Solange's expression softens. "Good. It's about damn time you trusted yourself again."
"So you're okay with this?"
"I'm not interfering. I'm watching carefully, ready to intervene if I see red flags, but right now? You seem more like yourself than you have in years." She squeezes my hand once before releasing it. "So what else is happening?" Solange refills my coffee, settles back in her chair. "Beyond sleeping with your security detail. Give me updates on the actual threats."
"Trask has gone completely quiet. No sightings, no activity since the break-in. Brandon thinks he's either accomplished what he needed or he's regrouping for a different approach." I take a long sip of coffee. "Brandon and Jax have apartment listings for me in The Crest. Clean slate, better security, somewhere Trask has no existing intelligence on."
"Good. You need a fresh start anyway." She's nodding approval.
"Also, there’s a new development with Ezra.”
"What about him? Last I heard, he dropped the estate case after you threatened discovery."
"He did. Last month. We thought it was over." I take a sip of coffee, feeling the familiar tension return. "But Mira called this morning—his legal team reached out yesterday with a new angle. Now he's claiming he and Gabriel had joint investments, that his money is tied up in Gabriel's venture capital deals and he can't access it."
"Joint investments?" Solange's eyebrows rise. "So far, I’ve not seen anything like that in the Gabriel’s files you gave me."
"That's because it's probably fabricated. But it's harder to dismiss than the estate challenge—family members doing joint business deals is common enough that we can't just ignore the claim." I set down my mug. "Mira scheduled a meeting for Wednesday. Told Ezra's team he needs to bring documentation proving he actually invested anything. When he can't, we use the same Glasshouse discovery threats that worked before, but this time make it clear we'll actually follow through with public filing if he comes back again."
"So he's testing whether you were bluffing." Solange is already processing the implications. "Someone's pushing him to keep trying."
"That's what Jax thinks. The Glasshouse wants to know what I have, what I know. Ezra is their way in." The reality of Wednesday's meeting settles heavier. "Could be legitimate negotiation. Could be otherwise."
"Well, I have news that's definitely relevant to Wednesday." Solange stands, moves to her laptop on the kitchen counter, returns with it open to encrypted files I recognize as Gabriel's. "I've been decoding more of his communications. Found something you need to see before that meeting."
She turns the screen fully toward me, shows financial records that look similar to what she showed me weeks ago—except these are larger, more complex, spanning years rather than months. "Gabriel wasn't just moving money through The Glasshouse. He was helping them build financial networks across multiple jurisdictions. Money laundering at scale, using his venture capital firm as cover."
I scan the documents, recognizing company names and transaction patterns that suggest sophistication beyond standard criminal enterprise. "This is massive."
"This is just what I've decoded so far. There's more." She clicks through several screens, shows communications between Gabriel and someone identified only as "TG-Seven." "Gabriel wanted out. Started making noise about having a conscience, about not being able to ignore what the money was funding anymore. The Glasshouse doesn't tolerate that kind of doubt."
"You think they wanted him dead." I say it as a statement rather than a question, because the implication is clear in every document she's showing me.
"Gabriel wanted out and The Glasshouse doesn't let people leave easily. Whether his death was an accident or not, the timing worked in their favor—he's gone before he could expose anything, and now they're scrambling to make sure his widow doesn't have evidence that threatens them." She closes the laptop. "And I think Ezra is caught up in this. That's why he keeps coming back with different angles—either he's looking for evidence against them, or he's working with them to assess what you know."
The assessment matches what Jax told me, and it suddenly makes a lot of sense. Ezra's legal pressure, the break-in, the coordinated investigation into Gabriel's assets—all ofit designed to assess whether I'm sitting on intelligence that threatens operations worth killing to protect.
"Trask and Reese," I say, the connection forming. "They're not just PIs. They're connected to The Glasshouse."
"That's my guess. Professional level break-in, intelligence gathering rather than theft, it all points to operatives assessing what you know rather than standard investigators building a legal case." She's watching me carefully now. "Lana, you need to tell Mira about this. All of it. She needs to understand what we're actually fighting."
"I will. After I finish brunch and actually eat something." I gesture at the food I've been mostly pushing around my plate. "Mira's going to want details, strategy, and a clear plan of action. I can't give her that on an empty stomach."
"You're remarkably calm about this." Solange is studying me with the particular attention of someone trying to determine if I'm actually handling the situation or just pretending to be calm while falling apart internally.
"I'm not calm. I'm compartmentalizing. There's a difference." I force myself to take another bite of eggs benedict, chew and swallow even though my stomach is protesting. "If I let myself feel everything right now—the fear, the rage, the betrayal—I'll be useless. Better to focus on what I can control than spiral about what I can't."
"That's very tactical for someone who couldn't get through our last brunch without checking exits." Her tone carries approval mixed with concern. "Jax is rubbing off on you."
"Maybe. Or maybe having actual threats to deal with is easier than just existing in undefined danger." I take another bite, finding that eating is getting marginally easier now with each bite. "Gabriel kept me off-balance for five years by makingme question whether the threat was real or manufactured. This is different. Trask broke into my apartment. Ezra is coordinating with organizations that kill people. The danger is concrete, which makes it somehow less terrifying than Gabriel's ambient menace."
Solange considers this while finishing her own food. "You're probably right. Defined threats can be strategized against. Ambient menace just corrodes you from the inside." She closes her laptop, sets it aside. "So what's your plan? Tell Mira about The Glasshouse, let her build a legal strategy around exposing their involvement?"
"Yes, Mira needs this information. She can't fight effectively without understanding the full scope."
"And Jax? Does he know about Gabriel's connection to The Glasshouse?"
"He does. Found it through his own investigation when Lucien first assigned him to watch me. But he doesn't have the level of detail you've decoded. The financial networks, the communications, the evidence that Gabriel wanted out—that's a new discovery."
