Loyalty and Lies

Master Plan

Aiden's Pov:

„You're absolutely sure?" I asked, gripping the phone tightly, my voice colder than I intended.

"Yes," Dominic replied without hesitation. "There's no trace of the money."

It wasn't surprising, but hearing it still sent a spark of frustration through me. "Fine. Keep looking and report back the second anything changes."

I ended the call with a sharp click and exhaled a heavy, annoyed sigh.

"Dominic says there's no sign of the money," I informed Nick, keeping my tone neutral.

He was sprawled on the couch in the living room of his penthouse, one arm draped over the backrest as he lazily flipped a coin in his hand. His bruised left eye was a stark contrast against his otherwise composed demeanor, a vivid reminder of the blow his father had landed after Nick skipped an important meeting for the car race we barely had escape because of the police.

His piercing gaze, sharp and calculating, stayed locked on the spinning coin as it flipped through the air. He caught it effortlessly, then tossed it again, the rhythmic clink of metal against his palm the only sound in the room.

He had been in a bad mood since yesterday's meeting. Not that I could blame him. Just as I'd predicted, his father announced his engagement to Katerina Mikhailova. We didn't get to meet her, but we didn't need to. She was a member of the Russian mafia, a name whispered with equal parts respect and fear. And judging by Nick's favorite nickname for her, crazy witch, she wasn't exactly winning him over.

Despite his obvious hatred for the arrangement, Nick had kept his cool at the meeting. It wasn't his style to lose composure. He wore his calm like armor, a carefully constructed mask that revealed only what he allowed.

He'd even congratulated his father, though his smile barely reached his eyes. He stayed until the end, but not a second longer. Since then, he hadn't said a word about the engagement, burying himself in another mission: tracking down the peace money his father had promised the Yakuza ten years ago. Money that had mysteriously disappeared.

Nick's impatience with the search grew more palpable by the minute. I'd spent the entire morning on the phone with our contacts, chasing down even the faintest lead, but every call ended the same: empty-handed. The tension in the air was suffocating, and I could feel Nick's frustration simmering beside me, unspoken but impossible to ignore.

„Of course there's no sign," he muttered, more to himself than to me. His voice was low, cold, the kind of calm that sent a chill down your spine. Not mine.

„Call him again," he said flatly.

I raised an eyebrow, refusing to let him bulldoze me. "No. I called him minutes ago. There's no point in asking the same question again." I set my phone down deliberately. "Besides, I'm your lawyer, not your personal assistant. I've been on the phone for hours already."

The coin in his hand paused mid-flip, caught between his fingers. For a moment, I thought he was about to argue, but instead, he leaned back against the couch, letting out a slow breath.

„Then give me the phone, I call him." he said, his tone calm and unbothered, as if my refusal a moment ago hadn't even registered.

I folded my arms and met his gaze head-on. "You're not getting the phone until you tell me what's going on. Why are we suddenly so desperate to find money that disappeared years ago? There was no trace back then, and there's none now. Why do we even need it?"

I could feel my frustration bubbling over, and for once, I didn't bother to hold it back. He was getting on my nerves more than usual, especially when he refuses to tell me what he is up to. "Don't you think we have more important things to deal with right now?"