“Someone trained in spy craft?”
“Yes.”
The rage was still there, but underneath it now was something colder. Fear. Not for myself or my brothers—we’d survive. No, my fear was for Tashi, who’d been caught in the cross fire of someone else’s vendetta and publicly humiliated because we’d been careless—because we’d trusted the wrong person.
“I want you to conduct a thorough background check on every employee.”
“That will take time.”
“Hire whoever you need to. We need answers within three days.” I met his eyes. “You’re the best digital forensics analyst I’ve ever worked with. If anyone can find this, it’s you.”
Neville nodded slowly. “Ares?” His expression was serious. “If I find what I think I’m going to find—if this goes as deep as I suspect—someone with serious resources has been planning this for months. They’ve invested millions in taking you down. That’s not revenge. That’s business.”
“A hostile takeover,” I said, remembering Orion’s theory.
“More than that. This is scorched earth. They don’t just want to buy Olympus Royale—they want to humiliate you first. Break you publicly. Make you desperate enough to sell for pennies on the dollar.”
“Then we don’t give them the satisfaction.” I headed for the door. “Find me something, Neville. Anything I can use.”
“I will. But Ares?”
I turned back to face him.
“Be careful. Whoever’s behind this conspiracy has already proven they’re willing to violate your privacy, leak your most intimate moments, and destroy your reputations. If they feel cornered?—”
“I know,” I said. “They’ll escalate.”
I left the security center, my jaw clenched. Three days until the hearing. Three days to find proof. Three days to identify who had been systematically destroying everything we’d built—and everyone we loved.
Chapter 19
Tashi
The knockon my door made me flinch.
I’d been sitting in the same spot on the sofa for what felt like hours, staring at my phone’s black screen, too afraid to turn it back on. Last I checked, the view count was seven million.
Leo was in the kitchen making tea I hadn’t asked for and probably wouldn’t drink. Orion stood at the window, his posture rigid, reviewing something on his tablet.
Another knock, sharper this time, and angry.
“I’ll get it,” Orion said, already moving toward the door.
He opened it, and Henri Saltz stormed in like a hurricane, flashing credentials that should have been useless by now.
His face was flushed deep red, veins standing out on his temples. His expensive suit was rumpled, his tie askew. He looked like a man on the edge of losing control.
“We need to talk,” he said, his voice shaking with barely contained rage. “Now.”
“Henri—” Orion started.
“Don’t.” Henri’s eyes swept the room and landed on me. The hatred in his gaze made me shrink back into the sofa. “This is about her. About your completely reckless, irresponsible behavior with that woman.”
“Watch your tone,” Leo said quietly, moving to stand between Henri and me.
“Watch my tone?” Henri’s laugh was sharp and ugly. “You three have put this entire casino at risk because you couldn’t keep your hands off an employee, and you want me to watch my tone?”
“That’s enough,” Orion said, his CEO voice sliding into place—cold and authoritative.
