Chapter 100 Veils And Vigilance

Chapter 100 Veils And Vigilance
ROSEMARY

The quiet hours before dawn had now become my safe haven - my sanctuary - and also my torment.

It was now well into the two weeks left on the contract, and sleep had turned into a distant memory, replaced by restless pacing through the penthouse corridors and endless scrolls through old contacts and encrypted channels.

If Julian would not reveal what he knew about my past as Scarlet, I would uncover it myself.

The texter had shown their hand too many times. Someone out there was feeding him fragments of my hidden life, and that person was the real threat - not the man I had once truly believed that I could build something enduring with.

I started digging with a quiet, relentless focus, using every secure network and discreet contact I had cultivated over the years.

I contacted old club acquaintances from my disguised nights and even people who I had helped. I checked shadowy networks in the underground scene. Also checked encrypted forums where anonymity was the ultimate currency.

It did not take me as long as I had expected to find one of the videos.

The footage was grainy but unmistakable. I - dressed as scarlet - was in a private booth at Velvet Underground, lost in the moment with a stranger whose face seemed blurred more than usual for discretion.

The way I moved, the abandon in my expression, and the sheer freedom I had once claimed for myself… it was both liberating and mortifying to see again.

But the real revelation was not the video itself.

It was the realization that the danger was not Julian having and holding onto these files.

The real danger was really whoever had been sending them to him.

Someone wanted this information weaponized. Someone wanted to watch us tear each other apart from the inside.

I closed the laptop with steady hands, a new resolve settling over me like an armor forged in quiet fire. I would find this person, I swore to myself. And when I did, they would regret ever stepping into my shadow or trying to mess with my life.

___________________

I called Nyra on a video call later that morning, the Paris light filtering through the windows like it was a sort of fractured hope.

The moment her face appeared on the screen, I knew something was different. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair slightly mussed, and there was a glow in her eyes that only came from one particular kind of satisfaction.

“Wow,” I said, unable to hide the teasing smile that tugged at my lips.

"Why does my best friend look like she just got the best dick of her life?”

Nyra burst out laughing, covering her face with one hand.

“Shuuuut up. It was… memorable, okay? Maybe a little crazy because it was really good multiple times. Justin knows what he’s doing.”

I raised an eyebrow, genuinely amused despite the storm in my chest.

"Good. You deserve it. Now tell me everything. Did he talk dirty to you the whole time? Was he a true romantic girl? Someone good with his fingers and his tongue?”

She gave me the highlights - the frantic quickies, the slower, more intense nights, the way Justin had looked at her like she was both a challenge to him mixed with salvation. I listened with rapt attention, teasing her mercilessly, but I could see the exhaustion beneath her smile.

When the laughter died down, I turned serious.

“I need your help with something bigger. I’ve started digging into my own past to see what Julian knows. I found one of the videos he’s been receiving. The real danger is not him, Nyra. I just realized that. The real danger is the person sending those to him. I need to discover who it is. Can you help me find them?”

Nyra’s face hardened with determination.

"I’m on it. I will get you the best private investigator money can buy. Discreet and Ruthless too. Straight from the movies type of person. Give me a few hours.”

NYRA

I ended the call with Rosemary and immediately turned to Justin, who was lounging on the couch in nothing but sweatpants, looking far too satisfied with himself.

“I need your help,” I said, straddling his lap without warning.

"I need to find a top-tier private investigator. Someone who can trace anonymous messages without leaving a trail. Rosemary’s in trouble. Real trouble - and I need to help her or I won't be able to function.”

Justin’s hands settled on my hips, his thumbs tracing lazy circles.

“I know some people. Dangerous people. But they are very loyal if you pay them right. I’ll make the calls. That good with the lady?"

I leaned down and kissed him deeply as a silent affirmation and a.thank you. When I pulled back, his eyes were dark with renewed hunger.

“Later,” I promised, nipping his bottom lip.

“Right now, I need you to focus.”

He grinned.

“For you? Anything.”

ROSEMARY

By evening - though I was not too surprised - Nyra had delivered.

The private investigator, who was a discreet, silver.haired woman with sharp eyes and an even sharper reputation - met me in a quiet café near the Seine.

Her name was Mireille. She asked no unnecessary questions and only took the details I provided about the texter’s messages and the videos.

“I will find them,” she said simply.

“Or him. Or her. If it's one person behind it. And when I do, you’ll be the first to know how deep this goes.”

I left the meeting with a fragile sense of control returning.

But as I walked back toward the penthouse, the weight of the time left on the contract left pressed down on me harder than ever.

Julian was still out there, carrying his own secrets.

And I was starting to realize that the person trying to destroy us might be closer than either of us wanted to admit.

The game had changed.

And I was no longer content to play defense.