The word "everything" hung in the sterile air of the office, a promise and a threat. Charles didn't elaborate. He simply walked around to the other side of his vast desk and sat, the leather of his chair sighing under his weight. He steepled his fingers, his gaze fixed on me, his mind clearly working, reconfiguring the entire landscape of his empire to account for this new, powerful piece on the board.
"Maya," he said, her name a small, dismissive sound. "She believes she has won the lottery. A lifetime ticket. She thinks she's secured her future and the boy's." He paused, a flicker of something cold and predatory in his eyes. "She's right, in a way. She has secured a future. But it won't be the one she's imagining."
He tapped a single key on his desktop console. "Clarissa," he said, his voice calm and commanding. "Come in."
