Page 7 of The Guru: Shadow

“He booked two of the online events in January and March, also signed up for the monthly mentoring.”

Like I said, desperate people make the best customers.And Liam had turned out to be even better than he expected.Insecure, agreeable, and so easy to manipulate.

“Deis,” it was Edward’s voice, his most trusted security detail, who pulled him out of his thoughts.

“What is it?”

He just wanted to revisit Liam’s sweet little whining resounding in his ear as he stripped his soul bare.

“Delilah. France went as planned.”

It was all he needed to hear to feel a deep satisfaction warm him from the inside. Years of planning would finally pay off.

“Let’s get back to Manhattan, you can brief me on the way, have the jet ready.”

“Everything’s on there,” said Ed, handing him a tablet. “They got all the footage, Delilah acted as you expected. Daddy wasn’t with her; he’s in the Congo with the whole PR team.”

“The mines?”

“Yes, it’s crap shit. They’re trying to reframe the child labor and exploitation.”

He scrolled through the reports until he reached a set of photos.

“Ed, what am I looking at?” he asked, holding up the tablet and turning it, so Ed could see the screen in the rear mirror.

“Delilah and her extracurricular activities.”

“I am aware, but who is it?”

“Eden Baker”

“Jimmy’s son? Isn’t he like eighteen?”

“Seventeen.”

He couldn’t help but smirk. Things couldn’t have gone any better.

“Well, that’s a fortunate addition to the plan. Have you finalized the deal with Bloom?”

“Tomorrow, 3 p.m. We are already prepping everything as planned.”

Good, really good.

And his thoughts wandered back to the image forever imprinted in his mind. The girl he had seen all those years back, with her dark brown hair framing those mesmerizing dark green eyes with an ever-consuming darkness in them.

You’ll be mine. Soon.

3

EMMA

PLAYLIST: TRADE IT FOR THE NIGHT - HAEVN

Instant regret overcame her as she stepped out of the elevator leading into the entrance to Stone’s Bar. Not only was she half an hour late, as always, but the bar was packed with more than double the people usually frequenting, and just seeing all those people made her shoulders tense.

Stone’s was a rooftop bar in the Waterstones Tower in the Financial District. People with large bank accounts met here to either brag about their latest deals and acquisitions or to hear the latest gossip. It had thirty-foot-high ceilings, designed in a gold-matte black concept, including almost fifty different-sized golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Overall, it screamed of money and was exactly what she hated. However, it had one of the most amazing views of the city, which was undeniably awesome.

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