Of Fire and Loss

Chapter 6: The First Breach 2

Angèle

His eyes light up. I've just spoken the perfect words. He reaches out a hand and, with deliberate slowness, brushes a lock of my hair that has fallen onto my shoulder. The contact is electric. It's not a caress. It's an inspection. A tactile evaluation.

— That's exactly what I told myself when I read you.

Suddenly, a dull noise from the antechamber. Heavy, hurried steps. The office door bursts open violently.

Rabis.

He's there, his face slightly flushed, hair disheveled. He smells of whiskey from a distance. His blue eyes, glassy with anger or alcohol, sweep the room and freeze on the scene: his father, standing, so close to me. His hand just leaving my hair.

— I knew you'd still be here, he spits, his gaze passing from his father to me with palpable hatred. Initiating the new recruit after hours, Father? A bit… cliché, don't you think?

Néron doesn't move an inch. His calm in the face of his son's storm is terrifying.

— Rabis. You're drunk. Go home.

— I'm not drunk! I'm lucid! he shouts, advancing. Lucid about your schemes. You want her all for yourself. Like everything else.

He turns to me, his gaze burning.

— And you? Do you like playing the docile prey? You think he'll reward you? He rewards no one. He uses, then he throws away.

— Rabis, that's enough, Néron's voice is a whip. A warning.

But Rabis is out of control. He ignores his father and leans towards me, placing both hands on the arms of my chair, his face inches from mine. The smell of alcohol and his anger is suffocating.

— You want to see how it really works here, little one? Let me show you. Let me teach you the real rules. The ones that don't get written in reports.

— Get away from her, Rabis.

Néron's voice hasn't changed in volume, but it has changed in nature. It has become deadly. He's taken out his phone.

— If you don't leave this room immediately, I'm calling security. And I'll make sure your access to this floor is revoked for a month. Imagine. A month without touching your allowance.

The threat is precise, humiliating. It strikes Rabis at his most sensitive point: his ego and his wallet. The fury in his eyes turns into pure, icy hatred. He straightens up, steps back two paces, his gaze piercing me one last time.

— This isn't over, he murmurs, the sinister promise meant for me alone.

Then he turns on his heel and leaves the office, slamming the door so hard the windows shake.

Silence falls again, heavy, thick as smoke. Néron sighs, a rare sign of annoyance.

— My apologies for my son's behavior. He is… a disorder I must constantly contain.

He comes back towards me. The incident shattered the previous tension, but replaced it with something darker, more complicit.

— You see the nature of the challenges here, Angèle. It's not just about numbers. It's about managing uncontrollable forces.

— I understand, sir.

He looks at me for a long time, as if weighing the pros and cons of a crucial decision.

— Starting tomorrow, you'll work directly with me on the Helios project. It's confidential. No one else knows about it. Not even my son.

Helios. The name means nothing to me. A secret project. This is the breach. The flaw I was looking for. He's handing it to me on a silver platter.

— I'm honored, sir.

— Don't be honored. Be effective.

He turns back to the bay window, signaling that the meeting is over. I stand and walk to the door, my steps silent on the thick carpet.

— Angèle.

I freeze, my hand on the handle.

— Yes, sir?

He doesn't turn around, contemplating the city lights.

— Don't forget what you are. A strategy. I always keep my strategies very, very close to me.

The message is clear. I'm in the trap. I got what I wanted: his trust, a secret project. But the price is placing myself between the tiger and his cub, becoming the central stake in their war.

I leave the office, my body trembling with adrenaline. Vengeance is no longer an abstract concept. It's a narrow, dangerous path I've just committed to walking, and I know, deep down, that one of them, or perhaps both, will try to push me towards the precipice.