Chapter 44 · The Keys to the Cage

I slammed the receiver onto the cradle before the dial tone could deafen me.

The port. The family seat. Signed over to Mara Kessler.

The lawyer had repeated it twice, slow and careful, like I was the one bleeding out through my ribs.

Dominic leaned against the counting-room doorframe. His left arm stayed pinned tight to his side, collar unbuttoned, thick white gauze showing beneath the linen. Under the harsh green banker’s lamps, his face looked gray. Or maybe that was just my own reflection in the dark windowpane.

"You signed it over," I said.

"Before the elevator." He lifted his good shoulder in a shrug. "In case Victor’s crew got lucky."

"So if you died, I'd end up running an empire."

"If I died, you’d hold the one thing they couldn't strip off you with a gun. Clean deed. Clean paper."

A dry, ugly laugh tore out of my throat. "That’s the exact con you ran at Pier Nine."

He didn't flinch. "Yeah. Except this time, you get the fine print."

The dehumidifier rattled in the corner.