Breaking into Ravi Kumar's penthouse should be impossible.
It isn't.
That unsettles her more than armed guards would.
She bypasses the final security panel and steps inside.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the entire city. Marble. Glass. Quiet power.
He stands by the bar, sleeves rolled once at the wrist, pouring two glasses of whiskey.
"You took your time," he says without turning around.
She raises her gun instantly. "Turn around slowly."
He does.
No panic. No rush.
Just assessment.
He studies her like a strategist evaluating a piece already factored into the board.
"You shouldn't know my name," she says.
"And yet," he replies, "I do."
She keeps the weapon steady. "Explain."
Instead of answering, he walks toward the coffee table and places a thick file on it.
"Your brother first," he says. "Then we discuss me."
She doesn't move.
He stops a safe distance away. Lifts his hands slightly—not surrender, just acknowledgment.
"Open it."
She edges forward, gun still trained on him, and flips the file open.
Photographs.
Grainy surveillance stills.
A man stepping out of an armored vehicle.
Her throat closes.
Arjun.
Older. Leaner. Harder.
Alive.
"This is fake," she whispers.
"It's timestamped. Three weeks ago."
Her knees don't buckle. She refuses that weakness.
"He's operating inside a faction planning to destabilize territory alliances," Ravi continues. "Including mine."
"Why are you telling me?"
"Because the city is about to burn."
Silence stretches.
She lifts her eyes. "Did you kill him?"
"No."
"Did your men?"
"No."
"Did you know he was alive?"
"Yes."
The admission lands heavy.
Rage flares. "How long?"
"Months."
Her gun shifts closer to his chest.
"You watched me hunt for answers."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because," he says quietly, "you were safer not knowing."
Her laugh is sharp and broken. "You don't get to decide that."
He steps closer.
Close enough she can smell expensive cologne layered over something darker. War. Smoke.
"You were hunting my territory," he says softly. "You think my enemies didn't notice? The moment you became useful, they would've used you."
"And you're not using me?"
He considers that.
"I'm offering you the truth."
A distant explosion shakes the glass windows.
They both glance toward the skyline.
His phone buzzes.
Then hers.
News alert: Bombing at East Territory warehouse.
Branded with Ravi Kumar's insignia.
Her gaze snaps back to him.
"I didn't order that," he says before she can accuse.
"How convenient."
His jaw tightens for the first time.
"Someone wants war."
"And you want me on your side."
"Yes."
"Why me?"
His eyes darken.
"Because you move like someone who's already lost everything."
The words hit too close.
"And because," he adds, voice lowering, "you're the only person in this city who doesn't fear me."
Her pulse betrays her.
"I don't trust you."
"I know."
He steps closer again. She doesn't retreat.
The gun between them feels secondary now.
"If we're going to survive this," he says quietly, "you and I need to decide whether we're enemies."
"And if we are?"
His hand moves—slow—closing gently around her wrist. Lowering the weapon just enough.
"Then I'll have to eliminate you."
The threat isn't loud.
It's honest.
Heat sparks in the space between them. Dangerous. Unwanted.
"You won't," she says.
"Don't test that."
She searches his face for deception.
Finds none.
Only calculation.
Only restraint.
Her phone vibrates again.
Unknown number.
She answers without breaking eye contact.
A voice she hasn't heard in two years speaks.
"Ellie."
Her heart stops.
Arjun.
"I wouldn't trust him," her brother says softly.
Ravi doesn't flinch.
Because he can hear it too.
Through the open speaker.
And when Arjun laughs—
Ravi's grip on her wrist tightens.
Not possessive.
Protective.
And furious.
The call disconnects.
Silence swallows the room.
Eleanor slowly turns her gaze back to Ravi.
He isn't surprised.
He looks… prepared.
"You said months," she whispers.
"Yes."
"You knew he'd reach out."
"Yes."
Her stomach drops.
"You're not reacting."
"No."
A slow, terrifying realization settles in her bones.
"You let him call," she says.
Ravi's eyes darken further.
"I needed to know which of you he would try to break first."
And in that moment, Eleanor understands something cold and irreversible.
She didn't walk into his penthouse tonight.
She walked into a game that started long before she ever aimed a rifle at his heart.
And she doesn't yet know which of them is the target.