Chapter 727
Chapter 727:
“Nice touch,” he said.
“I learned from the best,” Skye replied, looking out at the city lights.
Somewhere out there, Liam was watching the same stars. And she would burn the world down to make sure he had a home to come back to.
The Vance Estate was a sanctuary of silence, a stark contrast to the chaotic noise of the city. The greenhouse was humid and smelled of damp earth and blooming orchids. Julian Vance sat in his wheelchair, a pair of silver pruning shears in his hand. He was trimming a bonsai tree with the focus of a surgeon.
Skye sat on a wrought-iron bench opposite him, watching the snip-snip of the blades.
“Arthur has been too quiet,” Skye said, breaking the silence. “After the stunt in my office, I expected a lawsuit. Or a media smear campaign. But nothing p>
Julian paused. He didn’t look up from the tiny tree. “That is because Arthur is not reacting. He is preparing. When a viper goes still, it is coiling to strike p>
“Alistair intercepted a name,” Skye said. “Celeste Cain. Does it mean anything to you p>
The shears slipped.
It was a microscopic error, a millimeter deviation. But the tip of the blade snipped a healthy branch instead of the dead leaf Julian had been aiming for. The small green limb fell onto the table.
Julian stared at it. His hand, usually steady as rock, had frozen.
“Celeste Cain,” Julian said. The name came out like a curse. He set the shears down slowly, as if they had suddenly become heavy. “She is the head of Cain Capital. A vulture fund specializing in distressed assets. But that is just the surface p>
“What’s beneath the surface p>
“She is a collector,” Julian said, his voice dropping. He turned his chair to face Skye. His face was paler than usual. “She collects companies, art, and… people. Broken people. She funds high-risk medical research. Illegal research p>
Skye felt a chill run down her spine. “Medical research? Like the clinic where Dr. William worked p>
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦.𝘤𝘰𝘮
“Worse,” Julian said. “William was a butcher. Celeste is an architect of biology. She has a fascination with fixing things that shouldn’t be fixed. And controlling them p>
He rubbed his left leg, the one that had been crushed years ago. It was an unconscious gesture Skye had seen him do a hundred times, but now it carried a sinister weight.
“You know her,” Skye stated. It wasn’t a question.
“We have a history,” Julian said evasively. He picked up a cloth and wiped his hands, though they were clean. “If Arthur is bringing Celeste into the fold, he is desperate. She does not offer loans, Skye. She buys souls. You must be careful. She will see you not as a rival, but as a specimen p>
“I can handle her,” Skye said, standing. “I’ve handled Beatrice. I’ve handled Lucian p>
“Celeste is different,” Julian warned, his eyes dark. “She doesn’t want to destroy you. She wants to own you p>
Skye left the estate with a knot of unease in her stomach. Julian didn’t get scared easily. If Celeste Cain made him flinch, she was a threat level Skye hadn’t anticipated.
She drove back to Kensington Tower. The sun was setting, casting long, bloody shadows across the glass facade of the building. She needed to prepare.