He straightened — as much as his body allowed.
“I’ll do whatever you command, boss.”
His eyes locked onto mine. “Always have. Always will.”
I studied him carefully.
Not just as a subordinate.
But as a man who had stood beside me through war zones.
Through assassinations.
Through hostile takeovers.
Through the dismantling of rival syndicates across three continents.
He had carried weapons for me.
Protected my daughter.
Guarded my wife.
He had also failed tonight.
I stepped closer — close enough that he could feel the heat of my anger.
“Can I still trust you?”
His expression shattered for half a second.
Shock. Pain. Offense.
“W-What—?”
His breathing quickened.
“Boss, I would never—”
I raised my hand sharply to stop him.
“I watched the CCTV feeds ten times on the flight over.”
My voice dropped.
“I know exactly how they got inside.”
His jaw clenched.
I continued.
“They slipped a backdoor override into the security mainframe forty-eight hours ago.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“They used a zero-day exploit to bypass the biometric locks.”
I stepped even closer.
