Lila's POV
Morning in Étretat never felt peaceful.
It felt restrained, the kind of quiet that existed only because everyone understood the weight of it.
Lila stood barefoot in the kitchen, sleeves rolled to her elbows, cracking an egg against the edge of the counter. The radio murmured low from somewhere behind her, playing an old song no one really cared about.
Outside, the gates hummed faintly as they reset after the night shift.
Here in the chateau, routine was control.
The egg slipped cleanly into the pan.
Matthieu entered without announcing himself again. He never did.
His presence was something she always felt before she saw—the change in the room, her shoulders tightening slightly with tension, the air tightening like a held breath.
He didn't speak at first, just watched her movements as if reluctant to break her equilibrium.
That alone told her something was wrong.
She slid the eggs onto a plate, added toast, then poured herself coffee before turning to face him. "Spit it out."
He nods, setting his jacket down carefully, slower than usual. "We lost a shipment."
"Who?."
". .the Shadows."
Her hand paused around the mug and she hummed lightly. Hmmm
"Which one?."
"Arms," he said. "The southern route."
Lila paused, lowering her coffee. That was important.
She leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms, gregory back between her eyebrows. (A/N: this just means she's frowning.) "That shipment was cleared twice."
"Yes, it was."
"That means there shouldn't have been any problems."
Silence
"How 'bout the crew?, any leaks?" Lila asks again.
"Vetted. They are loyal. Same men we've used for years, no loopholes."
Lila hums, " And the route?"
"Clean. No irregular check-ins at any of the situated checkpoints."
She took a sip of her coffee. It tasted bitter, but she drank it anyway.
" So they didn't just stumble onto it," she said calmly. " They knew and waited."
Matthieu nodded, expression solemn. "They intercepted it less than a kilometer from the second checkpoint. Their timing couldn't have been more precise."
" Meaning they also knew when," she added. " And where."
" Yes."
" Any casualties?" she asked.
Mathieu nods, "All ours," he replied. " No survivors."
Lila closed her eyes briefly, silently calculating —losses and wins — this particular shipment was important as it was supposed up be a peace treaty between them and The Rakshasa Syndicate.
" They didn't take everything," Matthieu continued. "They took what they needed and burned the rest."
She opened her eyes. " They're sending a message."
" Yes."
She exhaled through her nose. " Or...it could be bait."
Matthieu watched her closely. " You think they want us to react?"
Lila tuts, " I think they want us to overreact," she corrected. " Mistakes come from hastiness."
She set her mug down and turned the annoying radio off.
"Who else knew about the shipment apart from the supposed departments ?" she asked.
He listed them, names, department, offices—everything.
Lucien Blanchet of the logistics department.
Lukas Blaire of the finance department.
Lance Baron responsible for cargo movement and scheduling.
Lila's breath hitched slightly, L.B's? This is gonna be interesting
The structure that kept Southgate running without her having to micromanage every breath it took.
Logistics.
Scheduling.
Security rotation.
Finance.
Too many points of access.
" This is not just a leak," she said finally. " This is a carefully crafted—almost impenetrable — operation."
Matthieu didn't disagree.
She picked up her plate and carried it to the table, sitting slowly and she started eating.
She loved food and besides, hunger made people sloppy.
" We're not calling retaliation," she said after a moment of clarity from her taste buds. "Not yet."
"Yeah, too soon. "he agreed.
"No meetings yet either,"she added.
That earned her a glance. "You're sure about that?"
"If we call everyone in now, we announce fear, desperation," she replied. "And whoever snitched will think we're scared, pitiful and weak. And I am anything but that."
She cut into the eggs, clean and efficient. " I want them comfortable, makes it hurt worse that way."
Matthieu nodded once, finally seeing what she wanted. "So we wait."
"No. We observe," she corrected. "Today stays normal. No emergency lockdowns, no emergency meetings . No threats and no visible changes."
" And tomorrow?"
She finally looked up at him then. "Tomorrow, we narrow the circle."
He studied her face. Calm and focused.
" You want me to start pulling data," he said.
"Mh-mm," she replied. "Quietly. I want you to look into those departments—logs, access times, reroutes. I want to know who knew what, and when they knew it."
Matthieu almost smiled.
Almost.
She finished her breakfast, wiped her hands, and stood. " Someone thought feeding the Shadows would weaken us."
"It did,"he said carefully.
She shrugged. " Only if we let it."
And as she walked out of the kitchen, she added, almost casually, "And Matthieu?"
"Yes?"
"Make sure no one leaves the city today."
He inclined his head.
By the time she disappeared down the hall, Étretat was already adjusting— gears turning, eyes watching, a machine pretending nothing had gone wrong.
But somewhere inside it, someone was already sweating.
And Lila intended to find out who.
Next day. . .
Lila woke with a single thing in mind—to bring hell on earth to those three department heads.
Mattheiu sent her the results of the investigation last night and Lila decided it was time to call a meeting with those grave due bastards.
" Mattheiu?" Lila calls out, fixing his hoodie as she made her way downstairs.
"Yeah?" His voice floated across, distant.
"Where are you?." The sitting room was empty.
"Kitchen." Lila nods absentmindedly and made her way to the kitchen only to freeze at the sight of him.
"I just wanted to make us breakfast, I didn't know you'd be up this early," Matthieu says, still not looking up.
Silence
Mattheiu frowns slightly, "why are you not saying anything?, are you mad at me?." He looks up and rushes to her side in a panic, holding up a tip of his apron to her nose. "Blood. You're bleeding."
Lila's eyes remained glued to his scantily covered chest, all violent thoughts momentarily forgotten.
" Why'd you suddenly get a nosebleed out of nowhere?, do you need me to call the house doctor? Or should we go to the hos-, "
Lila cuts in, dead serious." Are you trying to seduce me? "
Mattheiu tilts his head, looking confused. " W-what'd you mean? "
Lila remains quiet, eyes glued to his body, " I wasn't. I was only making breakfast for us. " He explains
" Bare chested?. "
Mattheiu nods, "It was hot here and besides I wasn't really bare chested, I wore an apron."
"Mn, Fair. When did you get this bulky?. " She asked alternating between fondling his biceps and his chest muscles." I mean I knew about your pecs since I was like 17 but your biceps looks bigger and appetizing. "
His ears turned a darker shade of red—almost bleeding, he kept his face neutral, " You once told me I'd look even better if my biceps were bigger and you liked them thick. "
Her gaze meets his as she hums, " hmm, sounds like something I'd say. When was that??. "
"One time during training when you were 18."
Lila hums, back to fondling his body. " So you've been trying to get them thicker since then?" Mattheiu nods. " Anyways, that's not what I came here for." She removes her hands from his body and takes two steps back for good measure.
"Mn."
" I need you to call a meeting and everyone must be present. Anyone absent can just wait to die. "
" Okay. When do you want them to assemble? "
Lila checks her phone, " The time's 7:50 now, I want them all seated by 10:00 am, not a minute more or less. For those that needs to be flown in, they can start coming now. "
" Okay boss. "
Lila groans and turns away, "Time to deal with all these suckers. Oh and one more thing. "
" Yeah?"
Lila smirks, " you look breathtaking. . . . . literally " Mattheiu blushes and moves to the dining to set the table.
A/N:
Heyyy everyone 🌚
Hope you're good.
Thats all for now, take care ✨