Marvis POV
I don't believe in luck.
Luck is for the careless. The ones who stumble into power and think it makes them untouchable.
I believe in leverage. In control. In knowing the next five moves before anyone else makes one.
But Melody Quinn… she doesn't play by the rules I know.
And that's the problem.
She was supposed to observe, analyze, stay quiet. Instead, she was digging deeper than I expected and faster than I was prepared for.
"She's found something," Nico's voice echoed through the secure line.
I didn't look up from the screen in front of me. Melody's face filled it focused, tense, determined. That same look I saw when she first stepped into my office.
"What did she say?"
"She traced Lucien's pattern through medical center deposits. Mid-State Care. She's asking to do a field run. Alone."
Bold. Foolish. But also… not wrong.
Lucien's trails were never left by accident. He wanted us to follow breadcrumbs but not too closely. The fact that Melody spotted a pattern most of my men missed?
She wasn't just learning. She was becoming dangerous.
To others.
And maybe… to me.
"Let her go," I said, finally leaning back.
"You sure?" Nico asked. "She's not trained for fieldwork."
"No. But she's desperate. And desperation exposes truth faster than training ever will."
I stood and walked to the window. The city below sparkled with artificial light. Streets buzzed with blind activity. But underneath all of it under the ground, under the silence was the real world.
Our world.
Melody had barely scratched the surface. If she dug too fast, she'd bleed.
But if I held her back now, she'd never trust me again.
"She needs to see how deep this goes," I said quietly.
Nico was silent for a beat. Then, "And if she finds something we didn't?"
My lips curved slightly.
"Then she stays."