"I didn't kill him in self-defense." The admission came easily for Maxime, who already knew the worst of me. "I killed him because once I started hitting him, I couldn't stop. I wanted to keep going. I wanted to erase him completely. For everything he'd done to me, but especially for what he did to King."
"You were seventeen. And you'd taken beatings for years without fighting back. What he did to King was just the final straw."
"If Shaw knows that part of my history, he'll use it." The possibility tasted bitter. "Paint me as unstable. Dangerous. A violent child who grew into a violent man."
"Shaw fundamentally misunderstands what drives you," Maxime replied. "He thinks exposing the violence in your past will undermine confidence in your leadership. He doesn't realize that everyone already knows Algerone Caisse-Etremont is dangerous. It's why they trust you with their security contracts."
"According to Hardin, Shaw thinks of me as 'trailer trash who reinvented himself.' Says I crawled out of the gutter on the backs of better men."
"Then he's already lost." Ice crept into his tone. "The nobody from Oklahoma built an empire that makes governments tremble. That scared little boy became a man even Shaw fears enough to target. What could be more impressive than that?"
"I miss you," I said, and regretted it immediately. The admission revealed too much.
His breath caught. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left. About what we did on the plane."
"Good." I let the word land hard, reclaiming control. "You should be thinking about it."
"I still have the bruises." His voice dropped lower. "I press on them sometimes."
"To remind yourself who you belong to?"
"To remind myself it was real." A pause. "Part of me keeps waiting for it to disappear."
"It won't disappear," I said. "But don't mistake it for absolution."
"I know." No self-pity in his tone. Just acceptance. "I never have."
There was a long pause.
"The board meeting went mostly as planned,” Maxime said eventually. “Patterson actually approached me privately afterward to assure me that your 'personal affairs' were irrelevant compared to keeping the company secure. I showed them the intelligence we'd gathered about their own indiscretions. The mistresses. The offshore accounts. The recreational drug use. Amazing what people think remains private in the digital age. Then I reminded them of Lucky Losers' reach. How easily accidents can be arranged when necessary."
"You threatened the entire board?"
"I protected what matters." Simple certainty rang in his words. "They understand now that your personal life is inviolable. That any attempt to weaponize it will be met with overwhelming force."
"And Shaw's infiltrators?"
"We've identified seven in total, ranging from security personnel to one of the executive assistants on the Diamond level. I've personally interrogated the security contractor who installed the cameras." Dark satisfaction colored his tone again. "The others are being held for questioning once I've finisheddealing with the immediate crisis. The security team has already started preliminary work."
My chest tightened at the thought of him confronting traitors alone. "You'll conduct the remaining interrogations yourself?"
"Yes." Pride slipped into his voice. "I want to look in their eyes when they realize who they've betrayed. I learned from the best, after all."
The image of Maxime, elegant and precise in his thousand-dollar suits and immaculate appearance, conducting brutal interrogations on my behalf ignited something primitive in my chest.
"I wish I could have seen that. You, making them talk."
"Next time, I'll record it for you." The promise carried equal parts tenderness and threat. "You might be surprised at how effective I can be."
"I'm never surprised by your effectiveness, Maxime. It's why I've kept you by my side for thirty-two years." I paused. "It's why I need you."
His sharp intake of breath told me he understood the significance. Algerone Caisse-Etremont needed no one, had built his life around needing no one. Yet here I was, confessing dependence to the one man who'd never used my vulnerabilities against me.
"I need you too," he whispered, and then more carefully: "Come back safely."
"I will. By this evening, if the flight goes smoothly." I glanced at my watch. "I want you to get some rest."
"Of course." A pause. "And after?"
