Sylvester is beside us, laptop open, a map of Zurich glowing blue across the cabin.
I force myself to focus.
“Sebastian secured the building,” Sylvester reports, tapping the screen. “Directly opposite Deveraux’s banking headquarters. Windows facing each other. Clear line of sight.”
“What about access?” I ask.
“We’ll use the service tunnels beneath Bahnhofstrasse. Old maintenance routes—no cameras, no patrols. I can infiltrate the building through there.”
I nod. Clean. Efficient. Exactly what we need.
Vivian leans forward. “And us?”
I meet her eyes. Steady. Composed. Determined in a way that both reassures me and terrifies me.
“You and I go in through the front,” I say. “As a couple looking to invest. Roman’s alias gets us onto the guest list. Once inside, we blend in and move toward the restricted wing.”
Vivian crosses her arms, brows raised. “So…I’m your date.”
The smallest smirk pulls at my mouth. “You insisted.”
She tries—fails—not to smile.
Sylvester clears his throat. “You two also need a cover story. You’re newly engaged, from a private family office in Monaco. She handles auditing, you handle acquisitions.”
Vivian nods sharply. “Fine. What about exits?”
“Three options,” Sylvester says. “Front doors if everything stays clean. Service corridor if it doesn’t. And rooftop extraction if it all goes to hell.”
I glance at her again.
“Nothing is going to go to hell,” I say, mostly for her benefit.
Her gaze holds mine, unwavering.
“You can’t promise that,” she whispers.
I reach across the table and take her hand, sliding my thumb over her pulse.
“No,” I admit. “But I can promise I won’t let anything touch you.”
Her breath hitches.
Sylvester politely pretends not to notice.
We turn back to the maps, but tension curls between us like a live wire.
Tomorrow, we walk into the lion’s den together.
And the bastard we’re hunting….
He won’t see us coming.
Chapter 24 – Vivian
Zurich looks unreal from up here—too clean, too precise, too polished.
A city that feels like it’s holding its breath.
