[Present Ti]
Penny crouched beside the tub, resting her arms over the rim.
"I’m fine," Zoren said from within the tub, offering her a wry smile. "You don’t have to worry about ."
She frowned. "You don’t look fine to ."
"Just... tired," he breathed out, reaching toward her fingers resting on the rim. "But really... I’m fine."
"Is he alive?" she asked quietly. "Jonathan, I an."
Zoren didn’t answer right away. His thoughts wandered back to the chaos.
After everything went down, he’d rushed Jonathan to the nearest hospital. With multiple stab wounds—so in critical areas—Jonathan had lost a dangerous amount of blood.
"He survived," Zoren nodded. "But he’s in critical condition."
"I see..." Penny pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes heavy with worry. "It’s not your fault. And even if it was..."
She trailed off, catching herself before she said sothing too harsh... or too cruel.
"That’s not why I feel this way," Zoren said, his wry smile returning faintly. "It’s just..."
His thoughts drifted again—this ti to his people.
The guards he’d taken tonight weren’t the ones usually assigned to him during the day. Ever since Pri Group took over his security, things had changed. But tonight, knowing he’d be stepping into dangerous waters to confront whoever was pulling Jonathan’s strings, he’d brought his old team.
Except for Mark, they weren’t part of Penny’s regular security detail. They were from the Phantom Circle.
"Mark and I... we stopped paying attention to the Phantom Circle because we got complacent," he admitted with a sigh. "I should’ve seen this coming."
Penny swallowed hard, her eyes fixed on her husband.
"It’s not your fault," she whispered. "It’s mine. I’m the one who asked you to lie low, to disband it even. So... I’m just as much at fault."
Silence settled between them.
Zoren could have denied it—but they both knew the truth. Penny’s influence had shifted his focus, and even Mark had followed her lead. No one had kept a close watch on the Phantom Circle.
Their enemies had proven tonight how skilled and ticulous they were. It wasn’t surprising that they’d managed to lure—or corrupt—mbers of the Phantom Circle with promises of power or wealth.
And though it hadn’t been confird, rumors of the group’s disbandnt had already begun circulating. All it would’ve taken was one silver-tongued devil whispering the right things into the ears of restless mbers... and cracks would start to form.
"It was your suggestion," Zoren finally broke the silence. "But the decision was mine."
He sank a little deeper into the water, scrubbing his hands.
"You should rest. I’ll clean up and join you later."
"But I want to stay here," Penny murmured.
His lips parted but closed again. "...I understand."
Penny sighed, sliding down to sit on the floor, her back against the wall. She let go of his hand, quietly watching as he scrubbed the dried blood away.
As Zoren rinsed his hands, he paused.
"Delro."
"Hm?" Penny looked up.
"Before he passed out, Jonathan said sothing... ’Delro.’" Zoren turned his head toward her. "Have you ever heard of it?"
Penny tilted her head, thinking. "Is it... a place?"
Considering Zoren had been asking Jonathan about the enemy’s location, that would make sense.
"But there’s no such place," Zoren shook his head. "I already had soone look into it. Nothing ca up."
"Delro..." Penny humd, her brows knitting. "It sounds familiar... but I can’t place it."
"I’ll keep digging," Zoren muttered. "It must have sothing to do with the answers I was seeking."
Penny nodded. "I’ll ask around too. If it’s not a place, maybe it’s a person... or sothing else entirely."
"Mhm."
Another silence fell over them before Zoren spoke again.
"By the way..." he continued scrubbing his hands. "Why are your brothers here?"
He gave her a brief side glance. "And Cassandra. And Mint. Why are they all here?"
"Kiara, too," Penny added, smirking slightly. "Just so you’re not surprised tomorrow."
She cleared her throat and scratched the back of her head. "Renren, I don’t know if this is the best ti to hit you with all the details—especially after you just witnessed soone die and soone else get stabbed nearly to death."
"I’m fine," Zoren reassured her with a small smile. "I’ve seen worse."
"Well... thing is, we’ve got Nina’s mom in the guesthouse."
Zoren’s eyes shot open. "What?!"
"I know, right? Shocking." Penny shrugged. "Long story short—she’s been working for the Miller Family. And because Patricia is a busybody, she ended up leading right to her."
Zoren blinked, processing the information. "...That’s good news, then."
"It is... if I don’t think too hard about the Millers or Hayley."
"And Cassandra? Mint?"
"That—bla that on Second Brother. He’s asking to let them stay over at the Pri Group penthouse." She scoffed. "Of course, I refused. That’s ridiculous."
"And yet you’re letting them stay here?"
"Just for the night," she frowned. "If I didn’t, Second Brother would be knocking on every door in the city asking people—and animals—to take them in."
Zoren leaned his head back against the tub. "That’s surprising of him. I didn’t think he’d go that far for them."
" neither," Penny sighed. "And as for First Brother, Slater, and Mint... they ca because..."
She trailed off.
Zoren narrowed his eyes. "Because? What happened?"
Penny let out a heavy sigh and moved closer to the tub. "Renren... sothing really strange has co up."
"How strange?"
"Do you rember that story Dad told us?" she asked, watching him nod.
"The one about when he was abducted?"
"Do you rember why it happened?"
He nodded again. "Because of a woman who died during that operation."
"That woman... was Uncle Haines’s forr lover."
Zoren’s expression froze. "What?"
"And that’s not even the most shocking part," Penny continued, her voice low. "The most shocking part is... the woman they rember—the one from the operation —isn’t the sa person in Mint’s case file."
She bit her lip and took a deep breath before delivering the final blow.
"The person they recognized—the woman who died during that mission... and Uncle Haines’s forr lover... is Naylani Pierson."
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