Chapter 171
Chapter 171
Jan shot Briar a look of utter despair as he whined, “I’m not scared! I’m just being smart!”
He had returned to the country with one main goal: to be a low–key, attractive individual making a modest income without drawing attention from the influential figures in Shoneport.
If Ashton took notice of him, how could he keep a low
profile and quietly build his fortune?
As they approached the parked cars, and just as lan was about to get into the same one as Briar, someone grabbed him by the back of his collar. It was
Connor.
“Hey, buddy, come ride with me. I like your vibe,” Connor grinned, pulling lan along without giving him a chance to refuse.
lan shot a desperate look at Briar, silently pleading for help, but it was too late.
Connor pushed him into the car, and the door slammed shut with a bang that felt like a jolt to his heart. Ian crammed himself into the passenger seat, fastening his seatbelt while sneaking glances at Connor. Trying to sound brave, though his voice was shaky, he said, “Briar and I are tight, like brothers. So don’t even think about messing with me while he’s not around–Briar will get you back!”
Connor, who was steering the car with one hand, didn’t even look at lan as he asked, “What was that?”
Suddenly, lan found the sky, the ground, and even the scenery outside the window fascinating and stayed quiet.
Connor let out a teasing laugh while watching lan act all nervous, “What, are you scared because you’re worried I’ll realize who you are? S?”
lan couldn’t hold back his surprise as he turned to Connor, stiffening. He stammered, “Wait… you recognized me right away?”
Panic filled him as he thought, ‘Oh no! Did I just reveal Briar’s secret too?‘
Connor rolled his eyes and questioned, “What do you think? Do you think one phone call from you could persuade Ashton to come to this place in person?
Inside, lan was losing it, but tried to keep calm on the outside. He probed, “So if you knew who I was from the start, why did you let me walk into Shoneport?”
Connor smirked in response, “Take a wild guess. Every year, tons of people sneak into Shoneport for their own reasons. Do you think they just leave quietly on their own?”
lan shivered at the thought and clarified, “So you mean people walk in on their own, but get carried out instead?”
Connor grinned and nodded in response, “Exactly, what a smart guy, you got it.”
Ashton’s reputation in Shoneport was no joke.
There are always shady things happening in the city, and if Ashton weren’t there to pull the strings and keep everyone in check, the police would be overwhelmed.
lan forced a smile, “Ashton is the best!”
In the other car, Briar watched lan get dragged away, and she pleaded, “Ashton, lan doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t scare him.”
Ashton drove with one hand while holding Briar’s hand with the other, reassuring, “Alright, whatever you say.”
Briar raised an eyebrow and said, “It doesn’t look like it from your face.”
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Ashton sighed and picked up the radio and said, “Connor, lan’s one of us. Don’t give him a hard time,”
Connor’s voice came through immediately, “Got it.”
Ashton glanced at Briar and asked, “Are you happy now?”
Briar gently fed Ashton a piece of chocolate as she replied, “I am happy. He’s just my friend, so stop getting jealous for no reason.”
After seeing Ashton get jealous over nothing so many times, Briar would have to be a pretty clueless girlfriend not to know exactly why he was scaring lan,
“I know,” Ashton replied coolly. “Otherwise, my people would’ve had him under surveillance before he even set foot in Shoneport.”
In fact, the moment Ashton’s people discovered lan was an overseas mercenary, he was already on their radar. But thanks to Briar, they never actually put him under surveillance.
What they didn’t expect was that before they could even approach lan, he had gone and snitched to Ashton himself.
For a mercenary like S, known for his notorious reputation, seeking help from someone
else instead of tackling problems alone was unusual.
Ashton was skeptical that S had suddenly changed his ways.
That’s what made lan’s actions concerning to Ashton.
Briar took a deep breath and said, “I know who he is. Back in Qathana, I found myself in trouble a few times, and he saved me each time.”
It was no secret that lan had a complicated past, and Ashton had plenty of reasons to be cautious. But Briar couldn’t let Ashton keep shadowing lan; if she did, it could expose her secret identity as Q, the elite instructor at the DDC Vanguard Mercenary Special Operations Base.
With Sawyer and someone from the Garza family already watching her in Shoneport, she needed to stay under the radar.
“Okay, since he saved you, I’ll keep an eye out for lan, too,” Ashton said, feeling a heavy burden in his chest.
Briar’s records from Qathana had been altered, and even Connor, using all his resources on the Dark Web, couldn’t find anything about her time there. Little did Ashton know, Briar had faced danger and been hunted more than once.
‘What kind of people would go after a sweet, gentle girl like her? And not just once, but several times?‘ he thought, feeling truly baffled.
When Briar said “a few times,” she was being prett
or three times.
vague about it. If she didn’t bother to spell it out, it meant she’d been hunted way more than just two
Briar was only just eighteen now, which meant she had landed on someone’s hit list before she was even an adult.
Ashton’s eyes were deep and stormy, rage churning inside him, but his face stayed calm. He reassured, “As long as I’m here, I won’t let anyone lay a finger
on you.”
He’d said something like this before, but this time, it was the most serious promise he’d ever made.
From this moment on, Ashton cared about nothing more than keeping Briar safe–her safety became his top priority.
He never pushed Briar to share where she had been or what she experienced in Qathana. He respected her silence, knowing she had her reasons. Now that she was in Shoneport, right in the center of his territory, he was determined to ensure that those who had previously hunted her would never ha the chance to harm her again.
Ashton and Briar were the first to step out of the two cars that pulled up in front of Briar’s house.
lan hesitantly opened his car door and got out. “Briar…” he began.
Briar waved him over and comforted, “Don’t worry, Ashton is a good guy: Remember how you wanted to find a job to help your little sister, who is
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struggling? Just talk to him—he knows a lot of people who might help?
Ashton shot Briar a look for trying to set things up for lan, but he replied, “No problem. Come by my office tomorrow, and I’ll help you find some good po opportunities.”
Since Briar had spoken up, Ashton felt he had to show her some respect.
This unexpected turn of events completely took lan aback. He stared at Ashton with wide eyes and gasped, “Wait, Ashton, are you serious? You’re not just trying to trick me or something, are you?”
Connor smacked lan on the back of the head and said, “You? As if Ashton would waste his time trying to trick someone like you. Get real.”
lan looked a bit lost and stammered, “…”
Inwardly, he grumbled, ‘Why wouldn’t I be worth it? I am worth quite a bit of money on the black market.
‘But compared to someone like Ashton, who has billions, maybe I don’t stand a chance!
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