Chapter 345: Two Holes, One Goal
The drive to the Spires took almost an hour. Nash had spent the morning on the phone with Harlan, keeping his voice calm and steady, feeding him just enough to keep the whole illusion going: yeah, Baby-Boom’s still locked up in the apartment, yeah, everything’s going according to plan, no, nothing to worry about. Harlan, terrified Apex might find out the truth, had agreed to personally arrange Rei’s ride to Hector’s villa.
"Remember," Nash said before she got in the car, one hand resting briefly on her shoulder. "You hate all of this. You hate me, you hate this whole situation, you hate the entire world. Let that anger carry you."
Rei didn’t answer, just gave a short nod and got in the back seat.
The black car stopped in front of a huge wrought-iron gate, Hector’s villa looming in the distance like some fortress of glass and stone, crushing even from far away. Rei sat frozen for a second, hands clenched on her knees, before forcing her fingers to relax.
Harlan, sitting next to her, hadn’t said a word the whole ride. He was sweating a bit despite the AC, eyes fixed straight ahead, carefully avoiding her gaze.
"Relax," he finally muttered, almost against his will. "Do what they tell you. Don’t smile too much, but don’t give her that angry dog face either. Monique doesn’t like pouting."
"Don’t worry about me," Rei said, voice low. "Just worry about not making me look like a liar. You people are pretty good at that."
He didn’t answer, just let out a sigh of relief.
The gate opened slowly with a metallic creak. The car rolled forward down a driveway lined with perfectly trimmed hedges, marble fountains spraying clear water on both sides, until it stopped in front of the main entrance — an oversized porch held up by white columns that wouldn’t look out of place in some Upper City palace.
Two maids in dark uniforms were already waiting, silent, faces blank, like they’d been trained never to ask questions. They led Rei and Harlan through a massive hall, all white marble and gold trim, chandeliers hanging high overhead throwing cold light across the polished floor.
They walked for a long time, turning through hallways that all looked the same, hard to believe this was still the Underground, until they finally stopped in front of a dark wooden double door. One of the maids knocked twice, waited for some inaudible answer, then opened it.
The office door swung open onto a huge room bathed in golden light.
Monique was already there, sitting on the edge of a massive desk, one leg crossed over the other, a glass of red wine in her hand she wasn’t really drinking — just a prop, like everything else about her.
"Kimura," she said, a smile spreading over her painted lips. "Finally, darling. I almost thought you were going to insult me by ignoring me."
"Didn’t really have a choice," Rei grumbled, staying by the door, arms crossed.
"Nobody ever really has a choice with me," Monique said with a little laugh, then turned to Harlan. "Thank you, dear Harlan. How are our little pets doing, in their charming apartment?"
"Packed in like sardines, ma’am," Harlan answered fast — a little too fast. "They don’t move an inch."
"Perfect." Monique waved a hand. "You can go. Go sweat somewhere else."
Harlan nodded and slipped out fast, not without shooting Rei one last look — dark, pointed, clearly saying: don’t you dare spill anything.
He’d really landed in the soup.
Once the door closed, Monique got up, slowly circling Rei, sizing her up like merchandise in a shop window.
"You look good," she said. "For someone stuck in a dump like that. Harlan’s taking decent care of your housing situation, at least?"
"We make do," Rei answered, jaw tight, letting Monique believe whatever she wanted.
"Sure." Monique stopped in front of her, an amused smile on her face. "Well, that shouldn’t last much longer, if everything goes as planned." She went back and sat on the edge of the desk. "Anyway. I’ve got a proposal for you, darling. Just one. Listen close, because I’m not repeating myself — I hate repeating myself, gives me wrinkles."
She tilted her head, savoring the moment.
"You spend one night — just one — in one of our parlors in the Spires. Nash Blaze will be there." She watched Rei’s face closely. "And you, sweetie, are gonna sleep with him."
Rei’s eyes went wide, her jaw dropping a little.
"What?"
"You heard me just fine, darling." Monique stood, stepping closer again, a cruel little smile on her lips. "You go to the massage parlors, you give your body to Blaze. In exchange, Baby-Boom’s debt disappears. Completely. You and your girls, free. Actually free this time."
"You want me to—" Rei stepped back, faking some of the disgust, but mostly just genuinely floored, arms crossed hard over her chest. She’d expected a lot of things, but not this. Damn.
"Why him? Why me?"
"Because that little street rat is seriously starting to piss me off," Monique said, her smile fading a bit. "He thinks he can screw with anybody, thumb his nose at Apex. A little humiliation will do him good. And you, darling, you’re the perfect tool for it."
She started circling Rei again, voice dropping lower, more intimate.
"You’re the perfect tool. You and that useless pride of yours, can’t even stand the idea of some pig putting his hands on you." She let out a light laugh. "So picture it. Picture yourself lying there, that guy on top of you, all that weight, that stink of man all around you, hands holding you like you already belong to him. You’re gonna hate every second, sweetie. You hate men, don’t you? Little apprentice lesbian — that’s exactly why it’s gonna be perfect."
"You’re disgusting," Rei spat, face twisted in disgust.
"Maybe," Monique said, not the least bit offended, smile only growing. "But you know what’s even more disgusting? That boy’s got an obscene amount of success with women. I’ve seen the reports, heard the rumors. All those girls hanging off him, completely hooked, like he broke every single one of them till they were begging for it." She laughed softly, savoring every word. "So I gotta wonder, honestly, how long that pretty little pride of yours, untouchable lesbian and all, is gonna last once he starts moving inside you. Bet even you end up moaning under him, whether you like it or not."
Rei felt her stomach turn, disgust rising thick in her throat hearing those words come out of Monique’s mouth so casually. She clenched her fists, jaw tight as hell.
"Shut up," she said, voice shaking with real anger this time.
But somewhere, against her will, an image of the scene Monique described had slipped into her head, quick and treacherous, and her heart, for reasons she didn’t want to name, started beating a little faster. She shoved the thought away fast, disgusted with herself as much as with Monique.
"Oh, I hit a nerve," Monique said, catching the shift instantly, a delighted smile lighting up her face. "Look at you. All red."
"R-red?! Don’t screw with me, you’re pissing me off," Rei hissed.
"Sure, darling." Monique didn’t push it, just savored her little win. "Your job, anyway, is gonna be embarrassingly easy. You show your disgust, clearly, loudly, exactly like right now. Don’t even need to force it, apparently. Now listen close. You gotta make it obvious — obvious — that you hate every second while he’s rearranging your insides. People need to see you fighting it."
She paused, picked her wine glass back up, circled Rei one more time.
"So? This little favor, in exchange for your freedom, starting the day after tomorrow. What do you say?"
Rei lowered her eyes, letting her shoulders drop a bit, playing the part of someone resigning herself, even though, honestly, a good chunk of that wasn’t acting anymore.
"Fine," she finally muttered. "I accept."
Monique smiled, radiant, like she’d just closed the best deal of her career.
"Smart choice, sweetheart. I’ll send the details soon. Get ready to bring your A-game, Rei Kimura. I can’t wait... to watch you get deflowered."
Rei swallowed hard, just lowered her head, kept the mask on all the way to the door, all the way to the car, until the gate finally closed behind them.
It wasn’t until Hector’s villa was well behind them in the rearview mirror that she finally let her breath out, whole body shaking — from relief, she told herself. Just relief.
Nash had been right. From the start. There really was a big fat bomb waiting on the other side.
Back at the Spires villa, in the living room, Rei laid it all out, standing in front of the group, voice still a little tight from the leftover adrenaline.
"She wants me at one of the establishments with Nash," she said. "One night. I’m supposed to play the disgusted, desperate girl. In exchange, she promises Baby-Boom’s total freedom."
"And you believe that?" Kai asked, skeptical.
"Not for a second," Rei said without hesitating. "But it’s exactly the kind of opening we were looking for."
Nash, sitting in his usual chair, listened close, fingers laced in front of his mouth.
"I have to go with you," Rei said, a bit faster than she meant to, then caught herself. "I mean... that’s Monique’s plan. Don’t see how else to do it without raising flags."
Nash nodded slowly, his eyes drifting off for a second.
"Saya’s going in tonight too, on her end," he said. "Two different doors, but I’d bet the endgame’s the same."
"How so?" Dahlia asked, leaning in.
"Think about it," Nash said. "They set Saya up to infiltrate and keep tabs on me from inside the parlors. They send Rei to pull me right into their walls. Two angles, one target. Me. Whatever they’re building, it’s probably some kind of scandal around me."
Heavy silence hit the room.
"So... why still go?" Aiko asked, arms crossed, clearly worried. "If we know it’s a trap, why take the risk? We’ve got the advantage. Stay here, just announce we’re joining Blacklist. Screw the media fallout, they can’t do anything legally, right?"
"They can’t do anything legally, don’t you think that means they’ll do something illegal instead?" Nash said, getting up slowly from his chair.
He caught Victoria’s eyes for a second, a different look this time, harder, more locked-in than usual. She looked surprised, almost thrown off by whatever she saw in it. Then his gaze slid over to Aiko, then to each of the girls in the room, one by one.
"Hector’s not just some egomaniac in charge, he’s a real criminal, and a criminal doesn’t play cards without a trump card. And it’s the kind of trump card that can flip the whole table, put a bullet right through the other guy’s head," he said. "He’s hurt Victoria. All of you, one way or another. And he’s still hurting plenty more out there. I can’t build anything solid, can’t give anyone a better future, as long as a guy like that’s still sitting at the top deciding who gets to live good and who dies in the dark. The whole cancer of the Underground starts with him."
He walked a few steps, stopped in front of the window, looking out at the distant city lights.
"What I’m building isn’t just your freedom," he went on. "It’s the complete downfall of Hector. Of Monique. Of everyone treating the Underground like a dumping ground for their worst instincts, never having to answer for any of it."
He turned back, gaze sweeping slowly over the room full of women staring at him like he was about to lead some kind of crusade. A crooked, almost mocking smile pulled at his mouth.
"Don’t look at me like that, I’ve got zero interest in playing white knight," he said, casual, hands sliding into his pockets. "Buying back the city, taking down Apex, bringing Hector to his knees... gotta justify my spot as King of the Rats somehow, right? And besides, if I don’t become the untouchable hero of the Underground, you’re all gonna start throwing rocks at me the second I act like some stray dog in the street. Call it insurance so I can keep doing whatever the hell I want."
The heavy silence broke instantly, swept away by that blunt honesty so completely him. The whole room loosened up, drawing out laughs and eye-rolls all at once.
Hina threw her head back, a provocative grin on her face.
"God, he can be so damn annoying... You really don’t need to do all that for your ass, Blaze. You already know we can’t say no to you anymore anyway."
"Total demon," Aiko muttered, looking away, arms crossed in her signature pose, cheeks betraying a little color anyway. "Always calculating his next move just to justify his own crap."
Zayela, leaning against the doorframe, let out a muffled laugh. "Let him be, Aiko. A guy who owns his wild side beats some hypocrite saint any day."
Nash shrugged, gaze drifting toward the middle of the table.
"Maybe. But honestly, past my own freedom, I mostly just wanna see Victoria’s face when I actually pull off turning her into the people’s goddess."
A little wave of laughter went round the room. Dahlia, sitting near Victoria, reached over and gave her a light pat on the shoulder, amused.
Victoria stayed quiet. She slowly raised a hand to her face, palm half-covering her mouth, like she was holding something back — a word, a breath, something too honest to say in front of everyone. Her cheeks had gone faintly pink, something she’d never admit out loud.
She wanted to say something. Anything. A sharp comeback, one of her usual jabs, something to grab control of the room back the way she always could.
Nothing came out. She knew if she opened her mouth right now, it’d come out way too honest.
She was done for. Completely, hopelessly taken by this man’s nerve.
Nash, pretending not to notice the quiet chaos he’d just caused in his manager, turned toward the big bay window.
His eyes caught the amber glow of the Spires’ endless twilight.
That’s when a familiar double flicker hit his vision. The System kicked in, laying a cascade of glowing blue text over the city skyline.
RARE QUEST — "THE SILENT SHADOW" — PART 2: VALIDATED
Condition met: Used the intel gathered on Victoria’s weaknesses to solve a major problem she’d been hiding, and successfully pushed through the solution (the People’s Queen strategy, the massive Sector 4 buyout).
Rewards unlocked:
Trust / Affection Victoria: 100% — Devotion and mutual possession fully unlocked. All locks on her private preferences, her real desires, her emotional soft spots — all open now.
Permanent Title: "The Queen’s Confidant" — Victoria can’t hide strategic info from Nash anymore. Any lie or omission on her part automatically triggers a visual tell (amplified micro-expressions) that only Nash can see.
Active Passive — "Political Shadow": +35% effectiveness in any negotiation or confrontation. 25% less initial wariness and resistance from anyone he’s dealing with.
Active Passive — "Saint’s Shield": Any reputation or media attack aimed at one of Nash’s allies has a 40% chance of blowing back on whoever started it, generating public sympathy equal to the damage they meant to cause.
Credits: +5,000,000C
QUEST: "CROWN OF A LEADER III" — UNLOCKED
Status: Active — Triggered immediately, tied to the upcoming infiltration of the Spires massage parlors.
Objective: Get through the infiltration op. Keep the allies involved (Rei, Saya, Aiko) safe from whatever’s waiting inside the Apex network.
Expected success conditions:
• Handle Rei’s mission without letting emotion or strategy slip.
• Stop a direct threat against Aiko.
• Step in before a forced deal involving Saya goes through.
• Get everyone out of the zone clean, with enough hard evidence against the Apex network.
Estimated rewards on full success: Can’t calculate yet — depends on how many conditions get met. Possible legendary title detected.
Nash stayed frozen for a second by the window, eyes a little wide, staring at a spot only he could see.
Ah... shit, he thought.