We rode the private elevator down to Sub-basement Level 4 in total silence. The only sound was the hum of the cables and the soft, rhythmic breathing of the woman standing beside me.
When the heavy steel doors of the vault hissed open, the freezing, heavily conditioned air of the server room washed over us. The blue lights of Project Oracle pulsed in the dark, a mechanical heartbeat that represented the sum total of global financial knowledge.
Victoria walked into the room, but she didn't go to the central terminal. She stopped in the center of the concrete floor and turned to face me.
The Ice Queen persona was completely, utterly gone. Without the armor of her pride, without the arrogance of her wealth, she looked vulnerable, raw, and incredibly beautiful. The [King of Kings] title was radiating from me, and I could see the profound effect it had on her. Her eyes were dark, dilated with a potent mix of fear, submission, and an overwhelming, desperate desire to please me.
