Chapter 107 Manning the Hawk
Willow's POV
The grandfather clock in the foyer struck two in the morning as I pushed through the front door of Davenport Manor. The marble floor was blessedly cool against my aching feet after three hours of standing in stilettos at the city planning committee's private reception.
I had just reached the base of the grand staircase when the lights in the sitting room flicked on, flooding the hallway with harsh illumination. My father stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, still dressed in his business suit despite the late hour.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" his voice was low and tight with barely controlled fury. "Dominic Sterling called me three times tonight."
I set my heels down on the bottom step with deliberate care and turned to face him, keeping my expression neutral even as exhaustion pulled at every muscle in my body. Political schmoozing came with the territory, and a few shots of whiskey were nothing compared to what I had accomplished tonight, but my father wouldn't see it that way. He never did.
"Shouldn't you ask if I need some water first, Dad?" I said quietly, letting just enough weariness seep into my voice. "Councilman had me doing shots for two hours straight."
His jaw tightened, but some of the anger drained from his posture. He glanced toward the kitchen and called out, "Margaret, bring Miss Willow some water and aspirin."
I heard the housekeeper moving in the back of the house, cabinets opening and closing, and I used the momentary silence to slip past my father into the sitting room. My mother was perched on the edge of the sofa with her hands folded in her lap, perfectly composed despite the late hour, and her eyes tracked my movement with the kind of sharp assessment that had always made me feel like I was being measured against some invisible standard.
"Your father is right to be concerned," Isabella said as I sank into the armchair across from her. "Dominic called him tonight and mentioned that the Ironpeak project has been put on hold. He wanted to know if we had anything to do with the sudden regulatory interest."
Margaret appeared with a glass of water and two aspirin tablets on a small silver tray, setting it on the side table next to my chair before disappearing back into the shadows. I swallowed the pills and chased them with half the glass of water.
"Of course he knows we had something to do with it," I said, setting the glass down with a soft click against the wood. "Dominic Sterling didn't build his empire by being stupid. He knows exactly who has enough influence in city planning to orchestrate something like this."
Raymond moved to stand behind my mother's chair, his hands gripping the back of it hard enough that his knuckles went white. "Then why would you do something so blatant? You're supposed to be building bridges with the Sterling family, not burning them down before the alliance is even formalized."
I leaned back in my chair and let my head rest against the cushion, closing my eyes for just a moment before opening them again to meet my father's gaze.
"I'm manning a hawk," I said quietly.
Isabella's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"
I sat forward and rested my elbows on my knees, letting my hands dangle between them as I spoke. "Falconers keep the bird awake, starve it, break its will until that proud predator learns to submit out of hunger and fear. They strip away everything the hawk thinks it needs to survive until the only thing left is dependence on the falconer's hand. Ironpeak is Sterling Pharma's cash cow this year, the cornerstone of their expansion strategy into commercial real estate. Cut it off, and Julian will understand that only this marriage can get it back online."
The silence that followed my explanation was thick and heavy, broken only by the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. My mother's expression had gone carefully blank, and my father's grip on the chair had tightened even further.
"You're playing with fire," Raymond said finally, his voice rough. "Dominic Sterling doesn't bend easily, and you might get your eyes clawed out before that hawk ever bows."
I smiled without humor and reached for the water glass again, draining the rest of it before setting it back down. "If that happens, I'll own it. But until then, I'm making that hawk bow."
Mother leaned forward slightly, her hands still folded in her lap but her eyes sharp. "You're using business pressure to force Dominic to bring Julian to heel. Make him understand that the only way Sterling Pharmaceuticals gets back on track is if he accepts this marriage and stops fighting it."
"Exactly," I said. "Julian won't listen to reason or persuasion, and he certainly won't respond to anything as crude as threats. But he will respond to his father's authority, especially when that authority is backed by tangible financial consequences."
I stood up and smoothed down my dress, picking up my discarded heels from where I had left them by the chair. The exhaustion was catching up with me now that the adrenaline from the evening's maneuvering had started to fade, and I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep for twelve hours straight.
"This won't blow back on Silverwind," I said, meeting my father's eyes with steady certainty. "Trust me. I've been careful to keep our pack's involvement indirect enough that Dominic can't prove anything even if he suspects it. And more importantly, I'm waiting for him to come to me."
I turned toward the doorway and started walking, my bare feet silent against the marble floor, and I felt the weight of their combined scrutiny following me as I climbed the stairs toward my bedroom.
The meeting came two days later, arranged through neutral intermediaries—a private lunch at an exclusive club on the outskirts of Crescent Moon territory. I arrived fifteen minutes early and was shown to a secluded room with dark wood paneling and leather furniture that smelled of cigar smoke and old money.
Dominic Sterling walked in exactly on time, his suit immaculate, his expression giving nothing away as he took the seat across from me.
"Alpha Dominic," I said, keeping my tone respectful and professional. "I apologize for any inconvenience. Shutting down Ironpeak wasn't personal. It's about securing the future of your family."
Dominic leaned back in his chair and studied me with eyes that were cold and assessing, the kind of gaze that had probably made countless business rivals squirm under its weight. "Staging a coup before you're even part of the family? That's bold, Willow. Maybe too bold."
I met his stare without flinching and let the silence stretch between us for several long seconds before speaking again. "I need Sterling Pharmaceuticals to divest completely from Vance Botanicals."
His expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes that told me he understood exactly what I was really asking. This wasn't about business restructuring or corporate strategy. This was about Briar Vance, the human woman who had somehow managed to get her claws into Julian deeply enough that he was still refusing to let go even months after their relationship should have ended.
"My son's personal entanglements are his own business," Dominic said carefully.
"Not when they threaten the alliance between our families," I replied. "Sterling Pharmaceuticals answers to you. Make it happen."
Dominic's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and I knew I had hit the mark. He had spent decades building Sterling Pharmaceuticals into a powerhouse that dominated the regional pharmaceutical market, and he wasn't about to let his son's stubborn attachment to a human woman jeopardize that empire.
"Then make your son understand some things aren't his to keep," I said quietly, leaning forward slightly. "When you crack that whip, it won't just split skin. It might fracture what's left of your relationship with him."
The meal passed in tense small talk about pack politics and regional development projects, both of us dancing around the real substance of why we were here. By the time dessert arrived, I could tell that Dominic hadn't fully committed to my request, that some part of him was still weighing whether to push back or find an alternative solution.
I stood up as the server cleared away the plates, smoothing down my skirt and reaching for my purse with movements that were deliberately casual. Dominic remained seated, watching me with that same cold assessment, and I knew I had one more card to play.
"By the way," I said, pausing at the door with my back still turned to him. "I heard you have a half-brother in Mexico. Should I send him an invitation to the Mating Ceremony? It'd be nice to have all the family there."
I pulled open the door and walked out into the hallway without waiting for his response. Behind me, I heard the sharp crack of porcelain shattering against wood, tea splashing across the floor in a violent spray, and I allowed myself a small satisfied smile as I made my way toward the exit.