I smoothed my skirt, re-centered the mask that always fit too well, and turned for the door.
He didn’t pull me back.
Because he saw it in my eyes.
I was done.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
BASTION
The penthouse was empty when I walked in. No jacket slung over the armchair. No whiskey poured and left on the bar. No Luca.
Just silence. That was four hours ago. He’s been gone for nine.
Nine.
I paced in front of the surveillance wall, the glow from the monitors lighting the room. Cameras flipped between static hotel floors, street-level angles, and the casino vault entrance, but none of them showedhim.
My brother. My twin. The only fucking person who wasn’t allowed to vanish.
I checked his location again. Still fucking blank.No ping. No trace.
I slammed my palm flat against the edge of the desk, hard enough to rattle the panel.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
Troy, one of our techs, flinched. “Sir, we…he might’ve gone dark on purpose. Maybe the signal?—”
“He doesn’t go dark without tellingme.” My voice cut sharp, “And you don’t offer theories. You get me answers.”
Troy nodded too fast. “I’ve rerouted the ping tower. Triple-checked the IP traces. He’s not at the penthouse, the Orpheum. Not on any Crow-owned grid.”
Not on any grid we control.
My fingers flexed against the surveillance desk. He’d shut me out.
Luca.
The one person who was supposed to bleed when I did. Who’d built this empire at my side with code, silence, and obsession.
And now he wasgone.
Without a word.
I pulled up the timeline again. Last verified sighting: 6:11 p.m. at the Orpheum event. East corridor. He never checked out. Never came home. Didn’t even tripped the motion lock on our door.
Something happened.
My throat tightened.
I picked up my phone again and texted him for the twelfth time.
[3:34 a.m.]
Where the fuck are you.
No read receipt. No delivery.
