Chapter 17

• Chapter 17: Poking His Buttons
• The city hums low beneath the velvet drape of the night sky, a living thing breathing through traffic murmurs and glowing windows. Glass towers glitter like jagged constellations fallen to earth, their mirrored sides catching the final smear of orange light—sunset bleeding out slowly across the skyline. Down in the executive suite atop DeVeroni Enterprises, the walls are cool steel and sharp angles, the room silent but for the faint rustle of paper.
• Luca signs the final contract of the day with a practiced flick of his Montblanc, the ink drying sharp and black on the parchment. The numbers are locked. The deals, sealed. Legal bindings wrapped tighter than his self-control. The empire, once again, fed and thriving. No fires. No surprises.