Morning came late and loud.
The first thing I noticed was the headache the kind that blooms behind your eyes and makes even sunlight feel like a personal attack. The second was that I wasn't in my bed.
The sheets were too soft. The view too high. The coffee already brewing somewhere in the distance was too perfectly timed.
Cyrus's room.
For a few seconds, I lay there staring at the ceiling sleek, minimal, a little too sterile. The kind of place that belonged to a man who liked control more than comfort. I didn't even remember falling asleep. Just flashes: the little talk we had, the silence between us, the drink we had...
My phone was on the nightstand, a charger I didn't own attached to it. Typical Cyrus always a step ahead, even in hospitality.
I swung my legs out of bed, wincing when my bare feet met cold marble
A faint sound a low murmur of voices drifted from the other side of the apartment. I followed it.
Cyrus was standing by the kitchen island, a mug in hand, his suit jacket already on. The man could survive a hurricane and still look like a headline photo.
Opposite him, was a man I had never seen before. He had that posture of someone who'd been up all night.
I paused in the doorway. "If you're planning a coup before breakfast, at least let me brush my hair first."
Cyrus turned, eyes sweeping over me. They softened for a fraction of a second before he hid it under his usual calm. "You're awake."
"Unfortunately." I rubbed my temples.
He ignored the jab and gestured to the counter. "Coffee's ready."
"Who is this?" I asked Cyrus stared at me for a while before replying.
"This is my chief security Damien he has also been the one protecting you for a while now"
I wanted to say something but decided against it.
I poured a cup, half to have something to do with my hands. "So? Did the flash drive check out?"
The man shot Cyrus a look, like he wasn't sure how much to say.
"It's real," Cyrus said finally. "At least the first layer."
"The first layer?"
"There's a second encryption one we almost missed. Whoever made it wanted us to see the obvious." His tone sharpened. "The rest is hidden under a loop code. Military-grade. Not something Blackwood could manage."
I frowned. "Kai."
Cyrus nodded once. "He's better than I thought. And worse."
I set my cup down. "You can decrypt it?"
"I can," The man said said, then hesitated. "But it'll take time. And…it might alert whoever's monitoring it that we opened it."
Of course. Nothing with Kai Louis ever came without a cost.
Cyrus's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, jaw tightening. "Blackwood's lawyers just canceled our joint meeting for tomorrow."
"Convenient," I muttered.
"Suspicious," he corrected.
He ended the call and leaned back against the counter, studying me. "You realize what this means?"
"That I was right about Blackwood?"
His brow arched. "That you were used. Both of us were. Louis didn't just bait you; he wanted me to see the bait, too."
The words landed harder than I expected. I wrapped my fingers around the cup again, trying to ignore the chill in my stomach.
"So what's next? We sit and wait for him to make another move?"
Cyrus's eyes flicked to Damien. "No. We make the next move."
Damien shifted. "You sure about that, sir? If Louis planted that data, pushing him might"
"That's the point," Cyrus cut in. "He wants us reactive. Predictable. We flip it."
I couldn't help the dry laugh that escaped me. "You say that like we're in a chess match."
He met my gaze. "We are."
Something in his voice quiet, certain sent a ripple through me. For a moment, I forgot the anger, the arguments, the nights spent pretending his presence didn't get under my skin.
"Then what do you need from me?" I asked.
His answer was immediate. "Transparency. No more secrets. Not from me."
The irony wasn't lost on either of us. Cyrus lived in secrets collected them like currency.
I hesitated. "Are you sure about this?"
"I am," he said simply. "Because the alternative is losing everything."
The honesty in that caught me off guard. No boardroom logic, no calculated phrasing just raw truth.
I nodded slowly.
Damien cleared his throat. "I'd like to mention that we might not have much time. Surveillance spotted Louis near the Hart building an hour ago. He wasn't alone."
My blood ran cold. "Who was with him?"
He must have gone their for my dad. Well it's not like I cared.
"We couldn't identify them. But they had Blackwood's car."
Cyrus set his mug down. "He's getting bold."
Or reckless, I thought. Or desperate.
I turned toward the window, the skyline burning with morning light. From up here, the city looked peaceful, unaware. But somewhere out there, the game had already started.
I glanced back at Cyrus. "Then let's not make it easy for him."
His lips curved into the faintest, most dangerous smile. "Finally," he said. "We agree on something."