Titan 206

Yolanda followed Simone, her backpack slung over her shoulder.

“Aunt Simone, the short drama scene is really booming right now. Should we consider having our talent without scripts try their hand at it?” Yolanda asked.

Simone was about to respond when Ian suddenly spoke up.

“Ms. Grant.” Ian called out.

“Yeah?” Yolanda looked over.

She turned to face him, noticing he seemed unusually quiet tonight.

“Can I talk to you about Ms. Sinclair’s new script?” Ian asked.

Simone hadn’t forgotten Ian was turning down the role, so she gave Yolanda a thoughtful, sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“Try and talk some sense into him, will you? If Mr. Rowe didn’t have such a soft spot for him, this kind of golden opportunity wouldn’t even land in his lap. His popularity is soaring, but his list of credits is way too short. After Zack’s show finishes up, mine is coming next, and if he adds this film to the mix, he’ll become an A–list star practically overnight,” Simone urged.

Yolanda could hear the urgency in Simone’s voice. In truth, Simone really liked Ian–he was talented, worked hard, kept his head down, and always acted with respect. Honestly, what manager didn’t wish for talent like him?

“I’ll talk to him, Aunt Simone,” Yolanda promised.

Simone knew they needed some privacy, so she called out to the rest and led them off ahead.

Yolanda walked over to a nearby little pavilion and sat down, motioning for Ian to join her. “Come sit down.”

The benches here were designed in an interesting way–some were higher, some lower. She chose the taller

one.

Jan walked over and sat on the lower bench at her feet. He took her backpack, opened it, and started transferring the contents into his own bag.

Yolanda watched him, and even without a word from lan, she could tell he was still stewing over something. ‘He’s totally sulking again, she thought.

With a teasing grin, she propped one leg playfully across his lap.

Ian froze, hands mid–motion, giving her a sideways look. “Careful, Grant. Your man’s about to show

catch us.”

up and

Yolanda couldn’t help but laugh, leaning back with an easy swagger. “Still holding a grudge, huh?” she teased.

“Like I’ve got any right to be mad? You told me to chill out. If I keep being clueless, you’ll probably kick me to

the curb,” Ian shot back.

With his head bowed and a gentle look on his face, Ian tucked her sunscreen spray into his own bag, left her backpack empty, and finally zipped it up.

Yolanda’s hair was slicked up in a high ponytail, her black sportswear making her skin look almost porcelain pale. Her jet–black hair looked sharp against her fair face, and her eyes sparkled even brighter than the night sky around them.

“Ian, I don’t want you to take this script.”

Ian went still for a second, eyes lowered, the barest hint of a smile flickering on his lips. “Really?”

Yolanda leaned in close and gave his earlobe a playful pinch. “If you did, the female lead wouldn’t be Joelle. Honestly, I can’t handle you getting all close and personal with her on screen.”

The thing about Yolanda–she could wrap any guy around her finger. Just a second ago, Ian was sulking like a sad puppy, and now he was all up in her space, tail practically wagging.

“Ms. Grant, honestly, before I came tonight, I was thinking… If you really made me work with her, I’d just vanish. You wouldn’t see me anywhere near you,” Ian muttered.

He went full puppy mode, resting his chin on her shoulder, lashes down, back all hunched–looking like the saddest, most pitiful guy in the world.

Yolanda reached up and gave his hair a little tousle. “Let’s go. We’ll miss the sunrise if we don’t move.”

Ian practically bounced back to life, grabbing her hand and pulling her up the path. But halfway there, Yolanda caught footsteps behind them, so she quickly dropped his hand and opened up some space between them.

Leo sauntered over, all smug and casual, before firing off a snarky remark. “Well, well, you two again. Guess I took a whole lap just to bump into you both. What’s up with all the sneaking around?”

Yolanda was fed up with Leo and his prickly sarcasm. She definitely wasn’t about to let him sniff out what was going on between her and Ian. ‘Not a chance,‘ she thought.

She buried her head and pushed forward, but Leo stuck to them like some soggy, creepy ghoul, matching their steps just out of spite.

For a second, Yolanda figured he was just taking his sweet time.

Then she caught on–speed up, he sped up; slow down, he slowed down. The guy was totally glued to them.

He was seriously like a shadow that just wouldn’t go away.

Yolanda took a deep breath, spun around, and shot him a look. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Leo glanced over at Ian and mentally scoffed, ‘Talk about extra. Who the hell wears a mask hiking?‘

“What, this path yours or something?” Leo shot back.

Yolanda wasn’t about to waste her breath on him. Thankfully, they’d reached the top. The lights from the mountain lodge glowed nearby, and everyone who’d made it was already waiting on the grass for the sunrise.

Leo let out another cold snort as he walked past lan, shooting him a glare that could cut glass.

Yolanda needed to hit the restroom and just handed her bag off to lan. “Go snag us a good spot for the sunrise -I’ll catch up in a sec.”

Saying no more, she strode off toward the lodge.

lan stood there clutching her bag, was just about to take a step after her when Simone’s voice rang out.

“lan, come help us move a table,” Simone called out.

Leo’s eyes lit up, and he swaggered toward the lodge, tossing a cocky line over his shoulder. “Superstar, you better get moving. If you’re late, there won’t be any seats left for you.”

He shot inside in a flash, obviously not wanting to get caught and forced by Simone to help out.

The tables were for breakfast later, and the staff was already hustling around, getting everything set up.

Ian couldn’t turn Simone down, so he just headed over to lend a hand.

Leo headed for the restroom on the first floor, but the door was wide open and the place was totally empty.

Leo frowned–where had Yolanda gone?

He checked the second floor, then the third, still nothing.

Back on the first floor, he pulled out his phone, ready to call her, but before he could dial, someone cracked him hard on the back of the head. He dropped, lights out.

Andrew dragged Leo into the nearby courtyard and shoved him into the trunk, where Yolanda was already

out cold.

She’d been knocked out with something.

Andrew had originally planned to take just Yolanda, but Leo was so annoyingly persistent, hanging around looking for people, that he finally just decided to drag him along too.

When Leo finally regained consciousness, his head was still spinning. Looking around, he realized he was locked in some rundown, abandoned factory. Sunlight spilled in from outside, but inside it was stripped completely bare–just piles of scattered bricks on the ground, a single locked door, steel bars over the windows, and a camera dangling from one of the window frames. That was all.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone behind him. Turning around, he saw Yolanda leaning back

in a chair.

Leo froze, and his first instinct was to reach for the chain around her ankle and try to undo it, but almost

immediately, he felt something wrong with his own body.

Leo felt like his whole body was overheating, his skin prickling with heat as if he might explode any second. ‘What the hell did they do to me?‘ he wondered, blinking through the haze.

Yolanda was sprawled across the only chair in the place–a grimy, beat–up thing, way too shabby for someone like her. She looked so out of place, so vulnerable.

But even now, she was impossibly striking. Her pale skin seemed to almost shimmer under the weak sunlight, and her athletic outfit traced every curve. Leo found himself dumbfounded, unable to look away.

“Yolanda? Hey, Yolanda?” Leo called out, his voice dry and low, and he slowly dragged himself closer to her.

He tried to get her attention, his body heavy and off–balance as he moved step by step toward the chair.

His hands were tied behind his back, so he could only nudge her with his head.

Yolanda had breathed in so much of the knock–out drug, she was totally unconscious.

Leo could barely think straight, her scent clouding his mind. He lowered his gaze, barely keeping himself in check as he fought the urge to give in to his body’s instincts.

“Hey, wake up,” he muttered, his voice rough and strained.

Leo had been kidnapped before, but never with someone like Yolanda. How the hell did she end up here with

him?

‘Who the hell is actually behind this? Is it me they want, or is Yolanda the target?‘ Leo thought, mind racing.

The thirst was killing Leo–every step closer made it worse, until he just gave in and pressed his face right into her neck, desperate for any relief.

“Hey…” Leo croaked, his voice barely audible, rough with need.

He felt like he was boiling alive, trapped in a desert, the heat suffocating him. Getting close to her was the only thing that made it even a little more bearable.

Even half–conscious, Yolanda could sense his burning presence against her, frowning in discomfort as she instinctively shoved him away,

“Don’t push me… I feel awful,” Leo mumbled, voice thick with discomfort.

The camera dangling by the window caught everything–streaming every second live for whoever wanted to

watch.

Andrew was straight–up crazy. He blasted the group link out to a bunch of people: Charles, Ian, Samuel, Xavier, Quinn–the whole crew.

But everyone knew Andrew was persona non grata, so as soon as he sent out that link, most people instantly blocked him and didn’t give it a second look.

Andrew was the black sheep of the Sinclair family, cast out and unwanted–no one needed to bother associating with someone like him.

So, only a handful were left in the group.