“He spilled a drink on me. On purpose.”
Rome grinned. “Did he admit that before or after the stitches?”
“Focus.” Luca didn’t look up when he said it, just let the word land in that quiet, precise tone that made everyone except Rome listen.
“I am focused.” Rome tapped the pen against the table. “I’m focusing on the abstract art piece that is Bastion’s face.”
Bastion flipped him off without looking.
Nikolai gestured at the main screen. It shifted to Orpheum, sublevel. Freeze-frame of Bastion mid-swing, bottle caught in the air, crowd already flinching back. “This is half of why we’re here. Containment, narrative, Veil. The usual.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. Enforcement had run long. All I wanted was a shower, Madeline’s voice in my ear, then sleep.
Instead I’d let myself be bullied into a “training session.”
Apparently tonight was about “integrated oversight” and “future-proofing surveillance infrastructure.”
Translated: Luca was done with me pretending Veil didn’t exist.
“Club feeds are already scrubbed,” Luca said. “Anyone who recorded on personal devices had their Veil packets intercepted and corrupted. Bastion’s charming little tantrum is not trending.”
“Yet,” Nikolai added.
“Yet.” Luca’s gaze slid to me. “Which brings us to the second half of tonight. Vince is going to learn Veil.”
Rome slapped a hand to his heart. “Historic. Someone screenshot his face. This is our moon landing.”
“Try it. See what happens to your phone.”
Nikolai didn’t bother hiding his amusement. “Sit down, shut up, learn the toy. It’s an hour. Then we can get back to the part where we decide who we’re going to inconvenience financially this week.”
“That’s the only reason I came,” Rome said. “Sanctions are my self-care.”
“I don’t need Veil.” I leaned back, folding my arms. “I have you. That’s why God invented little brothers. You suffer through the apps so I don’t have to.”
Luca’s attention sharpened. “That was cute when Veil was just kids posting grainy club fights. It’s less cute now that half our enemies are building soft power on it. Alliances are tested there. Narratives seeded. Heirs auditioning for their own cults. You don’t have to like it. You have to stop being blind.”
He was right. I hated that he was right.
I also hated Veil. Hated the drones that hummed over every event. Hated the way people poured their lives into comment sections for strangers to pick apart.
Mostly I hated that the other night, my perfect little sub had still been sore from my cock, after giving me her first time, and still left. She asked for me not to watch the stream.
So I didn’t watch. Daddy stood down when my baby asked me to. I respected it. Sat on my hands while Veil drones circled her like flies, knowing my girl was out there smiling for strangers while she was still bleeding from loving me.
I filed Veil under shit I hated on principle and left it there.
Right up until I realised hating something I didn’t understand was bad Crow practice, and texted Luca in a moment of very poor impulse control: teach me Veil.
I should’ve thrown my phone in the bay instead.
“I’ve changed my mind.” I stretched my legs out under the table. “Pass.”
Luca finally looked at me properly. “You texted me nights ago asking for this.”
Rome’s eyebrows shot up. “You what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t remember.”
