Chapter 2

Elias pov

The first time Noah ignored a direct order, it was over coffee.

I told him to stay inside while I cleared the building’s lower levels after a flagged plate in the garage. Standard protocol. He waited exactly four minutes, then walked out of the penthouse and into the hallway like the rules were optional.

I found him leaning against the wall by the elevators, barefoot, scrolling his phone like he had all the time in the world.

“I said stay inside.”

He didn’t look up. “You were taking too long.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Then make it work faster.”

I stepped in close enough that...