The penthouse living room had been transformed into a war room.
Monitors glowed against the dark glass windows overlooking the sleeping city, casting blue light across the scattered legal pads, encrypted flash drives, and architectural schematics of the Apex distribution network. Outside, midnight was approaching with steady, relentless precision. The twelve-hour clock Kendra Hayes had set was ticking down to its final hours.
I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, my bare feet tucked under my silk robe, the laptop warm against my knees. Lines of code streamed across my screen in green cascades, flickering in the reflection of my eyes.
Beside me, Mason was on his third secure line with our Zurich legal representatives. His dark blazer was discarded over a chair
