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CY

I made my way to our private conference room when Maddox grabbed my shoulder.

He shook his head. “We’re upstairs today.”

Not often we got called up to the big bossman’s office. “I thought he was in the capital?”

Maddox shook his head. “Flew back this morning. Must be urgent.”

We walked toward the elevators, and Tex was waiting for us. He gave nothing but a curt nod before we all piled into the chrome box. He swiped his hand over the security panel and hit the button for the top floor.

The door slid closed soundlessly, and we began our journey up one hundred and fifteen floors. Tex and Maddox both stood there, feet spread apart, hands behind their backs like this was some sort of military inspection. I leaned against the cold metal wall.

“Guess bossman’s taking this attack pretty seriously,” I said.

Tex’s lips pursed. “There has been another incident.”

Both Maddox and I perked up at that.

“I will let Mr. Ameré explain.”

Maddox and I exchanged a look. Something more important than the trillion-creds destruction of the Green data center? What the fuck could it be?

The door slid open, and I was greeted by the soft golden rays of the rising sun.

The tower was the tallest building in Neo Stellaris, all sleek glass and pure power.

The bossman himself sat at the top: Levi Ameré.

Every day, he looked down on the city he owned, 360-degree views.

The power in there was tangible, and it had my Flux and cock pulsing.

I looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows and imagined pressing a beautiful woman up against them, her warm thighs spread wide as I fucked into her. Her dark brown hair smelled like sex, and her violet eyes pleaded with me: Cy, don’t fucking stop.

Cut it the fuck out.

I shook my head so hard my implants rattled, the pain grounding. I needed to get her out of my head, and I didn’t need a boner while talking to my boss.

Levi’s office took up the whole top floor, his desk raised on a dais in the center of the space—a king on his throne.

I was sure the awkwardly long walk from the elevator to the steps was all part of the power play.

The room was filled with strange music: layers of men chanting religious mantras in what I assumed was Latin.

It would’ve been more at home in one of the Divine Light churches than this monolith to technology.

When the three of us finally reached the small set of stairs, Levi stood up and walked around his onyx-black desk.

He pulled the needle off the record that had been playing, the music cutting off.

I wondered what a relic like that would’ve cost, but then remembered it was negligible to a man like Levi.

He wore an all-black ensemble, and you could practically smell the money in it.

Real silk shirt—illegal in this day and age, but who fucking cared—and a tetracarbon jacket that could take a whole clip of explosive rounds without a single piece of lint visible.

His dark hair was slicked back from an angular but handsome face, a sharp, well-trimmed beard accentuating his strong jaw.

“Gentlemen, thank you for coming up on such short notice.” He flashed perfectly straight teeth.

Every rich fucker in this city looked exactly the same—same plastic surgery, same generic face. Not him. He had genetics that money couldn’t buy—at least not yet.

“Never took you for a religious man,” I said, motioning to the record player.

Tex shot me a look that clearly said, Shut the fuck up . Not that Tex would ever say that, but message received.

A smile twitched at the corner of Levi’s mouth. “One does not have to be religious to appreciate the beauty of complete devotion.”

I didn’t have much to say to that, but luckily this wasn’t really a two-way conversation.

“To business. Texcucano has told me that you are his alpha-level assets, that you can work efficiently and discreetly. Is that correct?”

Maddox and I nodded.

“Indeed. Well, agents, our beloved CTO, Beaufort Renard, has been murdered in his own home. I need you to figure out who is behind it.”

Maddox grunted before speaking in a very soft voice. “Sir, isn’t that sort of work more in NSPD’s wheelhouse?”

“Not this time. I need this done, and I need it done as swiftly as possible. By whatever means necessary,” he replied.

So we weren’t even pretending to do this through legal channels. Bossman was really feeling his mortality, with someone at his right hand dead.

“We’ll make sure it gets done,” I said.

“Of course you will, but I need it done before POMCon.”

“Three weeks? I don’t know if that—”

“To incentivize you, a bonus. Should you come to me with compelling evidence of the perpetrator by then, five million creds will be wired to you each immediately.”

I let out a long whistle. Three years’ worth of salary for a three-week job. Sounded too good to be true.

“And should that perpetrator be…nullified, I’ll double it.”

“Damn, sounds like a sweet deal.”

He nodded, his fingertips tracing the lapel of his jacket, as if checking for dust. “It is, but it only holds if you meet my deadline, agents. If I were you, I would get started. As assistance, I’m giving you full access to Renard’s private data portfolio.”

I let out another whistle at that. Data was money—POM’s money—and getting access to someone like Renard’s private profile was something the nerds down in Analysis had wet dreams about.

“This is where your discretion is crucial, agents,” Levi said, unamused.

Tex nodded. “Of course, sir.”

That was our dismissal. When you’re one of the richest men in the world, time is money, and he never wasted it. Tex set his fist on his chest, nodded to Levi, and walked to the elevator without another word. Maddox and I were right behind him.

I dared one last look out at the city before we hit the elevator. At sunrise, I could almost convince myself that the city out there was more than a festering cesspool of wasted lives.

As the elevator doors slid closed and the morning sun was blocked out, I let out a crisp laugh. “Ten million creds! I’m going on a month-long vacation to New Vegas, or maybe Macau, when this is over!”

“Don’t have the money yet, Cy. Lot of work to do,” Maddox—cheery as ever—added.

I slung my arm over his shoulder, pulling him down to my height.

“Then we better get cracking, partner. I can taste the Mai Tais already.”