Private Room

Marcus leaned back. "That almost sounded like a pitch." "Maybe it is." "For HelixGrid?" "For whatever comes after HelixGrid." There it was. A small betrayal, or the seed of a larger alliance. Priya's face stayed calm, but her fingers touched the stem of her water glass once. Marcus saw that too. "Ambition," he said softly. "Finally." The meal ended with no obvious attack. That made Ethan more nervous, not less. Marcus was not a man who spent five figures on dinner to exchange opinions. Coffee arrived. Marcus waved away the server. The door closed. "I am launching a fund," Marcus said. "Quietly. AI infrastructure, defense analytics, energy logistics, financial data. The public story will be disciplined exposure to national-scale technology.