell her everything.
She dialed Cole’s number first. He had rushed back to the
Villa to listen in on Marco and Demir, just as she had ordered.
"Boss."
The word registered a beat too late. Cole only used it when
things were serious.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"Running an errand. Your father called," he said.
She nodded instinctively, then murmured an absent "Hmm" when
she realized he could not see her.
"You asked him to direct orders to you through me. Why?"
"I didn’t ask him," Cole replied. "I told him."
Her brows knit together. Cole didn’t speak to Marco like
that. Ever.
"What did you hear?" she pressed.
"Nothing conclusive. Not yet."
Her grip tightened. "Tell me."
There was a pause.
"Whatever the warehouses are," Cole said finally, "Demir was
running them."
She knew he was holding back. She needed to know what the
warehouses were about. What was in them?
"I need to confirm something," he added. "I’ll call you
back. I promise."
For once, she needed to be patient. She dismissed him and
headed home.
Sleep had been a
stranger for days. Her body moved on autopilot; shower, clothes, chair but the
moment she sat at her desk, exhaustion claimed her.
She did not remember falling asleep.
She woke to sunlight and Matilda knocking impatiently at her
door, calling her to breakfast.
Asli checked the time and sighed.
She then picked up her phone and called Markus. She didn’t care
whether he was still angry at her. If anything, she’d match his energy. The
imbecile tricked her father and she was going to draw a score with him after
finding out the reason.
The line clicked.
"Hello, woman of my heart," the voice joked and she wondered
if he had bipolar.
She blinked once.
"This is not one of your toys. Idiot." Asli snapped.
"Oh?" he chuckled. "Funny. This number looks exactly like my
woman’s."
Her teeth ground together. She didn’t like to be owned. Maybe
not by the owner of this voice.
"Markus, call me that again," she said softly, yet dangerously,
"and you won’t find your tongue tomorrow. I am not your woman."
"Of course you’re not," Markus replied lightly. "Ahmet won
that race."
Silence fell.
She wasn’t surprised he knew. They had fooled everyone, including
"I’d snap your neck before you finished checking it."
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then the corner of his mouth tilted.
He straightened, his thumb brushing his earpiece as his gaze
lingered on her face and this time with interest.
A single nod.
"Open the gate, she’s the one."
He stepped back toward the gate. The heavy metal groaned as
it slid open fully.
"Drive in. Park where you’re directed."
Asli pulled forward as the gate closed behind her, the sound
echoing through the compound like a seal being broken.
She followed his directions, parked where he indicated, then
trailed him inside.
The moment she crossed the threshold, something in her chest
tightened.
The tone floors, clean lines, muted colors, and even the
faint scent in the air; expensive, and understated reminded her of a house she knew.
Ahmet’s.
The resemblance hit her so suddenly she slowed without
meaning to. Her fingers brushed the smooth surface of a pillar as she walked,
and memory slipped in where thought should have been.
Ahmet’s hand there once, warm, possessive, and guiding her
back against the same kind of cold stone. The way his body had caged her in
without effort, breath grazing her ear as he murmured something low and
indecent. The heat of him, the contrast of marble against skin, and the quiet
intensity that had made the world narrow to just the two of them.
Her pulse jumped.
She pulled her hand back as if the wall had burned her.
Needing a distraction, she took out her phone and dialed
Markus. It rang. And rang.
No answer.
She paced the hall, boots echoing softly, as irritation built
with every step. It didn’t help. The house kept offering up reminders. Every 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
space felt too intimate, and pieces whispered of things done in confidence and secrets.
Enough.
She dropped into the chair near her.
The sound of a voice cut through the silence almost
immediately.
It was... Familiar.
Her head snapped up.
He was speaking to someone, voice low but firm, telling them
to hurry, that he didn’t have time for delays. The words drifted toward her
from just beyond the doorway.
Asli straightened, spine rigid, and her attention
sharpening.
Her eyes locked on the entrance, and unblinking as if she
feared she’d miss whoever walked through the doorway.
Why was he here?

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