The Banker's secret

pte

of Gold

d ambition, though the Financial District below pulsated with power. Through the crowd of diplomats and billionaires, Rodrick Langston first saw her. He wasn't supposed to be at the Langdon Fund Gala; his name wasn't on any guest list. However, Rodrick was never restricted by doors or lists. He was the son of a disgraced oil tycoon and a war widow, and he had

Langston,"

m, a senator died of an overdose. A journalist was coerced into speaking the truth. But Ele

id not smoke, she enjoyed the aroma of daring decisions. She wore a black trench coat, silk-lined and bulletproof. He

to Montclair's off-ledger

bean for their first vacation together. It took me to a Brooklyn rooftop above a hacker den disguised as a closed tattoo parlor. Elena keyed in a six-digit passphrase and led him past

me's no

n blink. "Mine

ish for dinner, bribed customs officers with Rolex watches, and swam naked at midnight in paradise like ghosts. He bought her a Dior dress in crimson in Paris with money that was hard to find. She wore it to a masquerade where they

aken by Elena to her penthouse in the Financial District, which had a view of the ti

covered, came at th

ed a gold-plated laptop and showed him surveillance photos of them-on rooft

didn't run

ets. They whispered passwords and fears. He traced her scars. She kisse

ly two cases: one filled with diamonds, the other with encrypted blueprin

ers now. They were par

itzerland, as the sky shifted from rose to

ppens? Rodrick smiled as he

sharp with disdain, and his was hard to read, like smoke wrapping a secret. Marcus Blaryke and Camilla Stone were in the distance. Camilla, Rodrick's icy business partner, stood with arms crossed, her platinum hair sl

watched everything with the wary eyes of a man constantly calculating outcomes. Loyal, yes-but the tensi

money and older grudges. She hovered behind Rodrick, a ghost from a romantic past nei

her. Yet Sophie's gaze flickered to Rodrick often. often enough. An unspoken but undeniable connection was evident in the look that

ge Lionel Hemslay has agreed to

He wants the McCarthy fund documents you've

I hand them over, I burn every

Empires are destroyed by vulnerability of t

"You'd risk all our lives just

ng. But we're not just cleaning up one man's mi

lay holds leverage on Rodrick. If we give him s

ean you'd sacrifice Camilla's h

Elena. "What exactly d

out spin. not only your fall but also your recovery. The offenses and

rough the room. Eve

in a thick voice. She whispered, "I alread

is cool mask-regret? Admiration? Or anxiety? Marcus

is illusion together. But now the mirror's cracked. W

dge won't turn this into a weapon?" "No," said El

meet Hemslay. Additionally, we enter hell with our eyes closed. Ro

from her, Elena

were never

rimson dress that clings to her like a second skin. Rodrick, distracted from his usual composure, sees more than a beautiful escort-he sees danger, depth, and something oddly familiar. Elena, trained to manipulate and survive, finds herself unexpectedly vulnerable in his gaze. She does an excellent job, but something changes inside. That night, beneath Caribbean stars, a staged kiss for investors turns into something raw. Rodrick senses her tremble-not from the act, but from something deeper. He knows she's hiding something. Elena feels his gaze linger too long, his questions too sharp. Elena sees a man from her past-a man who should be dead-as t