Moments ago, in Black Dragon Corporation...

"Still no answer?" Lukas asked, seated calmly on the couch in Gustav’s office.

He had one leg crossed over the other, swaying it idly. His arms were folded, tracking Gustav’s movements with his eyes alone.

Gin was also in the room, laptop open. He pressed his lips into a thin line, darting his gaze between Gustav and Lukas. Those two were cut from very different cloth.

It was no secret that Gustav and Lukas never got along — despite both being the closest to Lucian, with Gustav serving as his right hand and Lukas as his left. And it showed, even in a situation like this.

"Is he really sick?" Gustav stared at his phone in disbelief.

Lukas snorted. "Sick? The big boss? Gustav, has your common sense dulled already? The boss isn’t sick. I’m sure that woman cried to him and begged him to stay and look after her. Probably guilt-tripped him into it."

Gin frowned at that, but kept his thoughts to himself. He was in no position to argue.

Not long ago, Gin and his group had been just like Lukas. Even Gin wasn’t sure when or how they had started treating Ashley differently. It wasn’t as though she had forced them. If anything, it was almost as if she had gone out of her way to irritate them rather than win them over.

But hearing Lukas now, Gin found himself quietly bothered.

Gustav turned to Lukas, his expression flat. "Lukas, just go."

"Huh?"

"You’re not helping. This side of Dominion has everything under control," Gustav said evenly. "You’re not needed here." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Lukas laughed, leaning back as he looked Gustav up and down with open disdain. "You say that as if the problem is the rescue itself. It’s not about that, Gustav. The success of the rescue was a given."

"The issue," he said, rising from his seat and straightening to his full height, "is that it happened at all. While you were away throwing your weight around, the master had to put himself in danger. That is my problem — and it’s one I’ll be taking to the board."

He paused, shaking his head. "Easy for you to say when you’re not the one who has to stand in front of those old bastards who think they hold more power than the man I answer to."

A tense silence settled between them. Gin lowered his head.

Why am I even in the same room as these two? He thought, holding his breath, desperately hoping not to get pulled into whatever this was.

Still, Gin understood that Lukas wasn’t entirely wrong to go after Gustav. Gustav had been content that Dominion walked away from the incident with only injured men. Lukas, on the other hand, kept his eyes on the business side of things.

While Gustav handled everything directly tied to Lucian, everything else landed in Lukas’s lap to sort out.

With Dominion pushing toward full legalization, Lukas had been managing that front alongside Nikki — and he hadn’t taken kindly to what Gustav had done to her.

"Gustav, I don’t care if you’ve gone soft on that woman," Lukas said coldly. "But ever since she walked into Dominion, nothing good has followed. And because of her, the master keeps putting himself — and Dominion — at risk."

He paused. "Don’t forget that."

"Do you truly think I’ve forgotten everything she’s done?" Gustav laughed, though there was no warmth in it. "Lukas, you’re called the advisor of the Black Dragon. But you’ve been running on emotion lately. I have to wonder, is it because of Nikki?"

"Don’t you dare —"

Before he could finish, Lukas had already grabbed Gustav by the collar, the fire in his eyes unmistakable.

"Keep her name out of your mouth," he said quietly.

"Why?" Gustav’s eyes widened, then sharpened. "Lukas, I’m starting to question your loyalty. And between the two of us, you’re the one who’s lost. I know exactly where my loyalty stands — but yours? I’m not so sure anymore."

"You —"

DING.

Both men stilled as Gustav’s phone chimed. Gustav tilted the screen toward himself, catching Lucian’s name.

"It’s the master." He looked at Lukas. "Let me go."

Lukas ground his teeth. With a sharp exhale, he released Gustav’s collar. Gustav stepped back and opened the message.

It was a file.

His brows drew together as he opened it, revealing a set of profiles.

"These are..."

DING.

[From: Black Dragon

The people in charge of the cargo transport.]

Gustav held his breath, staring at the file. For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder where on earth Lucian had gotten this. Normally, Dominion handled all investigations and sent the reports up to the boss — not the other way around.

"Did he outsource without telling me?" he murmured, but shook his head and forwarded the file to Gin.

"Gin, verify these identities," he said. "Send it to the Dominion Intelligence Department as well. More hands will speed things up."

Lukas frowned. "What is that?"

"Profiles," Gustav replied, without bothering to look at him. "The master sent profiles of the people behind the cargo transport. Likely the other two, since one of them appears to be the Mole Guy we used as bait."

Gin, already pulling up the files, nodded. One of the faces looked familiar. Mole Guy had spent a considerable amount of time being interrogated and dealt with before ending up in pieces.

Lukas snorted, turning back to Gustav. "Emotional? Gustav, doesn’t it make you wonder? It seems the Black Dragon is losing confidence in your leadership."

"He’s running his own investigation," he added, his tone mocking. "Either he no longer trusts you, or he had voluntary help from someone very capable. The Ghost, for instance."

He shrugged. "Though the latter seems pretty unlikely."

"You—" Gustav started, irritation flaring, when the door suddenly burst open.

"Sir — Sir Gustav!" an employee stumbled in, visibly shaken. "You need to see this!"

Gustav, Lukas, and Gin all turned.

At first, none of them understood the look on the employee’s face. That changed the moment they reached the ground floor and saw him — a silver-haired man standing in the middle of the lobby, calm as anything, surrounded by Dominion security on all sides.

Silvestre.

He raised his hand in a slight wave, smiling too broadly, the snake tattoo on his wrist on full display.

"Hello, Dominion."