Chapter 6

The Rolls-Royce slid into the subterranean garage of Manhattan's most exclusive residential tower. Cordelia couldn't get out fast enough. She shoved the door open and marched toward the private elevator without looking back.

Holden slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, walking at a relaxed pace. His eyes, however, darted to every corner of the concrete structure, automatically mapping the blind spots of the security cameras.

The elevator opened directly into the penthouse. It was a sprawling, minimalist display of obscene wealth, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that perfectly framed the Empire State Building.

Cordelia spun around. She pointed a trembling finger down the long hallway toward the smallest guest room. Her voice was pure ice as she declared that room his only permitted territory.

She laid down the law: he was never to step foot in the master suite, never to touch her things, and never to acknowledge her in public.

Holden found her frantic boundary-setting pathetic. He tossed his heavy canvas bag onto the living room sofa. It landed with a dull, heavy thud.

Cordelia shrieked that the sofa was a hundred-thousand-dollar Italian custom piece. Holden ignored her completely. He walked into the open-concept kitchen and pulled open the massive refrigerator.

He grabbed a bottle of chilled sparkling water, twisted the cap off, and downed half of it in one go. As his throat worked, the sharp line of his jaw and the movement of his Adam's apple caught Cordelia's eye.

She stared for a fraction of a second too long. Realizing what she was doing, a hot flush of anger and embarrassment crawled up her neck. She spun around, marched into her study, and slammed the heavy oak door, throwing the deadbolt with a loud clack.

Holden stared at the locked door. A mocking smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He turned and walked into the cramped guest room.

Once inside, his demeanor shifted instantly. He swept the room, checking the walls, light fixtures, and air vents. Satisfied there were no bugs, he yanked the heavy blackout curtains shut.

In the study, Cordelia booted up her encrypted laptop. She initiated an emergency video conference with her three younger sisters: Skye, Paige, and Zoe.

The screen split into three boxes. When the girls heard what their grandfather had done, the audio peaked with their collective, outraged shrieks. They cursed Alistair's senility.

Paige, the cold and calculating middle sister, stated that if they couldn't fight Alistair, they had to find a fatal weakness in this street rat and force him to break the contract himself.

Skye, the wild child, waved a motorcycle helmet at the camera. She excitedly pitched a "PR trap"-lure him into a high-society event and manipulate him into doing something illegal or deeply humiliating on camera.

What the sisters didn't know was that on the other side of the wall, Holden had already attached a micro bone-conduction listening device to the metal ductwork of the central air system.

He wore a single earpiece. While he executed a series of controlled, low-impact stretches to maintain circulation and assess his body's condition, he listened to every word of their pathetic little conspiracy with crystal clarity.

When Skye suggested hiring escorts to drug him and take compromising photos, Holden paused mid-stretch. He let out a heavy sigh, marveling at their sheer stupidity.

He wiped the thin sheen of cold sweat from his forehead. He decided to play along with their little game. It would provide the perfect cover for the real operations he needed to run in New York.

An hour later, Cordelia took a deep breath, smoothed down her silk robe, and walked out of the study to formally lay out her terms.

She raised her knuckle to knock on the guest room door, but it swung open before she could touch the wood. Holden stepped out, completely shirtless.

Cordelia's breath hitched. Her eyes widened, slamming into the sight of his heavily muscled torso. It was a map of violence-crisscrossed with faded bullet grazes and jagged knife scars. Fresh, angry red lines from the glass shards crisscrossed his shoulder blades and lower back. The sheer, raw masculinity of it made her heart skip a beat.

She jerked her eyes away, her face burning hot. She snapped at him to put some clothes on, calling him a savage to hide her sudden, intense fluster.

Holden casually pulled a cheap, faded gray t-shirt over his head, wincing slightly as the fabric brushed against the fresh wounds. He leaned against the doorframe, his voice lazy and drawling as he asked if she was ready to talk business.

Cordelia blinked, thrown off by his directness. She crossed her arms defensively and offered him a hundred thousand dollars a month in cash, provided he played the obedient dog in front of Alistair and stayed out of her life.

Holden let a greedy, sleazy grin spread across his face. He agreed instantly, swearing he wouldn't breathe in her direction for that kind of money.

Cordelia let out a quiet breath of relief. His blatant greed disgusted her, but it also made him predictable. He was just a cheap mercenary.

They stood in the hallway, the air thick with the awkward, plastic tension of a fake marriage, both convinced they had the upper hand.

Late that night, the penthouse was swallowed by darkness. Cordelia tossed and turned in her massive silk bed, unable to sleep.

In the cramped guest room, Holden lay flat on the narrow mattress. A dull, persistent ache throbbed across his back, a constant reminder of the price paid hours earlier. The remote protocol from the car had stabilized the genetic freefall, but it was a fragile, temporary dam holding back a flood. His body was far from "perfect." He closed his eyes, his mind diving into the encrypted frequencies of the dark web, preparing to wake the dormant Ghost network.