Page 99 of Alien War Daddy's Got Rizz
I breathe hard through my nose, jaw tight. The whole office smells like tension now—sterile air, old coffee, the metallic static of the datachip’s presence, the faintest trace of her perfume clinging to the collar of her blouse.
It guts me.
But I stay focused.
“I came to give you a choice,” I say. “One clean shot.”
She lifts her chin again, defiant. “A choice?”
“You can walk away. For good. Pretend I never came back. Let the suits devour each other, and let Tidball rot on his own timeline.”
“And the other option?”
I step toward her again. Slower this time. Measured.
“You let me finish this.”
She studies me. Hard.
“You already started.”
“Not the way I can finish it.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means once I burn the last thread, there’s no pulling back. No plausible deniability. No half-measures. His empire collapses. Publicly. And anyone near him gets singed.”
“Even me?”
“If you stand close enough.”
Her arms fold again.
But this time, she’s hugging herself.
“I’m already ruined, Grau.”
“No,” I say. “You’recornered. Not ruined. Not yet.”
She turns away, pacing to the tall window overlooking the city. Neon cuts across her silhouette. Her reflection in the glass looks like a ghost.
I wait.
She doesn't speak.
So I do.
“I didn’t come here to beg,” I say softly. “You know me better than that. I don’t grovel. I don’t ask for forgiveness. But I told you once I protect what’s mine.”
Her voice is ragged. “You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s still true.”
She turns back around, arms still wrapped tight around her ribs like she’s holding herself together through sheer force of will.
“Why now?”
“Because the board’s fracturing. Tidball’s hold is slipping. And because I needed to be sure. That when I came back, you’d still recognize me. Even if you didn’t like what you saw.”
