The tension did not dissipate when the agenda moved forward — it thickened.
Cassian lounged in his chair, blazer now draped carelessly over the backrest, sitting casually, as though the meeting was happening entirely for his amusement. His gaze was not on the crime maps projected on the wall, but on Seraphine — watching her every calculated movement, every clipped word, with an intensity that was infuriatingly unreadable.
"Mr. Drevorn," Stanton said, voice taut. "We were just discussing—".
"—how to turn a three-day operation into a three-month bureaucratic parade?" Cassian cut in smoothly, his smirk faint but cutting. "Please, don't stop on my account." A few officers shifted uncomfortably. Stanton's jaw tightened.
"These measures are standard protocol for public safety—""Public safety?" Cassian interrupted again, leaning back in his chair. "You're telling me keeping boots standing around with clipboards will make the streets safer? Here's a fact for you, Chief: last time you followed this 'standard protocol,' you lost fourteen hours of actionable lead time. Fourteen hours. But sure—let's do that again.
Murmurs rippled. Stanton bristled, but before he could respond, Seraphine's voice cut clean through the room. "You mean the operation where your people ignored chain of command and nearly blew an undercover sting?" Her tone was razor-sharp, her gaze fixed on him without a trace of hesitation.
Cassian's eyes slid to her, cigarette lowering just slightly. "Ah," he murmured, "the Assistant Inspector. Here to remind us all that paperwork is the true hero."
"And I'm here to remind you," she shot back, "that your 'freedom of movement' ends when it turns my crime scene into a circus." His smirk deepened — cold, calculated. "Freedom gets results. Your red tape gets headlines. You want order? Fine. But don't pretend order is the same thing as control."
"And don't pretend chaos is the same thing as results," she countered instantly. The silence that followed was electric — neither of them moving, neither of them looking away. The rest of the room might as well have vanished.
Finally, Stanton cleared his throat. "Enough. You both have your assignments. Make it work."
Cassian rose without another word, smoke curling in the air as he passed Seraphine. He leaned just close enough for only her to hear. " Sorry Officer Stanton, but I don't take orders. All I came here for was to know exactly which places you'd handle, so we'd need extra guards there. Can't really trust you guys." He snorted
" And, you can try to leash me, Draeke," he murmured, "but don't be surprised when the chain snaps." Her reply was immediate, steady. "Then I'll make sure it wraps around your throat first."
He smirked — the kind that promised trouble — and walked out, leaving the faint scent of smoke and tension in his wake.