LUCIEN POV The heavy double doors of my office didn't just open; they were pushed aside with the weight of federal authority. Six agents in tactical vests entered the room, their boots loud against the minimalist gray carpet. The bright, pulsing blue light from the corridor cut through the dim, amber emergency glow of my suite, casting long, frantic shadows across the glass desk. I didn't move. I kept my left hand resting lightly on the small of Athena’s back, feeling the rapid, rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing. She was tense, her shoulders straight and rigid, but she didn't step away from me. When I first brought her into my world a week ago, I saw her as an elite instrument—a brilliant, vengeful developer who could help me excise the rot Marcus had brought into the Laurent name. I had designed our fake engagement contract to be entirely transactional, a calculated play to draw out the Harringtons and force my step-brother into a corner. I expected her to be passive, to
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