Page 47 of Knuckles & Knives
“The best,” I agree, stretching up to kiss him again. “Though we should probably get dressed before Marcus comes looking for us and finds us naked in my father’s old archives.”
“Let him look. I’m not ashamed of what we just did.” Axel’s expression grows serious. “Raven, I need you to know… everything I told you tonight, it’s the truth. No more secrets, no more hidden agenda. Just me, loving you the way I’ve wanted to for years.”
“I know.” I touch his face gently, memorizing the vulnerable expression in his eyes. “And, Axel? Thank you for picking up my boxing glove all those years ago. Even if it took us this long to find our way to each other.”
“Best thirty seconds of my teenage life,” he says with that trademark grin. “Though I have to say, this conversation has definitely topped it.”
As we get dressed among the dusty remnants of my father’s empire, I realize Vincent Blackwood tried to keep us separated, thinking he was protecting his daughter from a broken street fighter. Instead, he inadvertently created a bond that survived his death, my exile, and all the chaos that followed.
Some things are just meant to be, no matter how many obstacles the world puts in their path.
And some ghosts are worth bringing back to life.
And maybe I’m not here to avenge my father’s empire anymore.
Maybe I’m here to build something stronger with the ghosts who never stopped loving me.
CHAPTER 16
Given that Kieran’s family might hire other goons, Marcus insists that I move to a safe house. Not sure how I feel about that, honestly. I don’t want to be in hiding again already, but I also don’t want to end up dead…
Marcus’s safe house sits thirty floors above the city, hidden behind the legitimate facade of Quintana Global Consulting. From the outside, it looks like any other corporate office—sleek glass, modern architecture, the kind of building that screams respectability and success—but I know better now. Everything about Marcus is layers within layers, and this place is no exception.
The elevator requires three different biometric scans before it will take me to his private floor. Retinal scanner, thumbprint, and something that analyzes the cadence of my heartbeat. When the doors finally open, I step into what can only be described as a technological fortress disguised as a luxury apartment.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panoramic view of the city I’m fighting to reclaim. Multiple computer screens cast blue light across surfaces that are all clean lines and expensive materials. It’s beautiful in a stark, intimidating way—like Marcus himself.
“You’re seven minutes late,” he says without turning around, his fingers flying across a keyboard as code cascades down one of his monitors. “Traffic on Fifth, or did Axel’s revelation require more… processing time than anticipated?”
I should be used to his omniscience by now, but it still makes my skin prickle with unease. “How did you?—”
“I’ve had surveillance on the Blackwood estate since you first mentioned wanting to investigate gaps in our intelligence.” He finally turns, removing those designer glasses that make him look like a professor rather than one of the most dangerous men I know. “Thermal imaging showed two heat signatures in the archives for approximately four hours. Given the recent tension between you and Axel regarding his mysterious background, it wasn’t difficult to deduce.”
“You’ve been watching us.”
“I’ve been protecting my investment.” His tone is matter of fact, but there’s something else in his dark eyes that looks almost like possessiveness. “All of you are valuable assets, Raven, but you’re irreplaceable.”
An unexpected shiver runs down my spine. Marcus has always been the most controlled of my men, the one who approaches everything—including our relationship—with calculated precision, but tonight, there’s an edge to him that suggests his famous control might be slipping.
“Is that what I am to you? An investment?”
Marcus sets his glasses aside and moves toward me with that predatory grace he usually keeps carefully contained. “You’re many things to me, Raven Blackwood. An investment is merely the most professional term.”
“And the others?”
He stops just close enough that I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. “The others would compromise my objectivity, and objectivity is what you need from me right now.”
My pulse quickens, but he’s already moving away, gesturing toward the wall of monitors that dominates the far side of the room.
“I asked you here tonight because it’s time to discuss the endgame.” He presses a button, and the screens come alive with what looks like a three-dimensional map of the city’s criminal underworld. “Your return to power, the complete dismantling of the Sterling Syndicate, and the establishment of a new order with you at its head.”
I step closer, my breath catching. The scale of it—names, nodes, alliances—it’s staggering. Marcus isn’t just playing chess. He’s been writing the rulebook while we’ve all been playing checkers.
“Their financial infrastructure relies heavily on offshore accounts that can be disrupted.”
“Disrupted how?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t they have safeguards?”
“They do. But one of their financial officers has a gambling addiction and a tendency to use unsecured hotel Wi-Fi when traveling. A small entry point is all I need.”
