LOGINDorian looked like he had just stepped out of a private members club. His dark hair was perfectly styled, his light grey suit was cut from fabric so fine it barely creased as he moved, and he wore a heavy vintage gold watch that had probably belonged to his great-grandfather. He moved with the lazy, effortless elegance of someone whose family hadn't worried about money in three centuries. Not the hungry, aggressive energy of someone protecting an expanding empire. Something older than that. Something that didn't need to prove anything because it never had to.To Dorian, the Sterlings were aggressive merchants who had gotten lucky a few decades ago. New money. Loud, fast, and temporary. The Zenith family had dominated the city's elite since before anyone currently alive was born, and they despised how quickly the Sterlings had risen, and they absolutely hated that this upstart family had somehow grown wealthier and more powerful than them in a fraction of the time it had taken the Zen
The junior officer opened his mouth to argue, but the sheer weight of the agent's tone shut him down completely. He looked back through the glass, his throat dry.Inside the room, Julian’s patience finally ran out.He had finally asked Frank if someone from a specific company or family had approached him to buy sterling industries secrets and if Frank had sold them the Sterling corporate plans. And as expected, Frank of course said, “I promise you. I have no connections to those people,” "Wrong answer," Julian said.Before Frank could even blink, Julian reached down, gripped the older man roughly by the back of his hair, and slammed his face straight down onto the solid metal table.A loud, sickening smack echoed off the bare walls.Frank let out a sharp howl of pain, his nose instantly flattening against the steel as dark red blood began to pool even more on the reflective surface. The handcuffs rattled violently against the iron ring anchored to the center of the table.“The evide
The heavy iron door of the interrogation room clicked shut, sealing Julian and Frank inside with the cold, dead scent of cheap bleach and old sweat.Frank didn't look up right away. He kept his eyes locked on his cuffed hands, his shoulders were raised and the upper body was bent forward, creating a rounded curve in the upper back so tight it looked ready to snap.He knew Julian. He knew the cold and effortless way the younger man moved through corporate spaces.Julian was the last sterling Frank expected to deal with. And seeing him here, under the faint light of the interrogation room, made Frank’s stomach drop into a empty, freezing pit.Julian glanced at the seat In front of him but he didn't sit down. He just stood there for a long moment, looking at Frank like he was a broken piece of machinery that had outlived its usefulness."Eight years, Frank," Julian said. His voice was dangerously quiet, lacking any of the warmth or casual friendliness he had used during their golf club l
Debra waved her hand. “That's very unlikely. He's weak and will always be. So I'm not worried about him suddenly surfacing and being able to cause any issues,” “Your mother is right. Let's focus on Sterling's.” Ramon told Armand. Armand nodded in agreement. But still, he wasn't fully at ease every time he thought of Maxwell. He had run into him not long ago, and something about the man was completely different now. It wasn't anything he could point to directly, he looked the same, spoke the same, but the fear that used to live in Maxwell's eyes wasn't there anymore. It was gone entirely. And in its place was something Armand didn't have a name for, a different and cold aura, He didn't like that feeling at all."The infrastructure initiative is already in motion," Debra said, her voice dropping into the cool, deliberate register she reserved for decisions that were already made. "That has not changed. What changes now is the timing. We do not make our approach while Frank's arrest
"No reason?" Ramon scoffed, stopping to look at his wife.Was she serious right now? Had she not heard a single word he just said? The walls were practically closing in on them and there she sat, sipping champagne like they were discussing the weather. How could she possibly be this calm when their entire world was about to come crashing down?"Debra, he knows exactly who paid him. He has details."Debra nearly rolled her eyes. Details. What details, exactly? Honestly, sometimes she wondered how the men in this family had survived as long as they had without her. They panicked at the first sign of trouble, all noise and no thought, while she was the one who actually had to sit down and figure out how to keep them out of a prison cell. She was a lawyer. She had spent thirty years watching men far more dangerous than Frank Delacroix try and fail to build cases that would actually stick. Did none of them understand how the law actually worked? An accusation was not a conviction. A man'
"It's fine. It's healing now," Maxwell said, looking out at the view. "Your father really believed he pulled off a masterclass at that lunch.""Oh, you have no idea," Driana sighed, and he heard the faint rustle of fabric as she settled deeper into a couch on her end. "He walked into the house like he'd just conquered a small country. And then my mother found out he'd arranged the whole thing without consulting her first."Maxwell smiled faintly. "She wasn't thrilled about being left out?" He asked. "Thrilled? She was offended he didn't tell her immediately so she could start planning the wedding that very night," Driana said, letting out a groan of pure dismay. "My aunt Rosa has already informed me that I'd be a queen if I married you. They've practically assigned you a seat at the family table.""They move fast," Maxwell remarked."They do," Driana agreed. "But honestly, that works in our favor. The contract's already signed, so there's nothing left for them to second-guess. And th






