The SUV smelled like expensive leather and cold air. Leo sat in the back, his eyes fixed on the city passing by. Streetlights flashed across the dark interior, lighting up his face for a second before leaving him in the dark again. He didn't say a word. He just listened to the steady sound of the tires on the road.Maya sat next to him, her face lit by the screen of her phone. She was scrolling through the names in the black folder, her thumb moving with a rhythm that showed she was already working. She didn't look like the girl who had been shaking in a corner while her father tried to sell her off. She looked like a predator."You’re sure about this?" Leo asked. He didn't turn his head to look at her."They think I'm a joke now, Leo," Maya said. Her voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. "The Sterlings are the talk of the town, and not in a good way. Every one of those trustees at the dinner tomorrow night has probably already drafted a speech about how sorry they are for me. They w

Elena sat in the plastic chair next to her mother’s hospital bed. The room was large, private, and filled with machines that beeped with a steady, expensive rhythm. The air was clean and cold. Her mother was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling in a way that Elena still wasn't used to. A week ago, she was dying. Now, thanks to the surgeons Leo had hired, she was safe.Elena should have been happy. But as she looked at the premium flowers in the corner, she felt like she was suffocating. Everything in this room was a gift from a man she had pushed away. She had told Leo she didn't want his world, but she was literally living inside the safety he had bought for her.She pulled her phone from her pocket. The call history showed her outgoing call from yesterday. No answer. No call back. For months, Leo had been like a shadow, always watching. Now, the shadow was gone."Elena?"Her mother’s voice was thin but clear. Elena quickly wiped her eyes."I'm here, Mom. How do you feel

"Turn it up, Sebastian."Leo’s voice was a low vibration in the back of the SUV. He wasn't looking at the city anymore. He was staring at the live feed from Victor Slade’s private elevator. On the screen, the old man looked triumphant. He was adjusting his silk tie in the mirror, a smug grin on his face as he clutched the red leather book against his ribs."He thinks he’s walking into a coronation," Maya said. She was sitting across from Leo, her navy dress slightly wrinkled from the stress of the office meeting, but her eyes were sharper than ever. "He thinks by tomorrow morning, the Sterling name is dead and the Blackwood ghost is a hunted man.""He thinks he’s playing a game of chess," Leo replied, his eyes never leaving the monitor. "He doesn't realize I already took his king off the board ten minutes ago."Sebastian’s fingers flew across the laptop keys. "Accounts are zeroed out, sir. I’ve moved the scholarship funds into a protected trust under Maya’s name. The offshore holdings

Leo sat in the wide leather seat of the Gulfstream, the cabin silent except for the low rush of the air conditioning. He didn't look like a student. He didn't look like the guy who worried about library fines or bagel orders. He looked like he was carved out of ice. On the tablet in his lap, the Red Ledger was open, but he wasn't reading the numbers. He was staring at a black-and-white scan of a payroll document from 2004.*Vance, Martha. Research Assistant. Level 4 Clearance.*He felt a cold sickness crawl up his spine. He had spent months thinking he found Elena by accident. He thought he was the one who chose her in that crowded university hallway. But the dates on the screen told a different story.He remembered that day, sitting in his grandfather’s car, his knuckles working too much. Thomas Blackwood had looked at him, and asked him if he was ready to claim his position. Leo had thought his grandfather meant the fortune. Now, looking at Martha Vance’s name, he realized Thomas a

The first bullet ripped through the heavy oak crate three inches from Elena’s head, showering her hair in splinters. She screamed, the sound lost in the thunder of automatic fire that turned the warehouse into a killing floor. The men who had been standing over her just seconds ago, mocking her and talking about her mother’s medical files, were now diving for cover behind rusted machinery and stacks of rotting wooden pallets.Leo didn't run for cover.He moved through the chaos like a predator that had finally been let off its leash. He walked into the line of fire, his movements calm and rhythmic. He held a black handgun in his right hand, and every time the weapon jumped, one of the Raven Group guards fell. There was no hesitation in his eyes. There was no mercy. He wasn't the boy who used to help her carry heavy boxes in the library. He wasn't the guy who looked nervous when he asked to share her bagel.Elena watched him, her breath hitching in her chest. She saw him double-tap a m