The office was huge. Windows on three sides showing Manhattan burning below. Miranda behind her desk. Five hundred guards surrounding them. Twenty soldiers who'd come with Grayson already looked dead.Miranda kept the gun on Marcus Jr. "Surrender or he dies. Again."Grayson had been here before. Different building. Same threat. Same impossible choice."You won't kill him," he said. Trying to sound confident. "He's too valuable.""Am I?" Miranda pulled the trigger.Click.Empty gun.Marcus Jr. didn't even flinch. Neither did Grayson."Testing you," Miranda said. Impressed. "You didn't flinch. Cold. I like that.""I know you won't kill him. You need him.""True." She dropped the empty gun. Pulled a real one. "But I'll kill you."She fired.Marcus Jr. tackled her. Just launched himself across the desk. Ten years old hitting a grown woman. The bullet went wide. Hit the ceiling.Chaos.Twenty soldiers engaged five hundred guards. Gunfire everywhere. Glass shattering. People screaming and d

Miranda's face went from smiling to murderous in about half a second."What are you DOING?" She was screaming. Actually screaming. "We had a DEAL!"Blackwell looked calm. Too calm. Like he'd been planning this moment for years. "Deal's off. I'm done being your puppet."The arena went silent. Everyone watching. Millions of people. This wasn't in the script."You can't—""I can. I'm the president. I'm calling federal agents to arrest you right now for... let's see... funding domestic terrorism. War profiteering. Murder. Should I continue?"Blackwell pulled out a tablet. Started reading. "Every crime. Every bribe. Every illegal thing you've done for the past decade. I've been gathering evidence. While you thought you controlled me, I was building a case."Miranda's guards were looking confused. Uncertain. Their boss was being accused by the president on live television."You made me president," Blackwell continued. "But I'm not your slave. Never was. I just played one until I had everyth

Theodore Sterling made his sisters look like amateurs.Two trillion dollars. That's what intelligence said he was worth. More money than some countries. More power than most governments. Hidden from public view for fifty years while Victoria built businesses and Miranda inherited them.He'd controlled both of them. They were pawns. Pieces on his board. And now both pieces were gone. One dead. One imprisoned. Grayson stared at the file the official had left. Photos of Theodore. Older man. Maybe seventy. Gray hair. Expensive suit. Eyes that looked cold even in pictures."He doesn't want money," the official had explained. "He wants suffering. Your suffering specifically."Ten thousand mercenaries surrounding London wasn't a bluff. Satellite imagery updated every hour. More forces arriving. Weapons. Vehicles. Setting up for siege."Give me Kane or the city burns." Theodore's message was public. Broadcast to British government. To news media. To everyone.British officials panicked. Of c