Page 290 of Black Reign

Briefly.

I straighten.

“I ordered zero facial data from that extraction uploaded to Blackwell central.”

His silence tells me enough.

“Who ran recognition?”

“Xavier—”

“Who?”

“We maintain emergency protocols.”

“Not on my private unit.”

“The system detected a restricted family association.”

My jaw tightens.

“So someone overrode my containment order.”

His expression goes cold.

“This is not about your procedural pride.”

“No. Now it's about whether I have another security problem inside my own company.”

“We have one enormous security problem, and she is asleep twenty meters from you.”

I laugh once.

No humor.

“Wrong answer.”

“Listen to yourself.”

“I am.”

“Then start thinking.”

His voice rises.

Mine doesn't.

That's usually how these conversations go.

He gets louder.

I get quieter.

People make the mistake of thinking volume is power.

It isn't.

Control is.