Julian sat alone in the dim glow of his office, poring over the decrypted documents Marcus had painstakingly extracted. His phone buzzed. The unfamiliar number gave him pause, but instinct pushed him to answer.
“Julian,” the voice on the line was hesitant, almost subdued. “It’s Ethan.”
Julian’s grip on the phone tightened, his blood running cold. “What do you want?” he demanded, his voice a blade of ice.
“We need to talk. In person. It’s about Alastair,” Ethan replied urgently.
Julian’s jaw clenched. Memories of betrayal flashed in his mind, but something in Ethan’s tone pulled him back from hanging up. After a long pause, he relented. “One chance. You screw me, and you won’t walk away again.”
Madeline overheard the conversation and shot him a questioning glance. “You’re not meeting h
