Mag-log inMarcusDakota picked up on the first ring."Tell me something good," I said."I have it." Her voice was low, the way it got when she was somewhere she shouldn't be and knew it. "Everything we discussed. I have it and I know exactly what to do with it."I laughed. from genuine satisfaction. "The fight is tomorrow, Dakota. You understand that. Tomorrow.""I understand.""Which means tonight. Everything has to be in place tonight.""I know the timeline, sir." A pause. "I do need to say something first.""Then say it quickly.""The venue." She hesitated, which Dakota rarely did, and the hesitation told me she had been sitting with this for a while before deciding to say it. "There will be a great number of people there. Staff, crew, people setting up from the morning. Spectators by the afternoon. If we go through with this the way you've outlined, the blast won't discriminate. It will take out whoever is standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and that includes people who have nothi
DrentSir Khabib's office was the kind of room that had been designed to remind you of how much money was in it. Heavy furniture, the kind of art on the walls that existed purely to signal taste, and a view of the city that said everything about where the man who sat behind that desk had positioned himself in the world.He stood when I came in, which was a courtesy he extended to very few people, and we shook hands and sat and his assistant poured coffee that neither of us touched."We're looking forward to this fight," he said. As he swung his chair slightly. "The attention it's getting is significant. More than we anticipated, frankly.""I appreciate the investment," I said. "Both of you coming on board early meant a great deal."He nodded, accepting this, and then he leaned forward slightly and the warmth in his expression adjusted itself into something more direct."I'll be plain with you, Drent. We have a great deal of money behind this. Not just on the event itself but on the ou
MarcusMy door crashed open with the kind of bang that turned heads immediately. I swung my chair around to see Dakota walking in, her hands clutched tightly around a flyer, a mischievous grin spread across her face.I stood up, towering over her as she stopped in front of me."What is this all about?""Whatever do you mean, Master Marcus?" she said, leaning forward on my desk."Banging into my office. I've told you to only do that when you had a way I could eliminate my brother and get the empire.""That is exactly why I'm here, sir." My mood lifted, but I didn't let it show on my face. Dakota had a plan. A lead. And she never once disappointed me with her plans.I had sat all day in my chair making calls, trying to find loopholes to get to my brother, but all had come to nothing. And here was Dakota standing in front of me with a plan.I couldn't hide my smile.I folded my arms and sank slowly into my chair."I'm listening, Dakota."The next thing she did was slam a flyer on my desk
Drent"I want everything on Marcus by Friday," I said. "Movements, contacts, whoever he's been meeting with since he got back. I don't care how you get it."Javier's voice came through the phone even and steady. He had been with me long enough to receive instructions like that without needing them softened. "Understood. I'll have something to you by Thursday night.""Good."A brief pause on the line. "There's something else.""Say it.""The boxing match." I could hear the careful neutrality he was putting into his voice, which meant he had an opinion he was deciding whether to share. "It's been getting attention. Sponsors are talking about it. People are watching how you handle it.""I know.""Renata's been training hard. Word is she's serious about this.""I know that too.""So what's the plan?""The plan is I win," I said. "Same as everything else."I ended the call and set the phone face down on the desk and sat back.The room was quiet. Outside the window the city did what it alwa
Renata"Is he always that dramatic?"Drent didn't look up from the documents spread across the desk. "Yes. Because that's who Marcus is.""He was flirting with me." I crossed my arms. "Right in front of you.""I know." He set the papers down and looked at me then, and there was something flat and certain in his eyes. "That's exactly what he was doing. Stay away from him, Renata.""I wasn't the one who walked up to him.""I'm not saying you did. I'm saying don't engage. Don't give him anything to work with." He leaned back in his chair. "Marcus isn't doing any of this because he finds you interesting. He's doing it because he wants the empire and he wants to use every angle he can find to get under my skin. You're an angle."I didn't say anything, but something about hearing it put that plainly stung more than I expected."Which is why," he continued, "we need to be more careful. He's watching us now. If our arrangement starts to look like what it actually is, he will use it. We need t
MarcusI couldn't hold my smile seeing Drent this way, seeing how he crumbled knowing I was here for the same thing he had fought so hard to get. Seeing him flinch when he saw me with the woman he loved and quickly pulling her away from me, because he knew I could take her if I wanted.Drent bitterly left the party after that and before he left, he shot a last warning glance at me.I knew that look. This was far from over and he was ready to take me out.I stayed for the entire party, making sure I was beside my father, trying to prove I was the good son who remained when Drent was not interested in staying.And after the whole event I was so tired. My bones cracked, my body ached and I needed a massage from a spa expert in my bedroom.In thirty minutes, Dakota came and attended to me, massaging my bones and soothing my skin in the way that relaxed my body completely.Dakota had been my personal assistant since I had pitched her my plan of taking over my father's empire.She had encou
PaytonSometimes,I take pride in being the only woman who has ever walked into Drent's life, made him obsessed with me, then broken his heart so badly he vowed never to love anyone again.That was good news for me, because I knew Drent was a man of his word. If he vowed never to love again, nothin
RenataThe rope dug into my wrists, raw and burning no matter how I twisted them. Beside me, Drent strained against his own bindings, jaw tight, eyes scanning the dim room for anything we could use."Stop struggling," Dija said, stepping closer with her arms crossed. "You two really thought you cou
DrentI had worked so hard to convince my father my relationship with Renata was real. All the stress, all the effort. Now wasted because of Dija.The anger seethed through me. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end.I didn't care what my father had said, but I had put too much effort into t
Mr. ColeI had seen many things in my life.I had built an empire from nothing, buried partners who betrayed me, outlasted competitors who thought they could break me. I had weathered losses that would have destroyed lesser men and come out the other side standing.But nothing, not one moment in al







