Jude sat on the steps of the pedestrian underpass, his back pressed against the damp, chill wall.
The overhead light was busted, flickering on and off in fitful bursts.
All at once, he drifted back to a memory of a winter long ago.
Back then, he had only just joined the Ford Group, with barely any real power to his name.
He was held back at every turn, danger lurking around every corner. The sprawling Ford family was nothing but a nest of calculating schemes and hollow, two-faced pleasantries.
Every single person who sought him out did so for one of two reasons. Either to leech off the Ford family's influence, or to grab a slice of the group's vast wealth.
Only Mia treated him with genuine sincerity—no hidden agendas, no ulterior motives.
He still remembered how, not long after he'd
