[Jake's POV]
The silence in the study was absolute, heavy with the sudden, violent shift in the balance of power.
Empress Song Mei stared at me, her dark eyes searching my face for any sign of a bluff. She was a master of reading people, of dissecting micro-expressions and finding the lie. Ten years ruling Macau from the shadows taught her that. But there was no lie to find. The posture was steady. The cadence was even. The absolute certainty was real.
"Julian Croft," she whispered, the name tasting like ash in her mouth.
"Two hundred million dollars, Madam Song," I said, my voice steady, keeping myself positioned between her and Li. "Wired directly from the Jade Palace's offshore laundering accounts into the primary holding accounts of the Song Dynasty Trust. The capital that is currently keeping your portfolio manager out of prison and funding your Cotai Strip developments is dirty money."
