Chapter 50

"It was a systematic dismemberment," Tina said, her voice dropping into that fumbling, shy register she used when she was either terrified or talking about history. "The Volkov patriarch didn't just take a few heirlooms. Lucas billed House Cooper for 'caretaker fees' that exceeded the entire estate's annual yield. He charged for the storage of artifacts, for the security of properties that were already empty, and for the administration of a lineage he was actively erasing." Julian leaned back...