‘So, does that mean he’s not going to ask me any more questions for now?’ Briar wondered.

    Her eyes flickered, and she instinctively leaned closer to Ashton, wondering, ‘Is this him agreeing to have a proper talk?’

    Reece and Hamish couldn’t help but feel amused by Briar’s subtle moves. ‘So she has other identities after all?’ they thought. ‘How old is this girl anyway? Just eighteen, right? Does she even sleep, or does she spend all her time picking up new skills?”

    Maybe Hamish’s gaze was too intense. Briar turned to him. “Hamish? Why are you looking at me like that?”

    The expression on Briar’s face when she saw the jar with her mother’s brain inside was terrifying. Now, to distract her, Hamish, picking up on Ashton’s subtle hint, shrugged. “I’m just wondering how many more surprises you’re going to pull out of that little frame of yours.”

    Briar just smited and said nothing.

    “Everything’s sorted. Let’s head back,” Ashton said. The storm at sea had finally passed. He took a copied file from one of the ck-d bodyguards and handed it straight to Briar.

    Briar put the file into her backpack and zipped it

    shu

    “Yeah, time to head back,’ Briar thought. ‘Once we’re back, I can way they’re getting away.”

    let’s go.”

    finally deal with the Garzas. With a 30 million dor bounty on their heads, there’s no

    They left a small team behind to guard the ind, while the rest of the ck-d bodyguards followed onto the yacht.

    The tension was suffocating, and none of the bodyguards dared to

    say

    a word.

    Briar sat alone by the window, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed out at the endless sea, lost in thought, perhaps, but the telltale smirk and lethal glint in her eyes left Ashton, Reece, and Hamish stunned.

    Reece and Hamish pulled Ashton aside and whispered, “Ashton, Briar’s alone again.”

    not herself right now. You need to keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her sneak cut

    “Yeah, if she slips away this time, it won’t be as simple as just kidnapping someone likest time,” Hamish agreed, nodding.

    Of course, Ashton could see the chill hidden in Briar’s eyes. Luckily, they were still overseas, and the Garzas weren’t nearby. Otherwise, he honestly wasn’t sure he could hold Briar back if she lost control of her fury./

    “I know. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Ashton said.

    Unlike the treacherous storm they’d faced heading to Bersy Ind, their trip back was eerily calm. But to Ashton, Reece, and Hamish, it felt like the eye of the storm, leaving them unsettled to their core.

    Sure enough, when they reached the shore and saw Brandon running around like a headless chicken, Ashton’s sense of unease only got worse. He grabbed Briar’s wrist and led her off the yacht, his grip firm enough that Briar couldn’t pull away, but not rough.

    “What happened?” Ashton asked Brandon.

    Brandon came over, shot a nce at Briar’s nk face, and finally said, “Morton just told me that a bunch of foreign mercenaries suddenly showed up on the flight lists to Dasmieca. He already checked with Connor, and it wasn’t Connor’s people who let them in.”

    Ashton and the others’ expressions changed instantly, thinking, ‘Those mercenaries are moving fast. Looks like the 30 million dor bounty has even drawn out the ones who usually keep their heads down.’

    Briar nced over at Ashton, a sh of feigned innocence flickering in those wild, fearless eyes of hers. “Ashton, do your people keep tabs on every single flight heading back home?”

    Ashton paused for a moment, looking like he was seriously thinking it over, then replied, “Usually, we only check now and then. But after sen left tre country, Morton’s team started monitoring all the iing and outgoing flight lists.”

    He spoke with such earnestness, his dead-serious expression making it impossible to tell he was lying.

    Ashton didn’t know if Briar had believed it. She just nodded, headed straight for the car parked by the curb, opened the door, and got in,

    Reece and Hamish exchanged a look, then nced at Ashton, who was still talking to Brandon. Reece leaned in and whispered to Hamish with a mischievous grin, “Oh ho, looks like Briar’s mad this time, huh?”

    Hamish nodded. “If Ashton can’t smooth things over for Briar this time, I doubt he’ll be able to coax her back. I heard those ‘chasing after your ex’ stories can get pretty intense.”

    Reece smirked. “You looking forward to seeing that?”

    Hamish nodded again. “Of course! I can’t wait to watch the show.”

    ‘Just imagine, the usually cool and scheming Ashton, totally at the mercy of his 18-year-old girlfriend, having to grovel, sweet-talk, and apologize just to win her back… Honestly, who wouldn’t want to see that?’ Hamish thought to himself.

    The two of them snickered and followed Briar into the car.

    Ashton was speechless.

    That night, on the private jet back to Dasmieca, Reece and Hamish finally got their wish. They got to watch Ashton start his “ex-chasing” routine, doing his best to coax his young girlfriend.

    Ashton asked, “Briar, want some cherries? I had them flown in from abroad this morning.”

    “No, thanks.” Briar shook her head.

    Ashton tried again, “Sweetheart, this dessert is your favorite white chocte. Want to try it?”

    Briar shook her head again. “No, thanks.”

    Reece and Hamish leaned in, grinning like a couple of troublemakers, and nudged Brandon. “Hey, shouldn’t you snap a pic of Ashton looking this embarrassed for once? You can post it on the Dark Net. I bet it’ll sell like crazy.”

    Brandon rolled his eyes. “Come on, Reece, Hamish, if you guys are looking for trouble, just don’t drag me down with you.”

    Meanwhile, Ashton was still coaxing Briar. “Honey, is there anything you want to eat?”

    Honestly, for someone as famously impatient as Ashton, he was ridiculously sweet and gentle with Briar.

    He’d been coaxing her for ages and still hadn’t lost his cool. If anyone else dared to throw a tantrum at Ashton like this, he’d have tossed them out of the ne without a second thought.

    Maybe Ashton’s soft words finally melted Briar a little, because she scooted closer to him, looked up with a sly smile, and said, “I don’t want to eat anything, but I do want to kill someone. Are you still going to stop me?”

    Before Ashton could respond, Reece, Hamish, and Brandon were already gossiping.

    Reece grinned and said, “Hey, what do you guys think? If Briar wants to take out the Garzas herself, will Ashton try to stop her?”

    Hamish put on a straight face. “I’m no psychologist, but with Briar’s kind of temper, that’s what they call bipr disorder, right? If it gets bad, she might go off and kill someone. How do you treat that again? Something about changing her environment and making sure to keep her calm or whatever…

    19:45 Sat 23 Aug. A

    Brandon’s mouth twitched hard. “Changing her environment? Calming her down? Stopping her? Seriously, have you two just met M. Wade or weki L?n telling you, if Miss Jennings wants to kill someone herself, not only will Mr. Wade just let her, but he’ll probably hand her the knife himself Oh, but Mi Jennings is a crack shot, so Mr. Waden will probably hand her the gun instead.

    Hearing that, Reece and Hamish just cracked up.

    ‘Gotta say, Brandon has Ashton all figured out,’ they thought. ‘That’s something Ashton would do. The guy is fiercely protective. If Briar wants to cause trouble, Ashton won’t just let her. He’d hand her the gun himself and then personally clean up the mess for her afterward.