Lex's footsteps echoed through the polished halls of Maddux Holdings as he made his way to the intern bullpen.
The open floor hummed with quiet tension, keyboards clicking, phones ringing, and the faint smell of stale coffee lingering in the air. No one looked up when Lex walked in. To them, he was just another rich kid working a summer internship his uncle probably arranged for show.
Lex didn't mind. The less they paid attention to him, the better.
He slid into his desk near the far window, flipping open the thick client portfolio Trent had left on his chair. The cover bore the Maddux Holdings logo, but the contents were pure financial jargon—valuation reports, acquisition targets, and risk assessments.
Lex scanned the documents carefully, but his focus wasn't just on the numbers.
What's Barnie really looking at here?
He'd learned long ago that the real plays didn't happen in board meetings. They happened quietly, buried beneath layers of standard paperwork no one thought twice about.
Across the room, Trent Holloway stood near the corner printer, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. His sharp green eyes flicked toward Lex every now and then, subtle but deliberate. Watching.
Trent wasn't here for data entry.
Lex smirked to himself, jotting down a few notes as he flipped the next page.
A few minutes later, Trent's heavy footsteps approached. He dropped a thick stack of files onto Lex's desk without a word.
Lex didn't look up right away. He casually closed the folder he was working on and glanced at the new pile.
"Something exciting?" Lex asked, arching a brow.
Trent's lips curled into a faint smirk. "Might be. Barnie wants you to go through the Talon Ridge acquisition. See if there are any loose threads."
Lex ran his fingers over the label. Talon Ridge was a mid-sized logistics company Barnie had been circling for months. The deal wasn't flashy, but it was valuable—too stable for Barnie to ignore.
Lex flipped open the file, scanning the executive summary. "Seems clean enough. Why's Barnie second-guessing it?"
Trent shrugged, leaning casually against the side of Lex's desk. "Not my place to ask. I just deliver."
Lex glanced up, locking eyes with Trent.
For a second, there was nothing but silence between them—the kind where words didn't matter.
Trent was measuring him. Testing for cracks.
Lex smiled faintly, breaking the tension with a light tone.
"Careful, Trent. If you keep doing Barnie's errands, he might start paying you like the rest of us interns."
Trent chuckled under his breath, but there was no humor behind it.
"I'm not here to sit behind a desk, Lex," Trent said coolly. "Barnie knows where I'm useful."
Lex leaned back in his chair, tilting his head slightly. "Yeah? And where's that?"
Trent's smirk widened. "Wherever you're not."
Lex chuckled softly, turning his attention back to the Talon Ridge file.
Trent wasn't subtle, but he didn't need to be. His presence alone was a reminder—Barnie was keeping tabs.
Lex didn't mind.
The closer they watched, the easier it was to misdirect.
Lex thumbed through the pages, eyes narrowing slightly when he hit a section on property assets. Talon Ridge owned several undervalued warehouses on the outskirts of the city.
Lex made a note in the margin. Warehouses weren't Barnie's style.
What's he really after?
As Lex continued reading, Trent lingered a little longer before finally pushing off the desk.
"I'll let Barnie know you're on it," Trent said, starting toward the door.
Lex didn't look up as he replied. "Yeah, you do that."
When Trent was gone, Lex leaned forward, tapping his pen lightly against the table.
Talon Ridge wasn't just a logistics company.
It was leverage.
And Barnie was about to show Lex exactly what he was planning—whether he realized it or not.