CHAPTER 24
THE SERPENT AND THE SPIDER
NARRATOR
The penthouse overlooked the Seine, all glass and shadow and the kind of silence that came from money too old to need noise. Élise Moreau stood at the window, her reflection a ghost against the glass.
She didn’t wait long as the elevator chimed and footsteps crossed the marble floor. Her lawyer, Renaud, appeared in the reflection behind her, a man whose smile never quite reached his eyes.
"You called," he said.
Élise turned. She was beautiful in the way a blade was beautiful. Sharp, precise and designed to cut. Her silver dress caught the light, her hair swept back from a face that had learned decades ago, how to give nothing away.
"The documents," she said. "Are they enough?"
Renaud set his briefcase on the table, opened it and spre
