POV: Xavier
The vow in the ruined office had shifted something fundamental in the atmosphere between them. The air no longer carried the claustrophobic weight of a secret; it hummed with the tense, focused energy of a command centre before a siege. Xavier Hale was done playing defence. Defence was for men who feared loss. He was now a man intent on inflicting it.
His target was not Charlotte’s board seat at The Royce. That was a legal and logistical fortress, and a direct assault would be long, costly, and uncertain. No, he targeted something more essential to her power: her reputation. In their world, social capital was a currency more fluid and damaging than dollars. Charlotte’s influence was built on a carefully curated persona—the visionary hotelier with a heart of gold, the philanth
