Page 11 of Ashes

The door slid open and I stepped out and into the private parking garage to head toward my car. Once inside, I turned the engine on and the screen of my dashboard flashed with an incoming call.

Kai.

Kai Gao was not only one of my partners, but he also happened to be a royal pain in my ass. But despite how aggravating he could be with his smart wits, he was one of the few people I trusted.

I grew up surrounded by agents and quickly learned that our world wasn’t always what it seemed because people often wore masks to conceal their truths. Everyone had their own agenda and would do whatever it took to find themselves on the winning side because let’s be honest, no one liked to lose.

And sometimes the people you love most are the ones keeping the most secrets from you.

Kai and I both attended the same university to get our computer engineering degrees. He’d only been there on an international student visa and originally planned to move back home to Taiwan to take over his father’s company, but all of that changed when he sat next to me during one of my late nights I pulled at Navarra’s library.

A night when he showed me that there were still a few selfless people out there and not everyone had a hidden agenda.

He’d lent me a helping hand during a period of my life when I needed it the most. But I’d never admit that to him because he’d never let me live it down.

My screen flashed again and I finally answered.

“Why did you make me attend the meeting if you already knew about the client?”

“Thought you needed to make an appearance at the office. After all, you do own half of the company,” he answered, chuckling.

Ignoring him, I diverted his attention back to the reason for his call. “Why are you calling?”

“Guess who’s getting married?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Antoni Bruni is marrying off his eldest daughter to Mateo Barrera,” he announced as my phone pinged with a notification.

Interesting.

“This is quite…” I paused, pulling my phone out of the breast pocket of my jacket to look over the details Kai had just sent me. “Unexpected. When’s the wedding?” I finally replied in a clipped tone.

“Tomorrow evening at the Plaza.”

Already?

“Start prepping. We have a celebration to attend,” I ordered before ending the call.

My fingers traced over the steering wheel as I leaned back into my seat, contemplating what to do next.

When I learned the truth about my parents’ murder, I knew the only way to get answers would be to somehow immerse myself into their world.

And money always talked.

Most of the people who dealt with the cartel were in serious debt, which was how I became known as The Collector. My deals were simple. I loaned money to whoever needed it and they needed to repay me by the time our term ended.

If that wasn’t met, I had the right to collect a favor.

That’s how Antoni Bruni landed on my radar.

A year ago, Bruni had requested my help to get out of his crumbling debts and our deal had been simple. I’d lend him the money he’d needed to pay back the client he’dborrowedfrom and he had a year to pay me back.

Instead of doing the right thing, he’d taken that money and gambled it away, probably thinking he would double it.

Such a pitiful man to let something so insignificant as money and pride ruin his family’s future.

But he seemed to have forgotten what he owed me if the terms of our agreement weren’t fulfilled.