❛❛ 𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓

ford was more than aware of the fact that his marriage kind of came out of nowhere and even so, zaviyar would definitely know who his wife was. hae-rin had dropped by numerous times. "actually," he cleared his throat, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "it's hae-rin. you know, the girl that drops by and brings me lunch occasionally..."

dante had thought that he had been overreacting but just for a moment. it was nice to hear that someone else agreed with what he'd done. sure, he didn't come right out and say it but to know that zaviyar's feelings were similar to his own was reassuring. "suppose i thought that the 6 families were going to form some sort of alliance against that circuit group. guess i was wrong to trust a mehra, hm?"

he laughed. ford knew where he got that from but the last thing that he wanted to was lose the spot in the family that gave him a chance when he was trying to start over. "you know what? you're right," he paused for a moment and shifted on his feet, "and i know i should probably rest more. how do you feel about giving me a couple of weeks off? i...i'm getting married and i want to spend time with my bride."

Zayaan huffed a soft laugh under his breath. “You should be suspicious. I’m notoriously inconsistent with sentimentality—keeps my legend intact,” he quipped, though his eyes held a brief flicker of warmth. That silent exchange earlier hadn’t gone unnoticed. Between the two of them, sometimes gestures spoke louder than any kind of emotionally-laced thank you. He glanced over as Zaviyar shifted the tone, and his smirk deepened. “Don’t get too comfortable—I care in small, expensive doses. Like designer cologne or short-lived vacations.” Then, more seriously, he answered, “Things are… steady, which is its own kind of eerie. Operations are fine. Horses are fine. Staff are mostly terrified and loyal, which I consider a win. But yeah, I’ve got enough on my plate to keep me out of trouble.” A pause. “Unless you’re about to hand me something new just because you’re bored.” He gave Zaviyar a sidelong look. “...You wouldn’t invent busy work just to test me, would you?” A beat. “Actually, don’t answer that. I already know the truth.”

That was brutally honest. Most people would at least pretend to have some regrets, but Zaviyar wasn't even trying to sugarcoat it. "Damn, you really don't mess around, do you?" He had to respect that level of commitment to being unapologetic. Going after what you want no matter what—honestly, maybe that's exactly what he needed to hear right now. His own approach to the whole Thomas mess had been way too diplomatic, but it couldn’t be avoided. "Yeah, the casino thing is moving along. Slowly, but it's happening. I hate dealing with lawyers, but it’s working in my favor.” The legal stuff was draining, sure, but at least he was finally doing something about it instead of just sitting around being bitter. "My lawyers found some inconsistencies in dad's will, some signatures that don't quite match up. We're building a case that it was tampered with after he died. Consequences be damned, right?"

dante may have hinted that he had something behind things but even if he did, he would never out right admit it. after all, he always had to protect himself. "you're right about that," he paused for a moment, "but that doesn't mean that we can't form alliances. there's something about ishika mehra that i don't like." it was probably that she was entire too close to the head of his surveillance. "i don't think that her intentions with my employee was pure."

“Rule #1 never be #2”

Zayaan let out a quiet chuckle, the kind that only ever surfaced around his brother—dry, familiar, edged with just enough affection to pass as sincerity. “God forbid you actually clear your schedule for me without needing a formal inquiry,” he said, glancing sidelong at him with a smirk. “Should I be flattered or suspicious?” He took a step ahead, hands in his pockets, the gravel crunching softly beneath their shoes. “Don’t worry, I didn’t expect hand-holding. I wouldn’t subject either of us to that.” A pause, then, “But I figured… you’ve been buried under enough lately. Might be good to come up for air.”

Hayat nodded, still trying to wrap her head around this whole situation. "Yeah, I get that you've been stringent before," she said, because honestly what else could she say to that understatement of the century. "Sure, I'll keep things good with Omer and everyone else." This was so weird though. Here she was being stupid and questioning everything when he was actually being decent for once. Maybe she should just shut up and accept that he wasn't being a complete control freak today. It wasn't like she could figure out what had changed anyway, and did it really matter as long as he wasn't breathing down her neck every five minutes? She didn't know how long this nice version of him would stick around, but she wasn't about to complain about it. Maybe tomorrow he'd go back to his usual micromanaging self, but today she'd take what she could get. "Okay then, my business here is done," she said, heading for the door and feeling relieved that this meeting was finally over.

dante was hoping gavin wouldn't find out the truth - that he'd hired the guys to come after them. "i'm just having a hard time trusting people nowadays," he paused, glancing over at the man, "and ishika mehra was getting entirely too close to him. weird, hm? i think she was trying to get information out of him. i think she was using him. whatever happened though must've pulled them apart. tragic, isn't it?"

the man lifted his shoulder up in a shrug, "i mean, i might be." but that didn't mean he wasn't taking care of himself either. "i'm taking time to eat though. don't you worry about me. i just shorten things to make sure it all gets done. gotta do what you gotta do, right? and i'll rest when i'm dead." ford was a hard worker, maybe too hard of a worker but he was comfortable here and didn't want to risk ever losing his job.

"That's fine, you can keep it to yourself. But I don't doubt, he's the instigator." Lucian leaned back in his chair, already knowing how this story would go. Thomas had this talent for making everything someone else's fault while he came out looking like the reasonable one. "Mutual disagreement where he'd point the finger at you? Yeah, that tracks." He couldn't help but smirk a little. His brother was predictable like that—always had to be the victim in every situation, even when he was the one stirring up trouble. The entire hill-worth-dying-on argument made sense, as well. Thomas turned everything into some grand principle when really it was just his ego getting bruised. "Let me guess, he made it personal when it didn't need to be? That's his specialty." Some things never changed, and his brother's ability to escalate minor conflicts into full-blown wars was definitely one of them. At least Zaviyar seemed to have figured that out.

Zayaan let out a quiet breath, half a scoff. “No one’s asking you to memorize every name,” he said, tone smooth but clipped at the edges. “But knowing who you’re responsible for? That’s not about logistics. It’s about showing up with both eyes open.” He didn’t elaborate. He rarely did. But there was something faintly pointed in the way he glanced over at Zaviyar—like he wasn’t just talking about horses.

"Bigger picture, right," Hayat said, still processing this bizarre turn of events. "And you're going to lead this place someday, so I guess it makes sense that you need to step back from the legal team." She nodded slowly, like she was talking to someone who'd just explained why they needed to wear a helmet indoors. Was he practicing for some kind of leadership seminar? This whole speech about being unreachable in five years sounded like something from a management textbook. The man who once made her rewrite a contract because he didn't like her font choice was now talking about letting people fly uncontested. Right. That made total sense. Maybe he'd been replaced by a pod person, or maybe this was some elaborate prank. She half expected someone to jump out with a camera, yelling about how they'd gotten her good. "Okay, but you do realize you're the same person who called me about a typo in a filing that wasn't due for three days," she pointed out. "This whole hands-off approach feels like you've been body-snatched. What's next, telling me the coffee machine can manage itself too?" Realizing that she was looking a the gift horse in the mouth, she shook her head. "Moving on. Is there anything else you need from me?"

dante cracked a small smile as the other check on his security guy. part of what happened to the man was his fault but of course, he'd never admit that out loud. after all, ishika had been the real target anyways. "he's good. healing right. he's just, you know, a bit standoffish but i suppose that's to be expected after everything he's been through."

the man offered him a nod, "the offer still stands if your assistant doesn't make it here in time." he assured. ford got along with the man just fine and so, he didn't mind helping him out, especially during a time like this. it was a simple favor after all. chuckling, he rested his hands on his hips, "it's been a little while since i've had a real break. i take some time here and there for water but nothin' extended like a ride."