The world had moments.
For Lexington Latham, it came with the sound of his own footsteps echoing against marble floors that hadn't seen life in years.
The penthouse was cold—colder than it should've been for late spring. But maybe it wasn't the weather.
Maybe it was the emptiness.
The silence pressed against him, thick and suffocating, a constant reminder of how far he'd fallen.
Once, this place had been his father's trophy—a symbol of success. A place filled with people, parties, the warmth of the living.
Now, it was cage.
Lex moved through the space. The designer furniture, the art pieces his great-grandmother had curated—gone.
Sold off to cover the debts Barnie Maddox had engineered.
It had started slowly.
Whispers in boardrooms.
Quiet phone calls in back channels.
Barnie had been meticulous, masking his sabotage as Lex's incompetence. By the time Lex realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Then came the final blows.
Fraud. Embezzlement. Insider trading. The accusations—fabricated, of course, but damning all the same.
Barnie's allies in the press made sure the story stuck:
The prodigal nephew who squandered his family's legacy.
Unfit to carry the Latham name.
And now, here he was.
The penthouse he'd fought to keep was his last fort, but even it felt like it belonged to someone else.
The polished marble floors reflected a man stripped of power, left with nothing but bitterness and a gun resting just out of sight on the countertop.
Lex leaned against the kitchen island, fingers tightening around the half-empty bottle in his hand.
He wasn't drunk—not enough to drown the anger simmering beneath the surface.
Barnie had taken everything.
But Lex still had one thing left.
The burning need to take it all back.
Lex watched the city lights bleed faintly through the glass. Once, this place had felt like a fortress part of a grand plan.
A soft creak echoed behind him.
Lex's gaze flicked to the window's reflection.
Rose Russo stood by the door, her jacket damp from the rain, eyes scanning the penthouse like she hadn't been inside a dozen times before.
She didn't speak right away. Just stared at the shards of glass still littering the floor.
"If you were trying to redecorate," she said quietly.
Lex smirked faintly, setting the bottle down with a dull thud.
Rose's eyes narrowed.
"Barnie's people came by?"
Lex nodded.
"Left a message. Real subtle, too. A brick through the balcony window of a penthouse."
Rose stepped forward, her boots crunching softly against the glass.
"They're getting closer."
Lex turned, leaning back against the counter.
"They were always close. Now they just want me to know it."
She didn't answer right away. Instead, she walked to the edge of the room, gazing out at the city below.
"You could leave, you know."
Lex let out a quiet, bitter laugh.
"And go where? Barnie's reach doesn't stop at the borderline."
Rose didn't look away from the window.
"You could make it harder for him."
Lex watched her carefully.
The way her hands curled into fists. The tension in her jaw.
"Why are you really here?"
She turned, and for a second, Lex thought she might actually say it—that she was just as trapped as he was.
But the moment passed.
"I work here. Cleaning lady," she muttered bitterly.
Lex smirked.
"You missed a spot."
Rose rolled her eyes but grabbed the broom from the corner.
As she swept, Lex returned to the kitchen, pulling another bottle from the cabinet.
A faint knock echoed from the hallway.
Lex's gaze flicked toward the door, but he didn't move.
Rose froze mid-sweep, eyes locking with his.
The knock came again.
Louder.
Lex's fingers brushed against the countertop—just near the pistol, still out of sight.
Rose set the broom down gently, stepping closer.
"Expecting company?" she asked softly.
Lex shook his head.
"No."
The third knock was a single, hard thud.
Then the handle twisted.
Lex's grip tightened around the gun as the lock rattled violently.
Rose took a step back, reaching for the kitchen knife on the counter.
"Lex—"
Before she could finish, the door exploded inward, slamming against the wall.
Two men pushed inside.
Guns already raised.
Lex fired before they had the chance to speak.
The first shot caught the man on the left square in the chest, dropping him instantly.
The second lunged forward—
Rose struck first.
She drove a kitchen knife deep into his side, a sharp gasp escaping his lips.
The man staggered.
Lex stepped in and fired once more, ending it clean.
Silence.
The bodies hit the floor.
Rose's breathing was heavy, but steady.
Lex lowered the pistol, exhaling as he glanced down at the blood spreading across the marble.
"Well… there goes the deposit," Lex muttered, kneeling to check the bodies.
"Do you have a next move?" Rose muttered, breaking the quiet.
Lex signed tirely,"Nothing left to play for after this."
Rose's gaze flicked toward him, sharp and searching.
"You let him walk all over you back there. I've seen you take bigger swings for a lot less."
Lex's fingers twitched still holding cold steel of the pistol
"I wasn't ready," he said simply.
Rose's expression darkened.
"You keep saying that, but you're not doing much to get ready either. How long are you going to wait, Lex? Until Barnie decides it's your turn?"
Lex smirked faintly, though there was no humor in it.
"I've been living on borrowed time since I was twelve, Rose. Every day's just another extension."
That made her pause.
"You mean since your dad's plane went down."
Lex's gaze lowered slightly, but he didn't correct her.
The silence stretched between them, heavy, serious, and cold.
Finally, Rose sighed, stepping closer to him.
"Look, I get it. Barnie ruined your family. Took your grandfather's company. Steal your trust fund."
Lex glanced at her, the faintest flicker in his eyes.
"That's the story everyone knows."
Rose frowned.
"Isn't it the truth?"
Lex let the rain soak into his hair as he stared out at the city, his pulse slowing to a steady, deliberate rhythm.
"Not all of it."
She tilted her head, curiosity piqued.
Lex didn't look at her when he spoke again.
"The plane crash wasn't an accident."
Rose blinked.
For a second, the words didn't quite land.
"What?"
Lex's hands tightened in his pockets.
"Barnie made it look like an accident, but it wasn't. My father found something—backroom deals, offshore accounts. Barnie had been laundering money for years."
Rose's brows furrowed.
"And he tried to stop it?"
Lex nodded.
Rose's breath slowed, and her gaze sharpened.
"You never said—"
"Because it didn't matter," Lex cut her off. "Barnie cleaned it up so well that even I believed it for years."
Rose's brow furrowed as she processed the weight behind his words.
"And your mom?"
Lex's jaw tightened.
"Barnie didn't kill her. Not directly."
Rose's eyes narrowed.
"But he just let her die without giving her a chance to fight."
Lex finally met her gaze, and in that moment.
"She was sick. And there was treatment. But Barnie had her trust fund locked in legal battles for years, claiming my father left debts. He played the long game, made 'mistakes' happen… and then it was too late. I watched it happen."
His voice dropped, quieter now, but no less sharp.
"I had four trust funds, Rose. Not one—four. I was supposed to be able to fix almost everything with money. He didn't pull the trigger, but he pulled the rope… and my mom's neck was at the other end."
Lex gave a faint, humorless smirk.
"He's always been after me. Starting when I was just the kid who didn't matter. But I turned eighteen, things changed." Lex look at her and added, "Barnie started shifting assets—things my father left me—into risky ventures under the company name. My name. He bled me dry pretending to build me up."
Rose exhaled slowly, her eyes softening.
"And you've been waiting to get him back ever since."
Lex's smirk faded.
"No. I've been waiting to make sure I never miss on a board that was set for me to lose."
The weight in his words sat heavy between them, thick as the rain falling around them. This secret was something he never shared with anyone—not even his mom. But she knew. They just didn't talk about it… much to his regret.
Rose shifted her stance, leaning against the railing beside him.
"So why now? Why not years ago?"
Lex's eyes traced the skyline, the faint glimmer of Barnie's office tower piercing through the clouds.
"Because for the first time, Barnie's vulnerable. The men he sent tonight weren't pros. They were grunts. Barnie's burning through people faster than he's burning money."
Rose nodded thoughtfully, tapping her fingers against the rail.
"And if he burns through enough of them…"
Lex finished the thought.
"He'll have to face me himself."
Rose glanced sideways at him.
"What happens when you finally get him in front of you?"
Lex's fingers brushed over the pistol hidden beneath his coat.
"It's checkmate. Either me or him."
The words lingered between them, heavy with finality.
Rose reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper.
"I wasn't sure if I should show you this," she said, handing it to him.
Lex took it without hesitation, unfolding the damp sheet.
His eyes scanned the page, and his smirk returned—sharp and dangerous. It was the perfect opening to pull off one last move.
Rose watched his expression shift.
"Good news?"
Lex tucked the paper into his coat.
"Barnie's hosting a private fundraiser tomorrow night. Invite-only."
Rose arched a brow.
"Let me guess. You're crashing it."
Lex met her gaze, the storm finally flickering behind his eyes.
"No. I'm ending it."
It wasn't the ideal game Lex had planned it to be.
But he was out of time so this was the last gambit.