Page 28 of Clash of Sin and Secret

I scan the room, noting the emergency exits while Zane steps forward. “Tripp told you the job?”

“Oh yeah, and I’m hot on the trail of your leaky money.” Bin rolls his chair back, revealing cargo pants covered in USB drives and a t-shirt that reads ‘There’s no place like 127.0.0.1.’ “Come. Check it.”

We follow him through a maze of servers, their fans humming like mechanical insects. This guy’s workspaceis something out of a cyberpunk fever dream—monitors everywhere, cables snaking across the floor, and what looks like a mini fridge modified to house additional processors.

Bin’s fingers dance across three keyboards simultaneously, green text scrolling faster than I can read. “I traced your leak and figured you’d like me to recoup your funds.”

“Fucking right, I do,” Zane snaps.

Bin nods. “I charge a ten percent restoration fee.”

I whistle. “That’s a quick three million for you.”

He grins. “And for that, I also close all access points and ensure no one can drain your funds going forward.”

“Do it,” Zane says. “And in one year, if everything is as you say and our funds have remained secure, I’ll give you another three million.”

Bin pushes his glasses up his nose and grins. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Vasari.”

Recovering the money is great, and all, but I want the man behind it. “And you can tell us who took it and where we can find him?”

The guy scoffs as if that’s irrelevant.

Which it totally isn’t.

Bin leans over a keyboard and grins. “Watch and be amazed, gentlemen.”

Scottie

I’m lying on the training mat, my hands trembling against my stomach as I work to calm myself. The energy beneath my skin crackles like live wires, ready to explode at any moment. What do I want? What do I truly want out of life going forward?

I think about this morning: seeing the video of Zane attacking those girls, and then hearing Huntley confess his truths.

Perspective is everything.

Each of us lived that night in our own personal hell.

I caused as much pain as I suffered and didn’t know it. But now that I do know? Can I go back to Manhattan to pick up the life I built?

Did I build anything? My soul has always been here. I went to art school. I got my degree and a job and made some friends, but none of it sank into my bones.

My walls went up on my twenty-first birthday and kept everyone at a distance ever since.

It’s been a lonely seven years.

But do I want to come back and be bound to Zane—and by extension, Huntley? Do I want to live this life again? Be drawn into the chaos of vampire life?

It’s not even a question.

It may have been my father’s destiny first, but my life is here. It always has been.

I open my eyes and search the empty training room. Jack and Tucker left me to think, but I’m sure they aren’t far. “Tucker? Can we talk?”

I don’t speak loudly, but I know he’s close enough to hear me.

The pocket door slides open and there he is. Tall, dark, and dreamy. “Feeling a little better, beautiful?”

I sit up and cross my legs. “I think so, but I need to talk with you about Zane and Huntley and my life with them.”

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