Page 106 of Shattered Throne
I shrugged into my jacket. Adjusted the lapels. Shot my cuffs like I'd seen Sebastian do a thousand times.
Ready for war.
Or at least ready to fake it convincingly.
The drive to Dubois Industries felt different today. The familiar streets, the towering glass building, the underground parking garage—all of it charged with new significance. I wasn't coasting anymore. Wasn't playing at being useful. This was real, and it mattered, and I was going to see it through.
My office was quiet when I arrived. Early still, most of the floor was empty. I sat behind my desk and waited, watching thecity wake up through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun crept higher, painting the skyline gold and orange.
Footsteps in the hallway. I looked up.
Kim walked onto the floor, her hair pulled back in its usual practical ponytail, her gray blouse crisp and professional. She moved to her desk with that efficient grace I'd come to love, setting down her bag, adjusting her monitor, every motion deliberate.
Then she looked at me through the glass wall of my office.
I nodded.
She nodded back.
We waited.
The minutes crawled past. I pretended to review documents, shuffling papers I didn't see, my ears straining for the elevator's ding. Sebastian was somewhere in the building, phone ready, positioned where he could hear everything. Gerald was standing by with the legal team.
All the pieces were in place. All we needed was Cole to play his part.
The intercom crackled.
"Mr. Dubois?" Kim's voice was perfectly professional. "Mr. Cole Matthews is here to see you."
I looked through the glass. Cole stood at Kim's desk, his back to me, wearing another of his impeccable suits. Even from here, I could see his posture—confident, relaxed, the stance of a man who thought he'd already won.
He said something to Kim. I couldn't hear the words, but I saw her spine stiffen. Saw her jaw tighten almost imperceptibly. Cole's shoulders shook with what must have been laughter, and when he turned toward my office, he was grinning.
That grin made me want to put my fist through his face again. Twice. Maybe three times, just to be thorough.
Instead, I leaned back in my chair and arranged my features into something neutral. Bored, even. The mask I'd spent thirty years perfecting, the one that said nothing matters, especially not me.
Funny how useful that mask was turning out to be.
Cole pushed through my office door without knocking.
"Xavier." He settled into the chair across from my desk, crossing one ankle over his knee, making himself comfortable. "I have to admit, I was surprised when you reached out. You weren't exactly hospitable the last time we saw each other."
He touched his lip, where a faint bruise still lingered from my fist.
I ignored the bait. "What did you say to Kim?"
Cole's grin widened. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Yes. I would." I held his gaze, keeping my voice steady. "Because I'm the one who's going to be taking care of her now. I'm going to be a father to Zoe."
Something flickered in Cole's eyes. Amusement, maybe. Or contempt.
"A father to Zoe," he repeated. "How touching. And how exactly do you plan to manage that when you won't be able to afford to provide for them soon enough?" He tilted his head, studying me like I was a particularly slow child. "Do you even know anything about being a father?"
"I definitely know more than you." The words came out harder than I intended. "Seeing as you completely abandoned your responsibilities."
"Ouch." Cole pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. "You wound me, Xavier."
