Chapter 22: Let the Hunt Begin
Chapter Twenty-Two: Let the Hunt Begin
POV: Elias Voss
Elias hadn’t tasted rage like this in years.
Not the sharp kind that came with market losses or hostile acquisitions.
This was personal.
This was war.
\---
The second Noah left his office, Elias locked the door and summoned his head of security.
Vincent arrived in under two minutes. No questions. No hesitation.
Elias dropped the envelope on the desk.
“Trace this,” he ordered. “Print, paper source, ink type. I want to know who touched it and when. And I want every camera on this floor reviewed. Today.”
Vincent nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Elias stood, pacing once. His mind was already ten steps ahead — searching every department for leaks, every hallway for weak links.
He’d built this empire with blood and silence.
He would not lose it to someone hiding behind a camera lens and a coward’s threat.
\---
When Vincent left, Elias stared down at the photo again.
“Careful,” it said.
As if the person who sent it knew the exact pressure point to push.
It wasn’t the exposure that rattled him.
It was the fact that someone had looked at Noah — his Noah — and thought he could be used. Pressured. Intimidated.
Elias clenched his fists.
Let them come.
Let them try.
He would burn every name off his payroll if he had to.
\---
He picked up his phone and dialed legal.
“Claire, it’s Voss. I want a full review of the corporate confidentiality clauses in all assistant-level contracts. Start with mine.”
A pause.
Then: “Is this about Mr. Hart?”
“Yes.”
Another pause. “Understood.”
He hung up.
Then he made another call.
\---
At 3:15 p.m., he stepped into the Board Strategy Room — a sleek, glass-walled fortress four floors below the executive offices.
Three board members were already seated, including Bernard Liu, the one man on the panel who always watched Elias with more curiosity than caution.
“Mr. Voss,” Bernard said. “We weren’t expecting you until next quarter.”
“I’m not here for the quarterlies,” Elias said. “I’m here to remind the Board that any interference with my direct staff — especially in personal matters — will be seen as a breach of internal ethics.”
A silence.
Then, the other board member, Ms. Drey, lifted an eyebrow. “Is this about the rumors circulating this week?”
“Rumors are only dangerous when people believe them.”
“Should we?”
Elias didn’t blink.
“I suggest you concern yourselves with the numbers. Not with who I share my penthouse view with.”
Bernard smiled slightly. “That sounds close to a confession.”
“It’s not.” Elias straightened his cuffs. “But if it were, I’d remind you that there is nothing in the company’s charter forbidding consensual relationships, provided there is no abuse of power.”
Drey leaned back. “You’re walking a tightrope, Elias.”
“I don’t walk,” he said. “I build the rope.”
He turned and walked out.
\---
When he got back to his office, Noah was waiting. Standing near the window. Nervous. Hands in his pockets.
Elias closed the door behind him.
Noah looked over. “What did you do?”
Elias shrugged off his coat. “Reminded the Board what happens when they sniff at the edges of my business.”
“You made it worse,” Noah said softly.
Elias crossed to him in two strides. “No, I made it clear. You’re not leverage. You’re not gossip. You’re not someone they get to use.”
Noah blinked. “You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Protecting me like I’m glass.”
“You’re not glass,” Elias said. “You’re fire. But they don’t get to burn you.”
A pause.
Noah swallowed. “You’re not scared
of them?”
Elias cupped the back of his neck and leaned in, forehead to forehead.
“I’m scared of losing you.”
Noah’s breath hitched.
And Elias? He didn’t flinch from it anymore.