A few nights ago...

"Sir Lukas, they said you should come. And they specifically said... you won’t like it if you miss this."

Clack!

Lukas scoffed the moment he heard one of his men relay the message regarding some people’s extended invitation to a private meeting. Attending private meetings was part of Lukas’s job, but all of them were acknowledged, and Lucian was always aware of them.

But this private meeting was something else.

It was a secret gathering involving unnamed members within Dominion’s ranks. And if Lucian didn’t know about it, that already told Lukas more than enough about what it was for.

"And they dare threaten the big boss’s left hand?" he laughed, shaking his head, unsure whether to be amused or irritated.

His initial reaction was unpleasantness. A clear sign of disrespect, in his eyes.

Even the higher circles of Dominion would not casually threaten him like this. Not because they feared Lukas, but because disrespecting him was the same as disrespecting Lucian. And Lucian was the type of man who took such matters personally.

"They should be more careful than this," he muttered, swirling the whiskey in his glass, only to realize it was already empty when he tried to take another drink.

He stared at the glass and huffed before dragging himself toward his desk to pour another round. As he did, however, his growing irritation slowly subsided as another thought crossed his mind.

"Is it just me?" he wondered to himself. "Or... did they invite someone else too?"

By someone else, he meant Gustav, Lucian’s right hand.

If they invited Lucian’s left hand, then there was a good chance they had invited Gustav as well.

Thinking about it, Lukas stopped pouring and narrowed his eyes.

"Is that why he’s been acting strange lately?" he wondered, recalling the quiet phone calls and meetings Gustav had been attending.

It was never Lukas’s place to poke his nose where it did not belong. Whatever Gustav was doing, Lukas knew by heart that Lucian had likely given him an order. They never got along, but they both understood that unspoken code.

The more Lukas thought about it, the uglier his expression became.

"No way," he scoffed before downing a mouthful of whiskey. "No way he’d give me a reason to kill him."

Still, the thought that Lucian’s right hand might have had a change of heart — especially after the questioning of where Lukas’s loyalty lay — unsettled him.

He didn’t want to believe it, but he also couldn’t simply trust Gustav just because they had spent years bickering with each other.

For Lukas, the moment suspicion appeared, it had to be confirmed immediately.

That was how they had survived this long.

Taking another drink, Lukas walked out of his office. Unlike Lucian, both Lukas and Gustav stayed in a nearby hotel close to the office for efficiency and convenience.

As he walked down the hallway, however, he passed Gustav’s office.

"Hm?"

Lukas suddenly stopped, turning toward the clear glass wall. Inside, he spotted Gustav standing near his desk while talking to someone on the phone.

Deep lines formed on Lukas’s face as he stared at Gustav’s back.

"He’s still here at this hour?" Lukas checked the time and saw it was almost midnight.

That explained why most of the office lights had already been turned off, leaving only the dim emergency lights glowing faintly throughout the floor.

Even Gustav’s office lights were off, with only the desk lamp illuminating the room.

Gustav often stayed late, but not this late. And even that was rare.

It made Lukas wonder whether the call Gustav was on was connected to the one he had received.

With a faint glint in his eyes, Lukas walked toward the office door and opened it without knocking.

Just in time to hear Gustav say, 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I’ll let you know."

"Let who know?"

Gustav raised a brow and glanced back, catching Lukas walking in. He kept the phone against his ear for another second.

"Keep in touch," he said simply before ending the call. "Lukas, don’t you know how to knock anymore?"

Lukas snickered as he stopped several steps away from Gustav. He raised his chin slightly, hands shoved into his pockets.

"Why?" He tilted his head to the side. "Did I hear something I wasn’t supposed to?"

Gustav didn’t react. He merely stared at him for a moment before walking back to his desk to arrange his things.

"It’s late," he said flatly. "I’m not in the mood to argue anymore."

Lukas narrowed his eyes, immediately noticing Gustav’s attempt to avoid the conversation.

"Gustav," he called while watching the man place his belongings into his briefcase. "Is it just me, or have you been acting suspicious for days now?"

Gustav paused and glanced at him, his expression still as unreadable as ever. "Go away."

"That call..." Lukas smiled as he deliberately sounded playful, almost teasing. "Was it something suspicious?"

Despite the tone, he was carefully gauging Gustav’s reaction, watching even the slightest change in expression like a hawk.

Gustav was the first person Lukas would want to kill if they belonged to opposing organizations. Unfortunately, they worked for the same man, and their lives were tied together one way or another.

But Lukas would kill him without hesitation if Gustav ever betrayed them.

"Like some sort of... invitation?" Lukas tilted his head. "Or maybe something like a secret meeting the master isn’t supposed to know about?"

Gustav drew a deep breath and sighed heavily. When he finally turned toward Lukas, there was a trace of exhaustion on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked bluntly. "It’s midnight. If you’re bored, there are bars you can visit. And if that’s not enough, I heard the clubs in the red district are lively tonight."

With that, Gustav picked up his briefcase and walked past Lukas.

As for Lukas, his brows rose as he silently followed Gustav with his eyes. He studied the man for a few seconds before quietly exhaling in relief.

So the master really did give him a secret order, huh?

Lukas could tell that much from Gustav’s reaction, tone, and overall demeanor. Gustav was, by far, the easiest person for him to read.

"Gustav," Lukas called once the man reached the door.

He waited until Gustav looked back.

"Did the master ask you to investigate Dominion’s internal affairs?"

This time, Gustav’s brows furrowed slightly, and that alone told Lukas more than enough.

"Just now, I received a generous invitation to a secret meeting the master supposedly shouldn’t know about. You could say I was threatened into attending." Lukas slowly rocked his head before tilting it slightly.

"I already know what I want to do with them, but..." His eyes narrowed faintly. "Out of courtesy, what do you think we should do to them?"