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Chapter 30

"Just stay close to me," Grayson says as he leads me inside the seemingly vacant building. Walking inside three men in suits approached us.

"Who is she?" One of the men asked.

"She's with me," Grayson replies calmly.

"That's not what I asked. Who is she?" The man repeated.

"I don't care what you asked. Now, let us through," Grayson said sternly. The men looked twice his age yet still seemed afraid. They stepped to the side and let us through. Their eyes were on me the entire time we walked away.

We walked into a room further into the condemned building. This doesn't feel safe at all. Inside the room there was a man sitting at a desk with another man sitting opposite of him. They both looked to Grayson when we walked in.

"You're here earlier than we expected," The man at the head of the desk said.

"I decided I would stop before school," Grayson replied properly. Who were these people?

"Since when do you go to school?" The man questions. "Or at least on time."

"John," The other man said motioning in my direction.

"Oh, I see," The man apparently named John said. "Who's this beautiful young lady?"

"None of your business," Grayson said. I stepped closer to him. Not because I was afraid, but because he gets violent when he's upset and I don't know if he's any different with them.

"She's in my office where I conduct my business. So, actually it is my business," John hisses.

"She's not a threat to you," Grayson says subtly pulling me closer.

John stood from his seat and approached us. "You said that about Natalie too."

"Natalie was never a threat to you. She was a threat to us. She never knew about you," Grayson says.

"A threat to you means a threat to my business. And a threat to my business is a threat to me," John replies.

Grayson sternly says, "She's not Natalie."

"This one's quiet. Seems kind of useless if you ask me," John says eyeing me carefully.

"No one asked," Grayson replies.

"Two guards on perimeter, two on this roof, one parked in a car a block from here. Somewhere between five and six inside, but based on the kind of person you are, I'm going to go with six. You have five cameras in this room alone. But they have to upload to a private server cause you wouldn't risk it landing in the wrong hands," I say trying to remain calm and not anxious. "That being said, you have ties to law enforcement. I'm guessing it's the ex-military man who stopped us on our way in here. Probably dishonorably charged if he's willing to work for you. Oh and you you raise your charger higher then any other in the room because you think it displays power. When it really doesn't. It shows that you struggle to feel in charge. You try to be the smartest and most feared man in the room. I could keep going if you'd like."

Everyone except Grayson stared at me in shock. Grayson had a smirk on his face. "None of that is correct," John grumbles. "There's no way you could know any of that."

I look at Grayson to make sure it was okay I was speaking and he just nodded. "I saw the guards outside. And I saw the man on the way here pretending to be on the phone but his phone was off. Six inside because you want to keep your circle small but you also are confident that no one will turn on you. And more man power should make you look powerful. You're the kind of person who wants power. The man who stopped us obviously had military experience you can tell by how he stands and the tattoo peaking out from under his collar. You're a criminal so there's no way a military man would work for you unless he was dishonorably charged. I noticed when you got up you were shorter than your chair made you look. You raise it. You have men who are stronger than you working for you. You know they could easily get rid of you so you try to be smarter and get them to fear you," I say more relaxed. "I could keep going but I don't need to prove myself to you or anyone else in this room."

"I take it back, I like her," John says to Grayson before turning back to me. "You should work for me."

"No," Grayson simply said.

John was going to protest but the other man spoke, "Let's get this over with."

"Fine," John says returning to his chair. Grayson stood by the desk and I followed. I looked out the door and watched as the military man stood in the distance watching me. He's flipped on John already. He's watching me instead of the meeting. Instead of the person who actually poses a threat, Grayson. He's watching for information that could be used against John. In this case, to use against Grayson. And I'm his weakness.

"So, rumor has it that Darius is planning something big," The nameless man said to John and Grayson. Darius? Why have I heard that name before?

"We don't know if that's actually true," John says.

"Doesn't matter. We have to act as if it is," Grayson shrugs. "Ty, you think you can figure out what it is he's planning?" So, his name is Ty.

"No. There's no way to get close enough to any of them. They shut down. It's like they knew I'd be coming," Ty replies.

I grab out my phone and text Grayson, "Military man is your leak." When his phone went off and he read the message, he casually placed it back in his pocket.

"We need a way to get information. What way can we do that?" Grayson asks.

"Natalie," Ty said smoothly.

"No," Grayson said quickly.

"He's right, Grayson," John says.

Grayson chuckles in frustration, "Go ahead and talk to her. I won't."

"She'll only answer you," Ty says.

"Gray, if it's the only way, you have to do it," I say to him

"There has to be another way," He says not quite reaching my eye.

"Not enough time," Ty shrugs.

"I'll think about it, we have to go," Grayson says and immediately walks away without letting anyone else reply. I nod to them and follow behind Grayson.

We got back into his car and he drove away quickly. "Who's Darius?"

"An asshole," Grayson says.

"John's an asshole," I state.

Grayson laughs, "You handled him pretty well. How'd you notice all that stuff? It takes years of practice for most people to do that and even they miss those kinds of things."

"I noticed more. I just didn't know if I should tell him that I could hack his cameras in two minutes and identify everyone on his teams weakness along with the vulnerabilities of his hideout." I shrug.

"God you're amazing," Grayson says smirking over at me. I shake my head and turn to look out the window. Is this his world? Or is this only part of it? WE arrived at school and he parked the car. All eyes were on him as they always were. When we got out and people saw me, they started whispering to one another. I guess I'd have to get used to it. "Are you busy Friday night?" He asked as we walked to my locker.

"No," I say putting books into my locker and grabbing what I needed. "Well, not yet."

"Now you are," He says wrapping his arm around my waist as we went into the class. We were going to the library again today so there was no point in sitting. Ethan and Ellie were already waiting for us.

"What are we going to do?" I ask him.

"A party. Well, more so a gala," Grayson answers.

I nod, "Okay."

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A.N: Okay so, I know how I want this book to end so I only have a couple chapters left. I was struggling to write this because I just feel some things in the story didn't add up. I want there to be a second book, but in order for me to do that, I have to edit this book, and that may mean changing parts of the book. I'm afraid that in doing that, I may change the story too much so I'm not sure what to do. I'd appreciate it if you gave me feedback about what you think I should do. Thank you for those of you who have been reading my book so far. It means a lot to me.

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