Chapter 6 Pizza and Protocols

POV: Third Person Limited (Julian)

The safehouse wasn't a penthouse. It was a converted bomb shelter beneath a defunct textile factory in East London. It smelled of ozone, old coffee, and stale pizza.

"You look like you've been on a date with a brick wall," a voice chirped from behind a wall of monitors.

Jax spun around in his ergonomic chair. He was the antithesis of the Thorne family. Messy red hair, a T-shirt that read I Paused My Game to Be Here, and grease stains on his jeans. He was twenty-three, a genius, and arguably the most annoying person Julian knew.

"Harrison sent a greeting party," Julian said, walking over to the holographic map table in the center of the room. "Is the intel ready?"

"Is the Pope Catholic? Does a bear sh-yes, it's ready," Jax grinned, taking a bite of a cold slice of pepperoni pizza. "Also, you're trending on Twitter. #TheReturnOf ThePrince. People are going wild. Half of them think you're a clone, the other half want to have your babies. It's hilarious."

Kai was in the corner, cleaning a combat knife. He didn't look up. "Focus, Jax."

"Right, right. Focus." Jax tapped his keyboard. The main screen lit up with a complex web of bank accounts.

"Okay, Boss. I dug into the Thorne Corp offshore accounts like you asked. It's messy. Harrison has been siphoning money to a shell company in the Caymans called 'Obsidian Lotus.' But here's the kicker-he's not the only signatory."

Julian leaned in, his eyes narrowing. "Who else?"

"Lord Alistair, obviously. But there's a third signature. It's encrypted, but I traced the IP routing." Jax's playful demeanor vanished. "It routes back to the Sterling Estate."

Julian froze. "Isolde's father?"

"Maybe," Jax shrugged. "Or Isolde herself."

Silence descended on the room. The air grew heavy.

"She's not involved," Julian said, his voice low and dangerous.

"Boss," Kai warned from the corner, finally looking up. "Don't let your dick do the thinking. She's a Sterling. They've been bedfellows with the Thornes for decades."

"She was sold to Harrison," Julian argued, though a seed of doubt planted itself in his gut. "She hates him."

"Hate and money are good neighbors," Jax quipped. "Look, all I'm saying is, be careful. This 'Obsidian Lotus' account is funding some dark stuff. Private militias, weapons shipments, and... something called Project Aether."

"Project Aether?"

"No idea. But it's eating up millions."

Julian straightened up. The complexity of the game had just increased. If Isolde was involved in the corruption, he would have to destroy her too. The thought made his chest tighten painfully.

"Print the ledger," Julian commanded. "I have a board meeting to crash tomorrow morning. If they want to play dirty, let's show them what filth really looks like."

Jax saluted with a pizza crust. "Aye aye, Captain Chaos."