Chapter 36 · Day of Reckoning

"Do you actually think this ends with a handshake, Kane?" Marcus didn't even look up from the mahogany desk. He just leaned back, swirling a glass of amber liquid that probably cost more than Kane's first three apartments combined.

Kane didn't answer. He didn't need to. He just stepped forward, the heavy thud of his boots echoing against the marble floor. He stopped inches from the desk, the air between them thick with a decade of rotting grudges. He leaned down, palms flat on the polished wood, staring Marcus right in the eyes.

"I don't want a handshake," Kane rasped. "I want the piece of my soul you tucked away in that vault. Now."

Marcus finally looked up. He smirked, a slow, oily expression that made Kane's skin crawl. "Always so impatient. That's why you were the easiest to discard. You played the game with your heart, while I played it with the rules."

"Rules?" Kane let out a sharp, jagged laugh. "You call selling out your own crew 'rules'?"

"I call it optimization," Marcus countered. He stood up, his tailored suit without a single crease. He walked around the desk, closing the distance until they were chest-to-chest.