Mason's POV
The summons came at dawn.
Arthur Sterling did not request. He commanded. And at eighty-seven, his voice still carried the weight of a man who had built an empire from nothing and buried his enemies beneath the foundations of his success.
"Come to the estate," he said. "Alone. No Chloe."
I drove to Greenwich with a headache pounding behind my eyes like a second heartbeat. I hadn't slept. The photographs of Luna and Blackwood were burned into my retinas, playing on a loop every time I closed my eyes, a silent movie of everything I had lost.
The estate was quiet. The oak trees were bare, their branches scratching at the gray sky like skeletal fingers. Mrs. Gable met me at the door, her expression carefully blank, her eyes avoiding mine.
"He's in the study, Mr. Sterling."
Ar
