~ Gideon ~
The interior of the Maybach was silent, a vacuum of leather and expensive climate control that usually served as my sanctuary. Tonight, however, the silence felt different. It wasn't the productive, focused quiet I used to build empires. It was heavy.
I looked at the empty seat beside me. Amara had left the charity auction without a single word to me. One moment she was standing there, the target of Selene’s practiced barbs about her "lack of an artistic eye," and the next, she was gone. She hadn't made a scene. She hadn't even looked at me for help. She had simply evaporated into the Raventport night.
I adjusted my cuffs, the gold links catching the dim light of the passing streetlamps. My phone vibrated in my pocket—a notification about the Tokyo merger—but for the first ti
