Blackie took one look at Ethan’s expression, sharp and predatory, like a lion monts away from ripping its prey apart, and instantly wiped the grin off his face.
"Uh... Boss? I think... we can go in now?" he said cautiously, pointing toward the now-empty entrance of the Serenity Hotel.
From where they stood, they could see Henry waiting on the interior steps. The man t Ethan’s gaze and offered a slight, deferential nod, just restrained enough to feel intentional.
Ethan slowly pulled his temper back under control. A different approach surfaced in his mind. Instead of tearing the place apart, he would see what kind of ga this hotel was playing, and more importantly, who Jenny really was.
Without saying a word, he stepped through the main doors. Blackie hurried after him, his earlier awkwardness already forgotten.
"Boss! Boss! We hit the jackpot! We can buy so many roast chickens!" Blackie said, his excitent barely contained.
"Roast chickens?" Ethan shot him a sideways glare. "Since when are you obsessed with those? And do you even know how many chickens a few hundred million buys? You would die of a chicken overdose."
He was still calculating based on the half-million-per-head figure.
"A few hundred million?" Henry’s smooth voice cut in as they reached the second-floor landing. He had clearly overheard them. "I’m afraid you underestimate your associate’s earnings, Mr. Caelum."
Ethan paused and looked at him, genuine surprise flickering across his face. "More than that?"
"Thirty-seven million from the standard fees," Henry replied calmly. "Plus sixteen billion. Enough, I imagine, to purchase every roast chicken on the planet and eat nothing else for the rest of your life."
Ethan studied him carefully. Henry was polished and composed, the type of man who looked born to facilitate other people’s ambitions without ever revealing his own.
Sixteen billion, three hundred and seventy million. The number landed with real weight. Fragnted mories surfaced as his mind pieced everything together. Blackie and Blackfin working in tandem. Sixteen nad individuals, each paying a billion. The math checked out.
For a brief mont, he was speechless. With money like that, why bother selling gold at all? Just rob people.
The thought imdiately drifted toward a familiar na. The Steele Consortium. Maybe it was ti to settle accounts left over from his previous life.
After exchanging a few more polite words, Ethan allowed Henry to lead them onward. He already knew where they were going. When they stepped into the elevator and Henry pressed the button for the fifth floor, Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
So it was that floor. The one he had nearly blown apart. ’Fine. Let’s see what’s really behind it.’
As expected, Henry guided them straight to the lone heavy door Jenny had entered earlier. He keyed in a code, and the door slid open.
The room inside was completely empty, its walls lined with the sa psychic-dampening material. That explained why Ethan had been unable to sense anything beyond it.
"Please wait here. My employer will join you shortly," Henry said, giving a small bow before stepping back.
"Wait, what?" Blackfin blurted out. "You have a boss?"
Henry rely smiled, the expression carrying just enough mystery to be infuriating, and turned to leave.
"Your employer is Jenny, isn’t it?" Ethan said calmly.
Henry stopped mid-step. His body stiffened before he turned back, genuine surprise flashing across his face. "Mr. Caelum, you truly are extraordinary." With a final nod, he exited and sealed the door behind him.
The room fell quiet. Blackfin and Voss stared at Ethan, their expressions caught sowhere between awe and disbelief.
"Big Boss, are you serious?" Blackfin asked. "Jenny is the real owner of the Serenity?"
"For God’s sake, Black, are you brain-dead?" Voss snapped, though his curiosity was just as obvious. "Henry practically confird it. Are you really still asking?"
Old habits died hard. Even now, as allies, the two could not resist taking shots at each other.
Blackfin rolled his eyes. He knew Henry had tacitly acknowledged it. What he could not wrap his head around was the reality of it. Jenny, the elusive, ageless songstress, standing at the very top of the Serenity Hotel.
He had carried a quiet torch for her for decades, fully aware that she was likely sothing other than human. He had first seen her in his twenties, back when he was just starting out in the badlands. She looked exactly the sa now. He was forty-eight, worn down by blood and dust. In another life, he would have had a family, kids already in college. And she remained eternally nineteen.
More than that, the Serenity Hotel had subtly saved him more than once over the years, nudging events just enough to pull him back from death’s edge. He had always credited Henry for those interventions. Realizing now who had truly been behind them sent a complicated wave of emotion through him. mories of their first eting twenty years ago, a story he had kept buried in his heart, suddenly felt heavier, more charged.
Ti passed. The group eventually took seats in the austere room, filling the silence with scattered small talk.
About ten minutes later, a soft click echoed through the suite.
A seamless section of the wall slid open, revealing a hidden inner chamber.
Everyone turned toward it.
"Jenny..." Blackfin breathed.
She stepped out, but she was nothing like the woman who had commanded the stage earlier. The sequined gown and dramatic makeup were gone. Her hair was still damp, carrying the faint, clean scent of soap. She wore loose, oversized casual clothes that seed to swallow her slender fra.
"Finny," she said softly, her voice clear and unadorned, stripped of its earlier smoky allure. "It’s been a while."
The change was startling. Without the performance and heavy makeup, her beauty was natural and striking, easily rivaling Amber and Rainie.
"Uh... I’m forty-nine," Blackfin said awkwardly, his face flushing. "Could you maybe not call Finny anymore?"
"Forty-nine?" Jenny tilted her head, genuine confusion crossing her face as if she were doing ntal arithtic. "Then how old am I...?"
She frowned slightly, then waved the thought away. "Never mind."
Her gaze shifted to Ethan, and her deanor turned calm and professional. "So, Mr. Caelum. What brings you to ?"
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