w like a polite but persistent knock. I sat cross-legged on my be

e to the Winter Garden C

and the whisper of recognition in my gut -

n corporate gossip columns and old financial reports. My father had

woman who knows

r Garden Café was small and understated, its glass windows fogged from the warmth inside. A bell

alread

poised elegantly in her hand. Her hair was silver, swept back into a chignon, a

as I approached. Not

. "That

Please. I don't play games,

from her, my pulse spiking

with an ease that felt almost deliberate. "I sat on the

between us like

wasn't an acciden

rpened. "No.

was the hum of the café and the so

an, your enemies, and the Sterling brothers will not. You are the founder's blood. Direct li

ists under the table.

e board has been waiting for the right moment to use you

I'm not part of their

te a smile. "The thing about bloodlines, my

Victor Kane's,

you why they're circling. The Founders' Gala is in three months. If you attend

hinner. "And i

r place," she said simply. "

er. It was too much, too fast - and yet, some deep,

it," I said finall

'd expected nothing les

-

emy, only the feel of the rain soaking into my coat

e dorm entrance,

the other holding a black umbrella. The rain didn't to

een busy,

ed. "Were you

you've been," he said evenly. "Serena Ma

d. "Why do

y. "Because she's

estion slipped out be

, not cold calculation, but something softer. "I don't want to see you che

ow what to

d rain clinging to him. "If you ever have ques

not A

se Adrian will tell you exa

the door for me and stepped aside

-

yond the glass, every light a reminder that some

a.m., my ph

p? – Adria

typed back: How di

security cameras, I can get a phon

better judg

s in his pockets, that infuriating grin in plac

ine,"

ing toward the glass doors. "Come on. There's

g me into their orbit. But there was something about Adrian's ease, the way

rom the academy. The windows fogged from the heat in

of a cheeseburger, "Serena

lfway to my mout

easily. "Damian's probably already filed it i

wn. "Why are you

said, his tone almost serious. "And Serena's good at making you feel

you w

eturned. "

ead. "You're

glinting. "That's w

-

endlessly beyond the window. Serena's war

me I didn't understand - a

ing to stay in

ounders' Gal

e was the key