Kaiden's eyes locked on Maximilian Vice.
It was not the gaze of a celebrated hero basking in applause, nor the stoic calm of a man standing tall under the President's blessing. No, this was different. His stare was cold, absolute, a storm of supremacy and hatred so pure it was suffocating.
A stare of judgment.
A stare of vengeance.
A stare that promised blood.
Maximilian stiffened. His throat bobbed. For a heartbeat, he looked like a boy caught stealing in the dark. Yet arrogance, the best shield his swollen ego had ever known, slowly forced his chin upward. His pulse pounded in his ears, but still, he met Kaiden's gaze with his jowls trembling with defiance.
And then, like an unwelcome mosquito in the middle of the tension, his phone began to buzz.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
