arian

as silent, the kind of silence th

n the sixty-five-inch monitor at the end of the room,

ably. They knew my calm was more dangerous than my shouting. "One percent of our logistics efficiency

eat from his brow. "Darian, it was a port stri

errupted. I stood up, adjusting my cufflinks. "I don't pay for excuses. I pay for

tammered. "I've been with thi

g over the table. My eyes locked onto his. "I am

before Miller could respond. The sound of a cane

l carried the aura of a man who had built an empire on the bones

rambled to stand

," Sergei

Miller hurried out, his fear of my

taking a seat at the side of the table. He didn't look at

tting back down. "What are you doing here,

ging. "And I grew tired of waiting. It's been three years since you took the helm,

my jaw twitch. "We'

d is restless. They see a cold, brilliant man with no legacy. A man who refuses to marry, refuses to

I said coldly. "Women are dist

er. "Xavier has been doing the legwork I requested. We have foun

aced a thin, black leather fi

o shared assets. No feelings. Just a biological transaction. She gives us th

my father still held the "Founder's Clause" over my head-a legal lo

refuse?"

Clause. I'll bring Xavier onto the board as your successor. He'

" a shark who had been raised in our shadows. Giving him the

andidates," I said,

"Pick one. By the end of the week, I want the contract

g me alone in the sprawlin

st. This was what my life had come to..ordering a c

d the fi

League graduates with high IQs. Models with flawless proportions. I fli

it the fi

ackground check. A girl in a faded pink waitress uniform. She was standing in a hospital hallway

fr

ized tho

king like the world had already broken her...and yet, she hadn't bowed her head. I remembered the way she h

e typed beneath the

. She was the only person in that entire file who didn't look like she was for sale...e

one and hit the sp

an?" Xavie

her hazel eyes. "Cancel the other interview

round is kind of ... messy. Her father had some history with

ce dropping to a low growl. "I want a girl who ha

looked back

ispered to th

easy to control. I didn't know that by choosing her, I was invi