CHAPTER 26
The silence that followed Damian's "welcome" was heavy, saturated with the unspoken terms of a deal signed in blood and soot. I didn't move my arm, and I didn't break eye contact.
I wanted him to feel the absolute weight of what he had just invited into his inner circle. I wasn't his guest, and I wasn't an employee; I was his partner now—the ghost that was going to haunt his every decision until Marco Vance was nothing but a memory.
"The room," I repeated softly, the words tasting like iron. "Fine. Then let's start with the truth, Damian. You want Marco dead, that much is clear. But you don't just want him gone. You said you want what you need from him."
I stepped closer, my boots crunching on a stray shard of glass that had wanted a ride on my suit from the explosion.
