"I called them already," Marcus bit into the bread and chewed casually. "You missed that part because your girlfriend was busy becoming a floor mat."Anna Harris sat completely still at the edge of the table with her hands in her lap. She had not moved or spoken in several minutes. The situation had climbed past every level she was prepared to navigate.The door to the private dining room opened.A man named Dante walked in with four men trailing behind him in a loose formation. He was big. Not gym big. The kind of big that came from years of using his body as a professional tool. His shoulders filled the doorway and he moved with the unhurried pace of someone who had never once been told no by anyone close to his own size. Ross Vitelli had sent him on Joel's request to handle the situation with Marcus.But Dante's eyes found Elize Yarrow before they found anyone else.She was standing near Marcus's chair with her arms crossed, her hair slightly messed from the fight, and the kind of

The color drained from Joel's face in real time. His lips parted but nothing came out. Years of positioning, years of name dropping, years of walking into rooms with the assumption that his uncle's shadow made him tall, and a Lancaster had just told him he didn't exist.Sandra opened her mouth again.Joel's hand connected with her cheek before a single word could escape. The sound was sharp and flat and it echoed off the walls of the private dining room like a slap against stone. Sandra stumbled two steps sideways. Her hand went to her face and she stared at Joel with an expression that had nothing to do with pain and everything to do with something collapsing inside her that had been held up by wire and tape for a very long time."Shut up," Joel's chest heaved. "For once in your life, just shut up."Sandra's mouth trembled. Her eyes were wide and glassy. She didn't speak.Joel turned back to Brayden and lowered his voice. He stepped closer and angled his body so the words would trave

Bruno Marcelli's voice was calm and measured and carried the specific weight of someone who had been silent by choice and was now speaking by decision. He pushed his chair back and stood up with the unhurried posture of a man who believed his presence rearranged priorities."My name is Bruno Marcelli. My father is Aldo Marcelli, chairman of Arctic Fox Tech."The name registered on every face in the room at different speeds. Arctic Fox Tech was not a provincial company. It was one of the largest technology enterprises in the country. The kind of name that appeared in national headlines and shareholder reports and government contracts.Joel's mouth fell open. He had traveled with Bruno for months. He had bragged in front of him. He had performed wealth and status and connections like a peacock fanning its feathers in front of a mirror, and the man sitting quietly at the end of the table watching it all had been the son of someone who could buy Joel's entire bloodline and use the receipt

Brayden's jaw tightened. Teo Falco. One of the Seven Guardians under Stanislaus Potter. The Guardians were not errand boys or business associates. They were institutional pillars. Moving against one of them during the current Lancaster instability required thought. Real thought. The kind that involved timelines and alliances and consequences that stretched past tonight.Then Brayden looked across the room at Marcus Steel, who was eating shrimp and ignoring the son of Aldo Marcelli like he had just swatted a fly off his plate.The calculation resolved."Gag him," Brayden nodded toward Joel Martello without looking at him.One of Brayden's bodyguards pulled a cloth napkin from the table and stuffed it into Joel's mouth before he could scream. Another man wrapped a towel around his fist.The work began.The first blow caught Joel in the ribs. His body folded and his eyes went wide. The second caught him in the stomach. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees. The sounds he made wer

The words dropped into the room like a grenade with the pin already pulled. Anna's hand flew to Elena's arm. Elena grabbed Anna right back. Both of them stared at Elize with identical expressions of open mouthed shock."No," Marcus didn't look at Elize. His voice was flat and final."You didn't even think about it.""I don't need to think about it.""One night. That's all I'm asking. You get Anna's safety, I get what I want, everybody wins.""The answer is no, Elize."Elize pouted with the theatrical disappointment of someone who had expected exactly this response and enjoyed performing around it. She turned back to Brayden and shrugged one shoulder.Brayden Lancaster's face did not react the way anyone in the room expected. Secretly, he did not care about anything that embarrassed Atlas. His brother's romantic arrangements were his brother's problem, and Brayden had spent most of his adult life declining to invest emotional energy in Atlas's personal life. But the performance was sti