Chapter 64: #SIXTY-FOUR

ADRIAN’S POV

The argument upstairs had been going on for long enough that none of us could pretend we hadn’t heard it. Cassian, Roman and I had remained downstairs throughout the entire thing, occasionally exchanging looks whenever Nicholas’s voice rose or Elijah tried to explain himself.

None of us had gone upstairs because we knew that if we interrupted them, Elijah would probably stop talking altogether, and Nicholas would find another reason to shut himself inside his room. Still, listening to them argue only made the situation more frustrating.

Things between all of us and Nicholas had become complicated over the past few days, and no matter what any of us tried, he seemed determined to believe that we were against him. He had stopped trusting us, stopped answering our questions and had started spending more time with Jayden, a boy none of us knew well enough to decide whether he was harmless or not.

When the voices upstairs finally became quieter, Cassian closed his laptop and leaned back against the sofa.

"We can’t keep doing this," he said. "Whatever is happening between Nicholas and Elijah, that’s their problem for now, but the stalker is becoming a bigger concern. Nicholas is getting messages, someone has been inside the house, and he keeps receiving photographs that prove whoever is doing this can get close to him without being noticed. We need to find out who it is before something worse happens."

Roman looked toward the staircase. "I’ve already asked Nicholas about Jayden. He refused to say anything."

"He nearly snapped your head off for asking," I reminded him with a sigh.

Roman’s expression hardened. "Exactly. He trusts that boy enough to defend him without knowing whether he has anything to do with the stalker."

Cassian nodded. "And Nicholas isn’t going to cooperate with us. Every time we ask him about the messages, he either gets angry or changes the subject. If we keep pushing, he’ll just become more secretive."

"Then we stop asking him," I said.

Both of them looked at me and I continued, "We investigate on our own. We don’t need Nicholas to tell us everything. We need information about Jayden, information about the stalker and anything that can connect the two. If Jayden is innocent, we’ll find that out. If he’s hiding something, we’ll find that out too."

Cassian thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I’ll do the background check. I want to know everything we can find about Jayden, his family, where he’s from and whether there’s anything suspicious about his history."

Roman crossed his arms. "I’ll keep an eye on him. If he’s meeting anyone unusual or going anywhere that doesn’t make sense, I’ll know."

Cassian turned toward me. "Then you handle his phone."

I frowned. "You want me to clone it?"

"Yes. Nicholas isn’t going to show us his messages, and I want to know whether the stalker has contacted him again. If there’s anything useful on the phone, we need to know."

I wasn’t particularly comfortable with the idea, but none of us were comfortable with the situation anymore. Someone was deliberately targeting Nicholas, and waiting for him to decide that he trusted us enough to explain everything wasn’t working.

"We’ll keep Elijah out of it," Roman said.

I looked at him. "Why?"

"Because he’ll tell Nicholas."

Cassian nodded. "He’s too emotionally involved. If he finds out we’re investigating Jayden, he’ll probably confront Nicholas about it, and then Nicholas will warn Jayden. We need to do this quietly."

I agreed.

Later that evening, I left the house wearing ordinary clothes and a cap pulled low enough to make my face less noticeable.

I wasn’t planning to confront Jayden. I simply needed an opportunity to get close enough to his phone without him knowing what I was doing. After watching his house for a while, I eventually saw him return. I waited until I was certain I wouldn’t be noticed before getting inside.

The house was quiet as I moved carefully through the rooms, checking for his phone while trying not to disturb anything.

It took some time, but I eventually found it. I picked it up and began the process of copying the information we needed. I kept checking the hallway because I knew I couldn’t afford to be caught there.

I had barely finished when I heard movement and I froze.

Fuck.

Jayden had returned to the room sooner than I expected.

I quickly put everything back where I’d found it and moved out of sight. I waited until he had gone in another direction before slipping out of the house as quietly as possible. I didn’t breathe properly until I was far enough away that I knew he hadn’t seen me.

When I returned to the mansion, Cassian and Roman were still downstairs.

"Did you get it?" Cassian asked.

I nodded and dropped into the chair opposite them. "Yes."

"Anything useful?"

I shook my head. "I haven’t gone through everything yet."

Roman leaned forward. "At least now we can see whether there’s anything connecting him to the stalker."

"We’ll find out."

Before we could continue, my phone rang and I looked at the screen.

Dad. Why was he calling?

I answered. "Hello?"

His voice was hoarse. "Adrian, where are you?"

"I’m at home."

"I need you to come to the company." He told me plainly.

I frowned. "Why?"

"There’s an investor here who wants to speak with you. He’s been asking about you specifically, so I’d like you to come down and meet him." He said.

I glanced at Cassian and Roman before standing. "Now?"

"Yes. Don’t keep him waiting." Then the call ended.

Fuck.

I grabbed my jacket. "I have to go to the company."

Cassian looked at me. "For an investor?"

"Apparently." I nodded.

Roman gave me a brief nod. "Go. We’ll deal with this when you get back."

I left the house and drove to the company.

I had never liked being involved in Father’s business. I understood why he wanted us to learn everything about the company, and I knew there would eventually come a time when we were expected to take responsibility for part of it, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed sitting through meetings or dealing with investors. I preferred having control over my own time, and the company had never offered much of that. Still, when Father called, I knew better than to ignore him.

When I arrived, I walked into the reception area and went directly to the secretary’s desk. "Is my father in his office?"

She looked up and smiled as soon as she saw me. "Mr. Blackthorne isn’t here."

I frowned. "He told me to come because an investor wanted to meet me."

Her smile was bright. "I know." She stood and walked around the desk. "He left a few minutes ago, but the investor is already waiting."

"Where?" I was already looking to hurry it up.

"I’ll take you." She came closer as she spoke, and I immediately noticed the way she was looking at me. I already knew where this was going, and I wasn’t interested.

She had been working here for some time, and we’d made a mistake once before. I had slept with her, thinking it would remain a one-time thing, but she had apparently interpreted it differently. Since then, she had repeatedly tried to get close to me, and I had spent more time avoiding her than I cared to admit.

She reached toward my arm and I stepped away like she burnt me. "Don’t."

Her expression changed. "Adrian, seriously?"

My tone became stern. "I’m here because my father called me. I don’t want to have this conversation again."

The woman crossed her arms with a huff. "You’ve been avoiding me for weeks."

I didn’t budge. "Because I don’t want anything to happen between us again."

She stared at me. "You didn’t seem to have a problem with me before."

"I did. I just didn’t make the mistake of saying it afterward." I hissed.

Her face tightened. "You’re being rude."

"Take it that way, I’m being clear."

She crossed her arms. "You could at least stop acting like I did something wrong."

"I never said you did. I’m telling you that whatever happened between us is over, and I don’t want you trying to turn it into something else." The frown was still on my face.

She looked irritated but eventually stepped aside. "Fine. The investor is waiting in the conference room."

"Then take me there."

She gave me one last look before turning around. I followed her down the corridor, already wishing I had simply ignored the call. The last thing I needed was another problem to deal with, especially when the situation at home was already complicated enough.

My thoughts returned to Nicholas.

There were too many unanswered questions, and now that I’d taken the first step toward finding out what was really happening, I wasn’t going to stop until we had an answer.

Whatever happened at the company could wait until later.

For now, I needed to deal with the investor and get back home.