Chapter 946
“The Wolf Strategy,” Skye said, her voice cold with betrayal. “He told me about it once. In a pack, one wolf feigns injury or exposure to draw the bear away from the den. But he didn’t just feign exposure. He engineered the attack.”
“He staged it?” Parker asked, horrified.
“He needed to make Maximillian look like a credible threat to the underworld,” Skye said, pacing the room. “If no one attacked Parker, everyone would know he was a fake. Julian needed blood in the water to sell the lie. So he spilled ours.”
“He almost killed you,” Alistair said, his voice tight. “He risked your life for a narrative.”
“He calculated the risk,” Skye said, quoting Julian’s own words with bitter irony. “He knew you would protect the asset.”
𝘙𝗈𝗆a𝗻𝖼е 𝗮n𝘥 рa𝗌ѕ𝗂𝗼𝗇 𝗈ո 𝗀a𝗹ոo𝗏е𝗅𝘴.𝗰𝗈𝘮
“Or,” Parker said, his voice small, “Travis went rogue.”
“Butlers like Travis don’t go rogue, Parker. He’s loyal to the bone. This was a sanctioned hit.”
Alistair pulled the Vance bullet from his pocket and set it on the desk beside the screen showing Travis’s face.
“The bullet in my father’s vault. The attack. It all points to Julian,” he said. “He wants the map. He wants the vault. And he’s using us to find it.”
Skye shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. If he wanted us dead, we’d be dead. Why the theatrics?”
“To control us,” Alistair said. “Fear is a leash.”
Skye’s phone buzzed. A news alert.
BREAKING: HAYES SHIPPING NETWORK SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE.
She frowned. “Liam. He’s moving fast.”
She tapped the article. After the rescue of heiress Victoria Hayes, sources say Kensington Global is stepping in to manage the Hayes logistics network during her recovery.
“He’s securing the routes,” Skye realized. “He’s not buying new ships — he’s reactivating Victoria’s fleet. The Mastermind needs those ships. Liam just blocked the exit.”
“Liam is playing his own game,” Alistair said. “He’s blocking the Mastermind, but he’s also consolidating power.”
Parker’s phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, and his face went white.
“It’s my mom,” he whispered. “A text. ‘Some nice men are here asking about your new job, Maximillian. They want to know if you have any old books.’”
“Old books,” Skye said. “The ledger.”
“They’re at my mom’s safe house.” Parker stood, panic seizing him. “She left my dad years ago to get away from this life. Skye, they have her.”
“Who?” Alistair asked. “Your father’s men?”
“No.” Parker shook his head. “The area code — it’s from the Carter territory. The smugglers.”
“The Carters?” Skye frowned. “They usually stay neutral. Why are they involved?”
“Because everyone wants a piece of the Sterling pie,” Alistair said, checking his gun. “The water is full of sharks, and we’re bleeding.”
“We need to get your mom out,” Skye said to Parker. “Now. But first, we need to talk to Julian. Face to face.”
“He’ll lie,” Alistair warned.
“Then we make him tell the truth,” Skye said. She looked at the image of Travis frozen on the screen. “Or we burn his house down.”
.
.