Bach filtered through the line for precisely seventeen seconds before the line clicked.
"Algerone," Shaw answered with manufactured warmth. "I was wondering when you'd call."
"Save the small talk, Shaw. You took something of mine."
"Many things change hands in our business. Finders keepers, as they say."
"Return the prototype, and maybe I won't peel your skin off inch by inch."
"Big talk from a man who just lost his golden goose," Shaw shot back. "The Pentagon suits will shit themselves when they find out you can't deliver on that six-billion-dollar promise."
I lifted the crystal paperweight, watching fractals of color scatter across my desk. "So how's Dr. Hardin working out? Got that prototype up and running yet?"
A slight hesitation betrayed his uncertainty. "Dr. Hardin is settling in nicely. She finds our resources... adequate."
"'Adequate.' Not 'working.' Interesting choice of words."
"Just some technical hiccups. Nothing a scientist of her caliber can't handle."
"Hiccups, huh? How many times have you tried to crack it now? Six attempts? Seven?" I let amusement thread through my voice. "Must be frustrating, watching that pretty toy refuse to work. And Vancouver's lovely this time of year, isn't it? Not too rainy."
His sharp inhalation confirmed Xavier's intelligence. I'd hit the target.
"You're more resourceful than I expected," Shaw conceded. "But it changes nothing. I have the prototype, your chief scientist, and enough dirt on your sons to bury them if it reaches the feds."
"First you touch what's mine. Now you threaten my sons." I set the paperweight down. "You've picked the wrong family to threaten, Shaw. My boys were raised by a serial killer and the Volkovs' top body disposal expert. You really want to test them?"
"Threats won't get your toy back."
"I don't need threats. I just need time. And you handed it to me by stealing tech you can't even turn on."
"What do you want?" Shaw finally asked.
I rose from my chair, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through my damaged leg. "I want my prototype back. I want Hardin. And I want you to apologize for touching what's mine."
"Maxime," Shaw said, voice dropping lower. "That's what this is really about, isn't it? Your pretty little lapdog."
"You kissed him," I growled, my voice barely human. "You put your poison in his mouth."
"He tasted sweet," Shaw taunted. "So eager to please. Does he get on his knees for you too? Beg for your approval?"
My fingers tightened around the phone until the casing emitted a warning creak. My other hand crushed the crystal paperweight, fragments penetrating my palm as blood spread across polished mahogany.
"When I find you, I'm going to show you pain you didn't know existed."
Shaw laughed. "There he is. The real Algerone finally shows up."
I terminated the connection. The shattered paperweight dripped blood across important documents. I barely registered the pain as crimson stained expense reports and military contracts.
Shaw had unwittingly revealed more than intended.
I jabbed the intercom. "Tell Reid to prep a team for Vancouver. Full tactical. Wheels up in three hours."
The penthouse occupied theentire top floor of Spade Tower. I moved through the darkened living room, the silver tip of my cane tapping a measured rhythm against marble. My rage at Shaw had crystallized into something colder and more focused.
A thin line of golden light emerged from beneath the bedroom door. For years, I'd maintained a deliberate distance between us, despite the electric current that surged whenever we occupied the same space. Now, having finally claimed him once, I found the concept of returning to that careful separation impossible.
I pushed the door open.
