Jack was taking a huge risk. He knew that. But Henry's intel had been good. He had been dancing around the edges of Vincent Monroe's detection for far too long. It was time he saw for himself where the loyalties of Valarian City had fallen after Monroe took over. After he had tried to murder Jack in cold blood.

Out of habit, Jack rubbed at the spot below his collarbone where the scar sat. The bullet should have killed him. It would have, had it been mere inches to the left. It would have hit him directly in the heart. The only thing that had saved his life that night was how cold the waters in the marina had been. That, and the fact that Jack had been swimming since before he could walk. It had been almost too easy to stay under the water long enough for Monroe to think he was dead.

The rest was history.

He supposed he deserved it. Having Alana killed had been a coward's move. He could admit that now. But even back then Monroe had been too powerful for Jack to go after directly. The only person that mattered to him had been his sister, so that was the easier target.

Jack shook his head, focusing on the subject at hand. Which was sticking on the outskirts of this party. Monroe had – somehow – survived the attack he had orchestrated the following week. Sebastian's protegee had sworn that slice to the gut should have ended Monroe. Jack should have been able to come back and claim responsibility – and the gang – with ease. Yet no news of Vincent's death had spread. And then Henry had gotten a call about the bad shipment within forty-eight hours. Somehow, Vincent was up and moving as if nothing had happened.

Jack's jaw clenched as he allowed himself to stick to the shadows of the room. There were more people here than he had anticipated, but it was actually working in his favor. He knew what Monroe was doing. This was more than just a chance to check in with everyone on his payroll. This was a hunt. Monroe wanted to know where the leak was, but he wouldn't find it.

No. Tonight Monroe was going to see a ghost walking amongst his people. And the paranoia would set in.

A familiar, warm laugh washed over him as he maneuvered closer to the bar. Jack allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as his attention switched to the brunette slinging drinks. He really shouldn't have been surprised to find that Juliette and her friend were the ones who were working tonight. For a gathering like this, Dante would only select his best. However, he could admit that his pulse had jumped when he first spotted her.

And his wasn't the only attention she was drawing. Vincent and his inner circle's eyes kept drifting her way, and for good reason. She looked stunning tonight. Her light brown hair was curled away from her face in a way that accentuated her high cheekbones. Even from this distance, those doe eyes sparkled whenever she interacted with someone. As he watched, she laughed again at something her friend – Devyn, he remembered – said as she passed Juliette. He knew Juliette wasn't someone he could have. She had been spoken for from the moment she entered the studio. Whoever the man was who held her heart, he was a lucky bastard.

Jack just counted himself fortunate enough to be someone she trusted. He may not have been a good person, but damn if being around her didn't make him feel a little lighter. At least for the brief moments they had.

His attention was drawn to the opposite side of the room as Henry entered. They locked eyes for the briefest second, and the sneer Henry sent his way would have made lesser men cringe. As usual, his dark hair was slicked back to the point of looking wet. At first glance, he wasn't someone most people would notice. It was something he used to his advantage. Henry had been in the game long before Jack, had worked side by side with Andras Graham up until the day he died. Henry knew everything there was to know about the underbelly of this city. It was why Vincent had always begrudgingly kept business with the older man.

But Henry's loyalties had always stayed with the Graham family. So, when Jack had shown up on his doorstep over a year ago – back from the grave – it hadn't taken them long to devise a plan to take Vincent Monroe down.

It had been hard to keep the suspicion off of Henry. He was the first person Vincent looked into once things started going awry. But Henry had played his part well. Every alibi, every lie had fallen into place perfectly. The stabbing last week had been an impulse decision. Jack had wanted to see if they could speed the process a little, but that had obviously failed.

Now they were in the home stretch of the original plan.

Jack took notice of Devyn leaving the room, dragging one of Vincent's lackeys with her. His eyebrows rose, and he redirected his attention back to Juliette. He had turned just in time to see her whip her towel at Lucas, the blonde who was Vincent's right hand. Jack smothered a smile. Of course, someone like Juliette wouldn't think twice about hitting a high-ranking member of a gang. Then again, he highly doubted she had any idea the kind of people she was surrounded with.

Lucas leaned forward, a flirtatious smile on his face. Juliette rolled her eyes in response. Then Vincent walked up. Jack's spine snapped a little straighter as they both shifted their attention to Vincent. He took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. Vincent Monroe was a lot of things, but a threat to Juliette was not one of them. On top of Monroe's disgustingly high moral compass for someone in his position, Jack knew Juliette could handle herself. He had taught her, after all.

Vincent slid his empty glass her way, and she turned to grab the bottle. Once her back was turned, Vincent's eyes scanned the crowd again.

And then, finally, they locked with Jack's.

If Jack hadn't been studying Monroe for years, he would have missed the recognition as it flashed across those green eyes. A muscle in his jaw began to tick as they held each other's gazes. Jack had the delight of watching a myriad of emotions play through Vincent's eyes. Though not on his face. Vincent had always had impeccable skill when it came to masking his expressions. But that was murderous rage in his eyes as he stared Jack down.

Jack waited for the order. Waited for Monroe to alert his men that he was there. And then the hunt could truly begin.

What he didn't expect, was for Vincent to turn away from him. His brows drew together as Vincent caught Juliette's wrist as she reached to fill his glass. In an instant, he had pulled the brunette toward him across the bar until his lips were at the shell of her ear. Jack's hackles rose as he took a step in their direction.

Maybe he had misjudged Monroe's moral compass. Plan be damned, he'd never let him lay a hand on her.

But something made him pause his advance. Juliette's head dipped, just barely, as she gently pulled back from Vincent. She didn't raise her eyes, but he saw her lips move as she spoke to the gang leader. She finished pouring the drink and set it in front of him. To an outside eye, their interaction seemed innocent enough, but Jack couldn't imagine why she would have let him grab her like that. There had been no fight to her when she retreated from him.

Almost as if . . .

No.

Jack blinked as he examined them in a new light. Lucas had shifted so that his body was angled slightly between Juliette and the rest of the bar. Vincent's eyes were roving over the crowd from where he had initially seen Jack, only to be drawn right back to Juliette. As she was messing with the register, she let her own eyes casually peruse the room.

Looking for him – but she didn't know that.

Jack's suspicions were confirmed when she turned to hand Vincent his money. As their hands touched to transfer the cash, Vincent entwined their fingers for no more than a heartbeat. But it was enough to make Juliette's shoulders drop. Enough to make the fake smile she had plastered on melt into something more genuine.

"I don't care about him," she had said that very first day in the studio.

"He's not the kind of guy to do things for someone with no benefit to himself. So, I don't know what he wants from me."

"So you're together?" he had asked her, just a few weeks ago.

"Yeah." And it had been that same smile that she was sporting now that had crossed her face as she thought of him. Of Vincent Monroe. And he had been happy for her because some of that haunted look that he had first seen in her eyes had been gone.

Of all the insane coincidences.

Jack's head was spinning. There was a tightness in his chest he hadn't felt since the night he learned his father was dead. He needed out, and he needed air. To hell with the rest of what was supposed to happen tonight. Vincent had spotted him, but it wasn't creating the paranoia he had anticipated. Because Vincent had someone to keep him grounded. He had a reason to keep his head on straight and be able to find Jack.

And it was the woman that made Jack's traitorous heart warm every time she was near him.

What was he going to do?

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I know that I'm hella behind, and this is not what you all have been waiting on, but I'm kind of stuck with how the story should progress from here. I have a few ideas that I'm playing around with - and I'm hoping to get the next official chapter out this weekend!

For now, enjoy this peak into Jack's head when he realized what was going on.

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Thank you all for always sticking with me. I hope you enjoyed!

Erin