Aiden Campbell snapped awake, and when he saw Mason Nightshade's face, his own went pale in an instant. That face was terrifying! No matter how cocky he usually was, he knew exactly what Mason was capable of. If he pissed him off, he could forget about surviving in Q City. Could it be because he'd gotten caught hitting on his wife earlier today? "M-Mr. Nightshade, that whole thing was a misunderstanding. I didn't actually do anything. I didn't touch a single hair on Aurelia, I swear! If you don't believe me, ask my guys. Ask them!" Mason Nightshade clamped a hand around his throat, bloodshot eyes cold as ice and absolutely terrifying. He grabbed Aiden by the collar and dragged him to the riverbank. "I'll only ask you once—did you kidnap Aurelia?" Beneath his feet the current raged; Aiden's face was paper-white, his fingers trembling as he clung to Mason's arm. This guy was fucking insane! Completely out of his mind! Did he even know what he was doing? Somebody was going to die ! "Talk!" Mason's voice cut through the air, cold as death. Aiden forced himself to stay calm. Wait, what did he just say? "Aurelia was kidnapped?" So he suspected it was him who kidnapped Aurelia? "N-No, it wasn't me. Yeah, I saw Aurelia today, but I swear I didn't kidnap her. After I saw her at the hotel, I didn't see her again. I've been in the bar all night, didn't go anywhere else." "Look, Mr. Nightshade, I got no reason to lie to you. I'm not trying to get myself killed." Aiden's breathing grew more and more labored, collar choking him so hard he couldn't get any air; his face turned a sickly purple, while Mason's eyes flashed with murderous intent and his grip loosened— ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩 Suddenly, Aiden grabbed Mason's arm, his eyes wide. "Mr. Nightshade, I've got a way. I know how to find Aurelia!" Mason yanked him back, tossing him to the ground, ice-cold eyes glaring down at him. "Say it. How do we find Aurelia?" Aiden was sure that if he couldn't come up with a way to find Aurelia, this man would definitely kill him. This kind of shit—Mason Nightshade absolutely would do it. Nobody knew that better than him. He swallowed hard, pain shooting through his torn throat. "Today, I noticed a new group of people hanging around South Street. Never seen them before—must be from out of town. Maybe... No, definitely. Definitely they're the ones who took Aurelia." One look at Mason's deadly glare, and Aiden changed his tune on the spot. Fuck! It better be that crew who took Aurelia, or he was dead meat either way. "You know where those guys are holed up?" Mason's voice was cold as steel. "Yeah." Aiden coughed painfully a few times and staggered to his feet. "First day they came around, I had my boys look into them." He called a guy over. "Take Mr. Nightshade there." Mason shot him a cold glance, but Grayson Quinn kicked him right away, his gaze sharp and chilling. "You call him 'Mister'? You got some fuckin' nerve, huh?" Bastards, always picking on people! Aiden cursed them in his heart but plastered on a fawning smile. "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, Mr. Nightshade. I'll have them lead the way for you." Grayson took one look and saw right through what he was thinking. He kicked Aiden again. "You lead the way. If you can't find those guys, we'll see if you bleed as easy as they do, how about it? Besides, you've done plenty of shitty things in Q City these last few years. If we put a bullet in your head, you'd still be getting off easy." Aiden's whole body tensed up, his legs shaking. "D-don't shoot, don't shoot—I'll lead the way. I'll take you to them. But... seriously, this has nothing to do with me. I haven't done anything! How the hell did I get stuck with this kind of bad luck..."