Page 126 of Godless Saints

I walked in straight from the jet. Black bespoke suit stretched across my shoulders, dark tie, Ashbourne ring heavy on my finger. Split knuckles still healing. Ink crawling up my throat and across the backs of my hands. I didn’t hide a goddamn thing.

One guard’s hand twitched toward his radio.

Receptionist gave me the polished smile. “Good afternoon, sir. Do you have an appointment?”

“No.”

Her fingers froze over the keyboard. “Mr. Moon isn’t accepting unscheduled visitors today.”

“He’ll accept this one.”

She studied me. Knuckles. Ink. The gun I wasn’t carrying but everyone could feel. “May I tell his assistant what this concerns?”

“His son.”

“Your name, sir?”

“Cillian Ashbourne.”

The receptionist’s expression changed immediately. She picked up the phone. “Cillian Ashbourne for Nathaniel Moon. Regarding Hyun-seo.”

Her posture changed. Smile more careful. “Forty-sixth floor, Mr. Ashbourne.”

I crossed the lobby. Executives pretended not to stare. Whispers started the second I turned my back.

The elevator was quiet. Mirrored walls. Silent security escort who wouldn’t meet my eyes. I pictured Moon in this same box years ago.

The doors opened on the executive floor. Nathaniel’s assistant was waiting. She took me in once. Ink. Bruises. Her gaze lingered.

“Mr. Moon will see you now.”

I smiled.

Nathaniel didn’t rise when I walked in. He stayed behind the massive desk designed to make men cross the room like supplicants. Smart. I let him have the small victory and crossed anyway. Sat without being offered the chair. Relaxed. Not sprawled. Just comfortable in the space he thought he controlled.

He studied me.

“Did he send you?” he said.

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here.”

Nathaniel leaned back, fingers steepled. “My son is under considerable emotional strain right now. This… relationship is over.”

He expected me to get angry. To prove I was the volatile thug he assumed.

I stayed still. Let the silence stretch.

“You targeted him because of the Blood Writ,” he continued. “Academy games. Hyun-seo confuses infatuation with something deeper.”

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here, Mr. Ashbourne?”

I leaned forward slightly.

“Carrick Maritime has been disrupting your freight lines for years. Hostile interference. Delayed customs. Insurance pressure. Routes exposed. Political exposure if House of Moon is seen negotiating directly with certain interests.”

Nathaniel didn’t blink. But his fingers tightened on the arm of his chair.

“They escalated the moment Moon and I became public. They realized they could pressure you through your son. Hurt me by hitting your business. This stopped being simple commercial rivalry the second they saw a personal weakness. I’m not here to ask for your blessing. I’m here to offer a solution. Protected routes. Pressure on the Carricks. Deniable security. Intelligence. Quiet intervention. In return, legitimate contracts, port access, legal insulation, eventual alignment framed as strategy.”