The moment Azrael stepped out, Luka was already there.
Waiting.
The car door was open before he even reached it.
Azrael slid in, throwing the wiretap on the seat opposite him. Luka took off his own too.
"Sir, we have dumped the boys in empty barrels in our warehouse near port."
"Good. That old dog could use some exercise."
"Mr. Sulivan isn't the type to be detered this easily, Sir."
"The only way to turn an old dog's loyalty is by putting it down but he still has some uses."
Azreal wasn't trying to deter Sullivan, but now he wouldn't be able to go against his in-laws directly to suck the Chairman's ass.
That was enough for now.
Luka lamented inside. His boss had been planning to strip his grandfather of his control since he discovered the case of M. Anna.
She was also an escort Mr. Sulivan brought in to curry favor with the Chairman but Anna was ambitious enough to get pregnant. She wanted to marry into the Hawthornes, only she wan't aware how obsessed the Chairman was with his image.
Till Azreal discovered it, Anna was already a cold corpse on the ocean floor.
He hadn't planned to confront Alexander just yet but becaue of his family all his cards were out in the open.
Now Alexander that had realized there was a leak of information, he would be raging mad looking for the spies.
"I understand, Sir." "What's should we proceed now, Sir?"
"Tell our men to lay low for now." "What is the progress on the matter with what I asked you?"
Luka settled in the front and immediately passed a file back. "The shares report on White Corporation."
Azrael didn't respond.
He pulled out a cigarette instead, lighting it with a practiced flick before opening the file.
Smoke curled lazily in the dim interior.
His eyes scanned the pages.
Cold.
Focused.
His grandfather's birthday was in 5 months now.
A merger wouldn't be enough.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
He needed to force an acquisition.
Fifteen percent.
That's what he held.
But the rest—
Family.
Entangled.
Annoying.
His fingers tapped lightly against the paper, mind already moving several steps ahead.
Luka watched him through the rearview mirror.
Silent.
Observing.
That blank stare—
He knew it.
Without a word, he reached into the console and handed back a bottle of water and painkillers.
Azrael took them.
No hesitation.
He swallowed the pills dry at first, then grabbed the bottle and took a long swig.
Another.
The cigarette rested between his fingers, smoke thinning out as he leaned back slightly.
Luka didn't comment.
He simply passed another file.
"Sir, as you suspected, there was a mole in the Sinclair house."
Azrael's eyes didn't lift.
Didn't need to.
It was obvious.
Sulivan had timed it too well.
Arrived too cleanly.
They had seen his car leave.
But not them.
Which meant—
The mole hadn't seen them leave.
Or hadn't had the time to report it.
"A bribed servant," Luka continued evenly. "We've dealt with them for now and alerted Mr. Sinclair. They agreed to cooperate. Mr. Sulivan must have shaken them."
Azreall gave a nod when Luka hesitantly spoke again.
"Sir, shouldn't we warm Madam to be careful? If it weren't for spies we placed after Ms. Anna case, we wouldn't have even known about their plan to harm Madam and the Young Master."
"No." Azrael flipped a page and then another. "Life is happier in oblivion."
Just look at his mother. His grandfather is a snake, and his dead father was a depraved man who was obsessed to the point he even controlled what she ate or wore but his mother lived a life of a happy fool.
Valerie and Roe should be happy fools too.
His expression didn't change, but the air in the car felt heavier.
"Should I tell the security to stop the Hawthorns and Whites from approaching Madam?"
"No." He snickered thinking about how she had attacked her brother, "She can hold her own."
Slower.
After a moment, he exhaled.
Long.
Tired.
The file dropped slightly onto his lap as he leaned his head back against the seat.
The movement pulled at his back.
A sharp sting spread through him, but this time—
He didn't bother hiding it.
His brows tightened faintly.
Just for a second.
Then smoothed out again.
"...Sir, should I drive back to the Mansion?"
Azreal was quiet for a while. "No, the penthouse."
His eyes slid shut.
The cigarette burned quietly between his fingers as the car began to move. He felt exhausted.