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Chapter 46 : The Reckoning
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Empire of Dominance Chapter 47 : Repairing Relationships
The lawyers shuffled out after about half an hour of celebratory drinking and self-congratulations. Raven was left alone in the dining room, the last of the drug’s aftereffects fading into the light champagne buzz.Raven hoisted herself onto the table, where all the monitors and laptops had been set up only a little while before.But Kade didn’t come back in. She linked her ankles and swung them back and forth. If he didn’t show up soon, she decided, she was going to get at least a few hours of sleep before they met up with Christina Lu. But what was keeping Kade?Then she caught the flow of low, low voices. Hushed, coming from the kitchen. Kade and Seymore.She hopped off the table and moved tentatively toward the conversation. She told herself that she wanted to defend Seymore, if it came down to it. To tell Kade she understood what it would be to be dominated. To be taken. But she also knew she was just intensely curious.Kade and Seymore were poised, facing off from oppos
Empire of Dominance Chapter 48 : New Arrangements
They didn’t sleep. Raven felt too full of excitement—the lingering, brutal thrill of mindblowing sex and the impending victory made her feel like she’d had five coffees in a row. She showered instead of vainly trying to catch a few minutes of sleep, emerging in a wave of scented steam and contentment. She dug out the gala-night cosmetics from where she’d stowed them in the bathroom drawers and set about making herself immaculately made up.In the mirror, as she made a perfect, subtle cat eye with a careful flick of the eyeliner, she saw a polished, pristine businesswoman. Elegant and keen, like a big cat in a predatory mode. Christina Lu had this dangerous elegance, Raven thought. And now she did too. She was a part of this world. For the first time, she felt secure in that knowledge. She felt equal to it.Nobody was going to be able to take this away from her, she knew. She was what she was–and she very much liked the feeling of being dangerous, she’d come to realize.Kade ap
Empire of Dominance Chapter 49 : Contract Signing
They were back at the restaurant on the ground floor of Kade’s apartment building only a few hours later for lunch—or for whatever indeterminate meal marked this strange, endless, wonderful day.Raven gratefully accepted a large pour of Kade’s favorite vintage of wine, allowing herself to breathe out at last. Kade had booked them a table by the window: a very visible table, almost like a stage onto the sidewalk. Kade kept his phone on the table, watching push notifications roll in minute by minute as he sipped at his own wine.“So. The Jackal.” She spoke tentatively, reluctant to broach a topic that would bring the whole mood of this victorious moment down. “How did that happen?”“Easily. I reached out to him and told him I had a job.”“Just like that?” She couldn’t help staring. It seemed too easy.“I have my underworld contacts. As you well know.” He didn’t seem at all phased to be discussing this openly and in public. Well, at least in his own restaurant. But then again
Empire of Dominance Chapter 50 : What's Mine Is Mine
Raven reclined in the back room office of one of the most exclusive fashion designers in the city, watching her sketch out another vision of a gown for next week’s gala dinner.“This is your debut among the elite as a serious player,” said the designer, lazer-focused. “I want you to look fucking dangerous.”“I like how you think,” grinned Raven, admiring the sketches upside down. “I look forward to seeing what you come up with. And then terrifying some pampered nepo babies into selling shares in their daddies’ companies.”“I like the way YOU think,” laughed the designer. “I’ll have five options ready for you by Friday.”“Excellent. Then I’ll run—I have a lot of appointments this afternoon.”The black-tie doormen showed her out to her waiting limo. HER limo. She slid into the cool interior, catching the curious glances of ordinary passersby—people who hadn’t even been aware of the massive transformation in the financial world last week, or if they had been, hadn’t been overly
Empire of Dominance Chapter 1 : First Day Disaster
“You aren’t listening to me,” said Raven, trying to swallow back her raw anger. She knew she was right about the inconsistencies she’d found in the data. And she knew it was important. Raven was a risk analyst: a specialized, every-second-counts sort of job where she made sure a given company’s money—in this case, huge amounts of money—were being managed safely, tailoring investments and predicting the market. And still, her direct supervisor barely looked up from his desk. “It’s your first day, honey. Don’t try to walk before you can run.”Raven could literally hear her teeth grinding. “I know what the data says.”“Watch your tone with me, miss. It’s five o’clock—Go get yourself a drink and celebrate your first day.”“But—”“We’re not discussing this right now.”She tried to make her angry rush look like a purposeful stride toward the elevator, but honestly—the whole day had been a wash. She didn’t care who knew it. Raven couldn’t believe how many
Empire of Dominance Chapter 2 : Alerting the Captain
Raven tried to breathe normally, but the air already felt warm and stale, and she was at the end of her patience. She couldn’t help it. She made a low, frustrated growl that was halfway between a curse and a groan.The handsome man looked at her, actually looked at her, for the first time.“Rolling blackouts,” he said matter-of-factly. “Just about all the emergency power goes to the servers, of course. They’ll get to us eventually.”Raven laughed. The man looked surprised.“Sorry,” she said again. Why was she apologizing so much? “‘Eventually’ just seems to be the flavor of the day. Someone will take a look at that report ‘eventually.’ We’ll return your email ‘eventually.’” She sighed. “Let’s hope the building services are more responsive than the management.”The man’s dark eyebrows rose questioningly. “I’m curious. What do you mean?”Raven pushed the emergency call button, not that it would do any good. As cool and disinterested as her reluctant companio
Empire of Dominance Chapter 3 : No Room for Error
When Raven stepped out into her new office space the next morning, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, lighting up the grid work of city streets outside. This office was a different world than the drab bullpen of the day before. Instead of a maze of uniform desks with flat fluorescent lighting, there was an entire office, just for herself, with a window overlooking the skyline. Her name was already on the nameplate on the door. Still, it all didn’t feel real.She was dressed to match the change in circumstances. No more sensible blank-slate first-day outfit. She’d put time into her hair this morning, scheduled a manicure after work yesterday, and ensured she appeared composed and pristine. No one would doubt that she belonged here by looking at her. And she would make sure they knew that she did when they saw her work.Raven wasn’t cocky, but she was certainly confident. If you put an earnings sheet in front of her, she could decode it to dig out the company's narrative
Empire of Dominance Chapter 4 : Death to the Scheme
*Kade’s POV* Kade Sinclair had all his attention focused on the documents Raven Cannon had brought to him. He read them twice, three times, and then a fourth until every detail was committed to memory. At last, he set the folder down and breathed out a long, settling sigh to bring his mind back into focus.There was no doubt Raven was absolutely correct. In a single workday, she had uncovered a patient but clumsy scheme that was operating under his nose — in one of his major subsidiary companies — for at least two years. It may have taken that long for the pattern of transactions to become apparent enough to be caught. Maybe. But he didn’t have that kind of leniency, not with himself or anyone else. This was a breach of his defenses, and it was unforgivable.At the end of Raven’s notes was a list of suspects—not that she called them suspects, per se. They were the operators within the company who COULD have authorized and orchestrated the transactions at such a high level.
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Empire of Dominance Chapter 50 : What's Mine Is Mine
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