arian

appened right before an execution. I liked it that way. Silence meant people were afr

n the sixty-five-inch monitor at the end of the room, a graph showed a downward dip. It was a

. It was too calm. I saw the directors around th

y shouting. When I shout, I'm annoyed. When

enty years older than me, but he was wiping sweat from his forehead like a

ns. I didn't want to hear about strikes. I stood up and adjusted my cufflinks. They were platinum. Cold and Heavy. "I don't

or help, but everyone else was looking at their laps. "I've been wi

e the broken capillaries in his nose. I wanted him to feel my breath. "I am. And in my world,

. The sound of a cane hitting the marble floor

ike he could kill a man with his bare hands if he had to. He carried an au

were greeting a king. I didn't move. I stayed leaning ove

. He didn't even look at the

father outweighing his anger at me. He probably thought Sergei woul

at at the side of the table. He didn't look at me; he looked out the flo

own and crossed my legs. "What are you doing here, F

his head. His gaze was sharp. Judging. It always

e you took the helm, Darian. The stocks are up. The riva

twitch. This again. "We've

. "The board is restless. They see a cold, brilliant man with no legacy. If something happens to

nnoyed. A woman in my house, touching my things, wanting "feelings" and conv

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

thin, black leather file on the de

sets. No feelings. Just a biological transaction. She gives us the heir, she receives a

ld the "Founder's Clause" over my head. It was a legal loophole. If the bloodline was i

. I knew the answer, but I

the Clause. I'll bring Xavier onto the board as your successor. He's already shown mor

was a shark. Giving him the company would be like giving a wolf th

ndidates," I said. M

one. By the end of the week, I want the contract signed. Or I

e came back, but it didn't fee

my life had come to. Ordering a child like I was ordering a new pri

d the fi

s and boring faces. Models with flawless bodies who looked like they'd spent their whole lives in front of a

it the fi

nd check. It was a girl in a faded pink waitress uniform. She was standing in a hospital hallway. Her hair was me

fr

those eyes.

ed her up and spit her out. And yet, she hadn't bowed her head. She had stared at my car. Not with hope. She didn't want a savior. She l

e typed beneath the

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

ney. I had to

one and hit the sp

swered. He sounded like

el eyes. "Cancel the other interviews. Throw the rest of

sounded surprised. "Her

old rivals. She's got nothing. She's basicall

ropped to a low growl. "I want a girl who has everything to lose. S

o explain myself to him. I

ed. The name felt

usiness move. She had no family to cause trouble. She ha

control at all. I didn't know that by choosing the girl who had nothing, I was i

tarted to come up. She looked so smal

ght. I'm going to buy your lif

ooked at her fierce eyes, a smal

if I

s Darian Volkov. I bought what