The gray rushes back in. No blue this time. I call him immediately.
“Before you say anything,” Ethan answers, “I already have Maddox looking into what they're planning.”
“Good morning to you, too.”
“It's not a good morning, Kai. Victor's making moves. He wants the energy contracts we just secured, and he's going to argue that ELK's renewable division falls under Hammond Industries charter from forty years ago.”
“That charter is prehistoric. It doesn't apply to technology that didn't exist when it was written.”
“Since when has your father cared about logic? He owns the manufacturer of the very chips we use. If he can’t take the company, he’ll squeeze the supply chain until we suffocate.”
“Then we bury him in precedent until he chokes on it.” My voice is flat and cold. It is the voice I learned in boardrooms full of men who thought my last name was the only thing that made me valuable. “Pull every case where legacy charter claims were dismissed. Get Maddox to find out which judges he’s bought and which ones he hasn’t reached yet. Find me leverage.”
“On your own father?”
“Anyone who's planning to vote against us.”
Ethan is quiet for a beat. “You don't have to be the one doing this. Logan and I can handle Victor. You don't need to go head-to-head with him again.”
“Yes, I do. This is my fight. He destroys things to prove a point, Ethan. I won’t let him do it to ELK.”
“Alright.” Keys click in the background. “Maddox has been digging, and he can't find a direct link between Victor and the board members pushing this motion. On paper, it looks like internal dissent.”
“Bet he’s using the board as a shield,” I say. “He’s making it look like a revolt rather than a direct attack. It’s his signature move. Plausible deniability while he twists the knife.”
“We need to flip one of them,” Ethan says. “Get someone to admit Victor is pulling the strings.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
ELK's headquartersoccupy the top three floors of a glass tower in the financial district. My grandmother's money built the foundation, the inheritance I moved offshore before my father could sink his claws into it. But the rest, the growth and the reputation belonged to us.
The elevator opens into the executive suite, and I find Ethan exactly where I expected him, hunched over his desk with three monitors glowing. Empty energy drinks crowd his keyboard.
“You look terrible,” I say.
He glances up. “You look like you didn’t sleep. Glass houses, Kai.”
“I was thinking.”
Ethan swivels in his chair. His gray eyes narrow behind his glasses. “Thinking about the presentation or something else?
“No. Just thinking.”
Ethan studies me a beat too long. “You're being cagey. You're never cagey with me.”
“I'm not.”
“You are.” He turns back to his monitors. “Fine. Keep your secrets, but if you're spiraling about Victor again, I need to know so I can plan the fallout.”
The elevator dings, and Logan steps out with his helmet under one arm, his brown hair messy from the ride, and his leather jacket still on. He looks like he hasn't slept, but the grin says he doesn't care.
“Reyes hit 340 on the straight,” he says. “New track record. The bike is ready for the qualifier.”
“You were there at the tracks until midnight for a record?” Ethan asks.
“I was there because it's my team and I give a shit.” Logan drops into the chair across from Ethan. “Some of us have passions, you know.”
I pour myself a coffee and lean against the window frame. Logan came into my life on a scholarship at boarding school, a kid from nowhere who outworked everyone. Ethan was the rich black sheep who preferred hacking to galas. When I decided to build something Victor couldn't touch, I didn't have to ask twice. Logan became CEO because we both knew we needed someone who could keep our egos in check. I handle the money. Ethan handles the tech. Logan handles us.
