Chapter 26 · The Ultimatum Before the Storm

The lock clicked. The hallway noise died like somebody cut a wire.

Marcus didn't shove me into the mirror. He didn't have to. He stood with one shoulder against the door, jacket off, sleeves shoved to the elbow, and let the quiet do the shoving for him. My back was already against the vanity. The marble was cold through my blouse and I could feel my own pulse in both palms.

"Say the thing again," I said. "The part about the trigger."

"You know the part."

"Say it anyway. I like watching you try to sound like a warning instead of a threat."

His mouth moved. Not a smile. The cousin of one.

"You put the ledger page in front of Judge Alcott," he said. "Forty million, three shells, your client's signature on page nine. In open court. On the record."

"I read a document into evidence. That's the whole job, Marcus. That's what they pay me for."

"They pay you to win. Not to hand my son a reason to come at you with everything he's got."

I laughed.