Page 34 of The Silent War

I didn’t need hobbies.

But if I ever claimed one, it was this, watching Alexander Adams suffer in his own boardroom.

Dynasty polished. Men seated on both sides who still believed their surnames were currency. Contracts stacked like altars. Titles. Old money.

And then me.

The Crow they wished wasn’t here.

The reminder that Villain wasn’t theirs and their last names meant nothing to us.

Today, I wasn’t here for sport. Unlike every other month when I attended just to humiliate Alexander.

Instead, I was here for the kill.

Alexander had nearly pushed a marriage across the line. Before fucking lunch on her twenty first birthday. Our girl wouldn’t have been awake more then three hours before Alexander greedy fingers was scribbling his signature to add to the Adams legacy.

Two wedding mergers I had stopped the night before. And still, by midday, on her birthday, he almost had her wed.

I hated him for that.

I hated him on principle.

And I was furious with myself for how close the Vales got.

I’d already fixed it, of course. The Vale family was formally backing out of the merger, clean, polite. They had reconsidered the strategic timing.

The Adams didn’t know yet.

Evander Vale had an opinion about it.

Bastion’s jaw wore the conversation.

The Vale Dynasty was down an heir now. Six feet down to be exact.

Alexander started with docks. He always started with what he thought he understood.

“Revenue margins increased twelve percent since last quarter,” he said, projecting. “With the port stabilized, projected imports will?—”

“You left out the offload tax.” My voice stayed even. Controlled. “Again.”

His jaw ticked. Small, but I saw it.

“Six million,” I added. “Maybe you forgot. Or maybe you hoped the room wouldn’t notice.”

Pens froze. They hated that I saw through polished reports and lies.

The truth was the Adams could host the meeting, but the cranes moved because Bastion said so.

Clubs opened because Rome enforced loyalty.

And the syndicates stayed balanced because I held their books like a knife to the throat.

“Adjustments can be made. It doesn’t change the overall growth trend.” Alexander said.

I tapped the contract with one finger. “It changes everything.”

They all heard what I didn’t say, growth trends didn’tmean a thing if I pulled the cranes tonight and left their containers to rot in the bay.