Page 64 of Controlled Drift
Then they were gone—walking away like they hadn’t just left something unresolved hanging in the air.
Back in the conference room now, Ethan watched Keanu sit slightly apart, coiled and quiet, and understood exactly why.
Some connections didn’t need names yet.
Some sparks were meant to wait.
There’d been a look exchanged.Brief.Curious.Charged.
Not subtle.
“You ever throw like that?”Drew asked now, shaking his head.“Both hands.No correction.No drift.”
Victor smiled faintly.“Can you imagine the time training to be that good?They are wickedly committed.”
“That’s a terrifying way to live,” Victor said.
“That’s a terrifying way to die,” Kael corrected.
Keanu finally spoke, voice low.“They knew exactly where they were standing.Three kills, but that blade to Gregory was retaliation pure and simple.”
Everyone looked at him.
He didn’t elaborate.
Ethan watched the moment stretch—saw Alexios’s grin in memory, heard Rangi’s quiet ‘Anytime’ as they’d parted.Saw the way Keanu had gone still when Rangi clapped him on the shoulder, had said something too soft to hear.
Interesting.
“Shame we didn’t get their numbers,” Drew said.
Victor smirked.“Pretty sure they’ve got ours.”
Keanu stood abruptly.“I’m going to get air.”
The room went quiet as he left.
Kael glanced at Luca, one brow lifting.“That wasn’t nothing.”
“No,” Luca said.“It wasn’t.”
They let it go—for now.
The room shifted as the laughter faded, reality creeping back in.
Gregory was dead.
Ethan felt the weight of that settle fully for the first time.
“I ran the numbers again,” Luca said, tapping his tablet and pulling the room’s attention back in.“Gregory’s death collapses at least three syndicate branches.His shell companies are already being eaten alive.”
“Vultures,” Drew muttered.
“Yes,” Luca agreed mildly.“But controlled ones.”
Ethan exhaled slowly.“He was a linchpin.Not the biggest monster—but a connector.”
Kael nodded.“And we need to find those connections.”
