The jet hummed quietly on the tarmac.
Inside, Xavier approached Chaos, who was asleep beneath a cover draped loosely over him.
"Young Master," he called softly.
Chaos opened his eyes.
"We've arrived."
"Mm." Chaos rubbed at his face. He hadn't slept properly in weeks, and just when he thought he might finally catch a quick nap on the jet—
Tsk.
He turned towards the window. Dark clouds hung overhead.
Seemed it was going to rain.
Xavier held out a tablet, scrolling through the schedule. "You have a meeting at two. You can't miss it." His finger moved down the screen. "Secretary Zach from Saints Company sent over this week's reports. Apparently, their CEO is pissed."
Chaos hummed.
Xavier glanced at him. "You've been absent from quite a few meetings."
"I see." Chaos leaned back.
He had been gone for a while. Missing a few meetings wasn't exactly difficult to fix. He could easily have sent someone from X Holding in his place.
He simply hadn't. "What's next?"
"Chairman Laurent's daughter called."
"Ignore it."
Xavier moved on without comment. Chaos stood and rolled the stiffness from his neck before stepping out of the jet.
Three black cars waited nearby. The guards stationed beside them immediately bowed. Chaos barely spared them a glance. A drop of rain landed against his cheek.
He looked up.
"Haa…"
Xavier was already behind him with an umbrella open before Chaos took another step.
The car door swung open. Chaos climbed inside. Almost immediately, the drizzle turned into a downpour.
Rain hammered against the windows as Chaos rested his head against the seat. Xavier, seated in front, held a cigarette back towards him.
Chaos took it and Xavier lit it without being asked.
Chaos drew in a slow breath, then exhaled a stream of smoke and closed his eyes.
Xavier watched him for a moment before facing forward and signalling the driver. The car pulled away from the tarmac as silence settled inside.
Xavier stared through the windscreen.
Chaos had been in a foul mood all week.
And now it was raining.
Their Young Master was never in the best of moods when it rained.
💜~~~~~~
The conference room occupied the Twenty-eighth floor of X Holdings.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city. A polished black table stretched through the centre of the room, and every chair around it cost more than most people's monthly salaries.
None of that stopped twelve executives from arguing like fishmongers.
"If we enter the market now, we'll cannibalise our own subsidiaries," Director Voss said.
"That assumes those subsidiaries remain profitable," Executive Director Diana countered.
"They are profitable."
"Barely."
"Sixteen per cent year-on-year growth is barely profitable now?"
"It is when our competitors are averaging twenty-three." Director Chad cleared his throat. "That figure includes acquisitions."
Diana looked at him. "Exactly my point."
Chaos sat at the head of the table, one elbow resting on the arm of his chair, his fingers curled loosely against his temple while the argument continued around him.
A presentation remained frozen on the screen behind them.
X HOLDINGS — 2027 REGIONAL EXPANSION STRATEGY
Underneath were three options.
Aggressive acquisition.
Organic expansion.
Hybrid consolidation.
Apparently, choosing between them required bloodshed.
"We cannot continue buying companies simply because they become inconvenient competitors," Director Morgan said, tapping the table. "At some point, regulators will notice."
Across from him, Executive Director Lewis scoffed. "Regulators always notice. That is what legal departments are for."
Chief Legal Officer Sanni slowly turned towards him.
Lewis paused. "…Metaphorically."
"Of course," Sanni said.
Chaos's mouth twitched.
He left Berlin for this? Goddamn, this was tiring.
The Chief Financial Officer slid a report across the table.
"The acquisition strategy is expensive in the short term, but it gives us immediate infrastructure, licences and market access. Building everything ourselves will take at least four years."
"Three," someone corrected.
"Three and a half."
"Four."
Diana threw up a hand. "Why are we negotiating with time?"
Another round began.
Chaos turned his attention to the window.
He had already read every report sitting on that table.
Twice.
The answer had been obvious before the meeting started.
But executives liked meetings. It made them feel useful.
"President."
The room quietened. Chaos looked back. Director Chen had turned towards him.
"We've presented both positions. Ultimately, the decision is yours."
Chaos regarded the screen.
Aggressive acquisition.
Organic expansion.
Hybrid consolidation.
He picked up the pen in front of him and tapped it once against the table. "Your projections for organic expansion assume our competitors remain stagnant for the next thirty-six months."
The Strategy Director straightened. "Well—"
"They won't." Chaos turned towards the CFO. "And your acquisition model assumes every target company accepts the first valuation offered."
The man shifted in his chair.
"They won't."
Silence.
Chaos set the pen down. "So both strategies depend on people politely behaving exactly how you need them to."
No one answered. Lewis cleared his throat.
Chaos leaned back. "Hybrid."
Several heads turned.
"We acquire infrastructure where rebuilding it wastes time. Everything else is developed internally."
The Strategy Director glanced at his notes. "That would increase initial capital expenditure while reducing acquisition speed."
"Mm."
"And decentralising expansion means each subsidiary would require separate operational authority."
"Yes." Chaos gestured lazily towards the screen. "Acquire licences, distribution networks and facilities. Leave management structures alone unless they're incompetent."
Director Chen frowned. "And competitors unwilling to sell?"
"Compete."
Lewis let out a short laugh. Chaos looked at him and the laugh died immediately.
Chaos continued. "No hostile acquisitions unless Strategy can prove the target controls infrastructure we cannot reproduce within eighteen months."
The CFO started writing.
"Cap regional investment at twenty per cent above the current forecast. Anything higher comes back to this table."
"What about pricing?" another director asked.
"Do not start a price war."
Laurent lifted a hand slightly. "Even if they do?"
"If they want to lose money, let them."
A few executives exchanged glances. Chaos looked towards the Strategy Director.
"Rewrite the proposal."
"When would you like the revised model?"
"Tomorrow."
The man froze. "Tomorrow?"
Chaos tilted his head. "Is there a problem?"
"No."
"Meeting adjourned."
Chairs shifted almost at once. The room emptied with impressive efficiency.
Chaos watched the last executive disappear through the doors before looking at Xavier. "Cowards."
Xavier's mouth curved. "You wanted this."
Chaos sank deeper into his chair. "Don't remind me. Fuck."
"You shouldn't curse at work, Young Master."
"Fuck me."
Xavier ignored that entirely and approached the table, setting his tablet down. "There is one more matter."
Chaos reached for the glass of water beside him. "If it's another meeting, just shoot me now."
"Tempting idea, Young Master. But later." Xavier tapped the screen. "Saints Group."
Chaos glanced at him. "What about them?"
"Secretary Zach sent another update."
Chaos took a drink. "How many has he sent so far?"
"A lot." Xavier looked at him. "Would you like to read them?"
Chaos stared at him.
Xavier reconsidered. "The blueprint still hasn't been submitted. Miss Saints informed the project team that she requires another month. Possibly two."
Chaos's gaze dropped to the dark surface of the table.
"Their executives have attended every scheduled session," Xavier continued. "Ours have also been present. With the exception of you."
Chaos looked up.
Xavier met his gaze without concern. "You've missed all six meetings."
"Have I?"
"Yes."
"How unfortunate."
"For you? Not particularly." Xavier picked up the tablet again. "For me? Very. I handled everything while you were gone."
Chaos ignored him.
"However," Xavier continued, "their engineering executives have already begun preliminary modelling based on the specifications she approved."
Chaos adjusted his tie.
Sigurd was not some ordinary defence contract.
Nor had it truly originated with the military currently posing as its buyer.
Not really.
The idea had existed long before anyone at Saints Company had ever heard the name.
Beneath respectable corporations, government contracts and clean corporate money existed another economy entirely.
The Underworld.
They had conceived Sigurd.
And they wanted it built. A battlefield weapons platform capable of establishing a controlled killing zone without conventional bombardment.
The concept had been simple. Building it had not.
The Underworld had seen Saints Company's proposal. More specifically— They had seen her work.
Kashi.
Heiress to the Saints Group.
Annoying. Arrogant. Far too comfortable speaking to them however she pleased.
But intelligent.
Painfully so.
Despite her shortcomings, the girl could design.
And more importantly, she could solve problems other engineers merely worked around.
The Underworld had money. Resources. Weapons.
What it did not have was someone insane enough to make the impossible practical.
Which was where Kashi came in.
For years, the Underworld had buried its roots deep inside elite families, corporations and institutions.
The Saints were one of the few they had never managed to penetrate.
If the Underworld wanted access to Saints Company, a direct approach would never work.
So they used something the Saints already trusted.
The military.
The same military establishment Saints Company routinely worked with.
Chaos had known all of that before Kashi ever walked into his office proposing a partnership.
Which was precisely why the opportunity had been placed where she could find it.
Saints believed they had received a defence contract.
Kashi believed she had approached X Holdings because the project was too large for Saints to manage alone.
And Chaos had sat across from her, listened to the proposal and behaved as though the partnership had caught him completely by surprise.
It had almost been insulting how easy that part was.
He had hesitated just long enough to make it believable. Asked questions he already knew the answers to. Acted mildly reluctant. Let her believe she had convinced him.
All while the Underworld waited for the only thing Chaos actually wanted from Saints.
The blueprint.
Chaos's mouth twitched.
The Underworld needed Sigurd. Kashi could build it.
And if his Wildflower wanted X Holdings beside her while she did— Who was he to refuse?
"Young Master?"
Chaos surfaced from his thoughts. Xavier was watching him. "What?"
"You've been staring straight ahead for almost a minute."
"I was thinking."
"That's rare."
Chaos glared at him. Xavier calmly picked up his tablet.
Chaos chose to ignore the insult. "Where will she be tomorrow?"
Xavier's finger paused above the screen. "Miss Kashi?"
"Do I know another irritating, drop-dead gorgeous woman building Sigurd?"
Xavier considered that. "You know several irritating women."
Chaos wanted to strangle him.
"Miss Kashi," Xavier amended smoothly. "I'll have the men assigned to her submit tomorrow's movement report. They should send it tonight."
"They're still following her?"
"As instructed."
"Hm."
Xavier studied him. "I can have them increase surveillance tonight if you need an exact location."
Chaos stood. "Don't bother."
"You asked where she would be."
"I did."
"And?"
Chaos adjusted his cuff. "I'll find her."
Xavier's expression remained neutral for several seconds. "That sounds unnecessarily ominous."
Chaos headed towards the door. "It isn't."
Xavier picked up the tablet and followed. "Should I at least inform the security team?"
"No." Chaos stepped into the corridor.
Xavier caught up beside him. "Then how exactly do you intend to find her?"
Chaos pressed the button for the private lift.
The doors opened. He stepped inside and turned around, a faint smile touching his mouth. "She's Kashi."
Xavier waited.
Chaos leaned against the mirrored wall. "She's never difficult to find."
The doors slid shut.