hed wood, silent flight attendants gliding between us with trays of champagne and espresso.

a man who could sign away a country and then relax with a single malt. He was scrolling t

t the shrinking blue of Lake Geneva below. "S

"Straight to t

ave time f

Kronos Hotel tonight. Lang's people have been whispering to them. If we're luck

o

we w

a ch

tablet asid

ze. "That's n

ne you'll get un

p in front of me. Double espresso. She did

what you li

u've been payi

ention to

touch, a ripple under my skin. I turn

he said lightly. "

g's a war

leaned back, studying me. "

ow

rmor. M

"You don'

ere steady

too warm. I sipped my espresso to steady myse

ropist who hated bad press; and Gruber, a swing vote with an ego the size of a continent. "They all like pow

sure I shoul

. "Lang will spin you as the liability.

ated dryly. "Th

d. "It's

review slides, but my mind was a swirl of last night's candlelight, this morning's confrontation,

g too loud," he

use

ically hear

"Do you ever stop

rel

oth of us. His expression softened, just

beneath us like a map of glass and steel.

amian's driver held the door for me first. "Kro

blur past, my reflection faint in the tinted glass. Damian sat close enough that I could

vous," he s

foc

e th

"What happens if

ne. "Then Lang wins. A

slowly. "N

ly. "Pressure m

the lobby gleamed with marble and gold. Guests in designer suits murmured in mu

, a dining table big enough for twelve, a view of Zurich's lights like a scatter o

utral groun

ed it under one of my subsidiaries.

. The lake was dark, glinting under the c

glass. "Sometimes

t's

ed at me

really doing this merger, Damian?

building empires that don't matter. Because your

ght. "That's

not a

een us felt electric, charged. For a heartbe

amian stepped back, composure snapping

look busy. Damian opened the door. Reinhardt, Kater

ng," Damian said sm

to show them I wasn't the liability. Time to play th

s eye for a fraction of a second. No smile, no smir

r