Nobody moved for a moment.The gallery had been holding itself in a particular kind of suspension for the last five minutes, the collective tension of people who had been prepared for a specific outcome and were now standing in front of something that did not match it at all.Logan crossed the floor and came to a stop in front of Kyle with his hands sliding into his jacket pockets, his posture easy, his expression carrying the mild, pleasant blankness of someone returning from a routine errand.He looked between Kyle and Stacy."What did I miss?" he said.Kyle stared at him.He had his phone in his hand. The emergency services number was not dialed but had been three seconds away from being dialed for the last four minutes. He looked at Logan's face, at his jacket, at his hands visible at the edges of his pockets, at the general state of a man who had just spent five minutes in a closed room with three professional bodyguards who had gone in with specific intentions.There was nothing

The door at the end of the corridor opened for the third time.This time, it was Max Bright who walked through.He came out with the stiff, contained energy of a man holding fury in check because releasing it in a gallery full of witnesses was not an option. His suit was straight. His posture was upright. And across his face, specifically across his left cheek and jaw, was a vivid red handprint.Not a faint mark. The skin around it was already beginning to shift into the elevated pink that preceded proper swelling, and in the gallery's warm lighting it was impossible to miss.Stacy made a small sound. "Is that a handprint?"Kyle didn't answer. He was staring.Logan had not turned around.Max walked over to his guards on the floor. He looked down at them with an expression that was rapidly moving from controlled anger into something less controlled."Get up," he said. His voice was low but cutting.The lead guard made a sound that was not quite a word. The second guard looked at Max wi

Kyle exhaled slowly, the sound of a man surrendering to the inevitable."One hour," he said again, as if repeating it would make it more binding. "Not a minute more. And we don't participate. We watch from the back of the room. If Max shows up, we leave immediately, no arguments."Stacy nodded quickly. "Agreed. Completely agreed. One hour, watch only, leave if Max appears.""We're already walking toward where Max appeared," Kyle pointed out. "He's been in that corridor twice now. There's a chance he's still down there.""Then we leave," Stacy said. "You said it yourself. If he shows up, we go."Kyle looked at Logan. "And you? Any objections?"Logan shook his head. "None. One hour. Watch only. Leave if Max appears. Your rules, your call."Kyle studied his son-in-law's face for a moment, looking for any sign that Logan was humoring him, that he didn't actually intend to follow these rules. He found nothing but calm acknowledgment."Fine," Kyle said. "Let's go."They started walking towa

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVENMax straightened slowly, his hand coming up to touch his jaw. His face contorted through pain and then settled into something far darker.He looked at Logan with pure hatred now, the controlled fury abandoned entirely in favor of something raw and personal."Attack him," Max snapped. "What are you waiting for? Get him now."The guards hesitated. Their bruises were still fresh, their bodies still carrying the memory of the private room.Stacy whispered to Kyle, "They're going to go for him again. Why are they going for him again? They already lost once.""I don't know," Kyle said. "Maybe Max doesn't care."One of the guards glanced at the other. Neither moved.Max's voice rose. "I said attack him! Are you all completely useless? Is anyone going to actually do something?"The lead guard looked at Max, then at Logan. Something in his expression suggested he was calculating the consequences of refusal against the consequences of compliance.He made his

Stacy grabbed her father's sleeve and pulled, her grip insistent."We're leaving," she said. "Right now."Kyle resisted, his eyes still fixed on Logan standing in the corridor with Max's guards scattered around him. "Stacy, we can't just…""We absolutely can." She tugged harder, already moving them backward through the crowd. "I don't know what happened to Logan today. I don't know if he's had some kind of breakdown or if he genuinely believes he can survive whatever the Bright family decides to do about this. But I am not staying here to find out what happens when this catches up to him.""Stacy.""Dad, listen to me." She stopped pulling and faced him directly, her voice dropping to something urgent and low. "Those men on the floor belong to one of the most dangerous families in this city. Logan just slapped Max Bright twice, in front of witnesses. The Brights don't let things like that go. They don't forget, they don't forgive."Kyle glanced back at the corridor. "I know what they a