The storm had passed, but the city hadn’t exhaled yet. The sky was the color of bruised steel, clouds trailing like smoke across the horizon. In Carson’s penthouse, the silence was heavy, the kind that came after too many truths had been half-spoken.

The ledger lay open on the coffee table between them. Its pages seemed to pulse with their own life, each line of ink a heartbeat of an empire built on secrets.

Justina sat on the edge of the couch, shoulders stiff. Darius leaned against the ...