Tony poured two glasses of bourbon and slid one across the desk toward Vivienne. His smile hadn't changed, but his eyes had. They were darker now, watching her the way a cat watches something small and cornered."Come on, Miss Ashford. One drink. We're just talking business here. No reason we can't be civilized about it."Vivienne looked at the glass. She looked at Tony. Then she picked it up and took a small sip, because refusing a drink from a man like Tony Barelli in his own building on his own floor surrounded by his own men was a different kind of negotiation, and she knew it.Tony's grin widened. He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, and when he spoke again, the fake warmth was gone from his voice entirely."Let me tell you what I really want, Miss Ashford. Forget the building. Forget the money. I want one night with you. Just one. After that, you get the Meridian Building at whatever price you like. Everybody wins."The room went silent. Rachel's en

Ethan sidestepped. His palm shot out and connected with Gray's floating rib with a short, sharp pop that sounded like a firecracker going off underwater. Gray's eyes bulged. His body launched sideways into the wall. Plaster cracked. Dust rained from the ceiling. He was unconscious before he hit the ground, his massive body crumpled against the baseboard like a puppet somebody tossed into the corner."That was pretty." The Spirit sounded genuinely pleased. "You might not be completely useless after all."Tony was crawling on the floor behind the desk. His hand found a drawer. He pulled out a pistol, aimed it at Ethan with shaking, bloody fingers, and fired."Catch it." The Spirit's voice didn't even speed up. "Two fingers. Left hand. Make it look easy."Ethan's left hand came up. His index and middle finger closed around the bullet in midair, plucking it from its trajectory like a man picking a grape off a vine. The metal was warm against his fingertips. The room went dead silent. Twel

The room smelled like copper and silence. Victor Crane's body lay in pieces across the floor, and every armed man left standing had his eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look at the young man who had just turned their world inside out with his bare hands.Vivienne stood by the window, her blazer draped over her shoulders, her composure fully restored. The flush was gone from her skin. Her eyes were clear and sharp, moving across the room with the calm precision of a woman who had already filed this entire night into the correct mental folder and moved on to the next problem."I've suspected a traitor inside the Ashford family for months." Vivienne's voice was quiet but carried the weight of a verdict already decided. "Tonight confirmed it. Ashford Jie. Senior branch. He's been feeding the Crane family intelligence about my movements, my schedule, my vulnerabilities." She turned from the window and looked at Ethan with an expression that wasn't panicked or afraid. It was the expr

Rachel moved before Marcus Webb finished his last word. Her open palm connected with the side of his face so hard the sound cracked through the Emperor's Hall like a gunshot.Marcus's feet left the ground. His body launched sideways into a serving cart, and the cart exploded beneath him in a shower of shattered plates, broken wine glasses, and silverware scattering across the marble floor like shrapnel.He lay in the wreckage clutching his face, blood pouring between his fingers, and when he opened his mouth to scream, three teeth tumbled out onto the floor and bounced twice before settling in a small pool of red."You crazy... you psychotic..." Marcus whimpered from the floor, his words slurred and wet through the gap in his teeth. "Do you know who my father is? I'll have you arrested! I'll have this whole building shut down! I'll..."Rachel walked over to him calmly, the way someone walks toward a chore they've done a thousand times. She pulled her leg back and kicked him in the rib

She looked at Lucas. "The Grand Meridian is not an independent restaurant. It belongs to the Ashford family's hospitality empire. It is managed by a collateral relative named Garrett Ashford. This floor, these walls, that chandelier you're standing under, this carpet your guards are bleeding on, all of it is Ashford property." She paused and let the words sink in like stones dropping into deep water. "And my name is Vivienne Ashford."The color drained from Lucas's face so fast it looked like someone had pulled a plug at the base of his skull. Chase's smirk didn't vanish all at once. It died in stages, like a candle being pinched out one finger at a time, as the name registered and the implications unfolded behind his eyes.Vivienne picked up her phone and dialed a single number. When it connected, her voice was pure ice. Not raised. Not emotional. Just cold and absolute and final."Garrett. I'm at The Grand Meridian. Your staff just told a Prescott boy he could have me for a month. Y