Starlight Tower (Seeking collection, seeking recommendation!!)

Fifth Avenue, Manhattan.

Starlight Tower!

A truly remarkable building. Ever since its completion and the sale of its first apartment, the founder had stubbornly adhered to a unique principle.

People of African descent were not permitted to reside within.

For this reason, over the course of nearly two decades, the building's founder had fought almost five hundred lawsuits. With the support of the apartment residents, he never lost a single case.

Because...

this rule wasn't written down anywhere. And when selling, the residents tacitly upheld it. Even if someone of African descent offered double the market price, no one would sell. If anyone did sell to such a buyer, the other residents would unite to boycott that person, applying pressure from all sides until they truly understood the power of money.

Thirty-eighth floor.

Lake had just stepped inside when he saw his girlfriend, who had arrived home before him, busy cooking in the kitchen.

His girlfriend worked in the same building as Lake, just on a different floor. She was a specialist in the NYPD's Hostage Negotiation Team and also a psychotherapist.

Maureen Hand!

Busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, she looked up at Lake as he entered. "You're back?"

Lake grunted in acknowledgment, took off his suit jacket, walked over, hugged her, and gave her a kiss. He glanced at the food being cooked, raised an eyebrow, and winced. "So... today is the weekly vegetable day?"

"Correct answer."

"Can I apply to go eat at the steakhouse next door?"

"No."

"..."

Maureen smiled and pushed Lake out of the kitchen. "Don't bother me. It'll be ready soon."

Lake let out a groan.

He was a carnivore. This weekly vegetable day was practically his day of disaster.

Could vegetables ever fill you up?

Lake tried to negotiate. "Honey, you know I've been reinstated and just took on a new case. If I don't get enough calories, I'll be weak."

Maureen's eyes crinkled with amusement. "So... you're resting tonight?"

Lake's eyes widened. "What? No, no, no."

Maureen said, "Then you won't be weak. You work hard. Every night, you work very hard."

Lake: "..."

I suspect you're driving, and it's a fast car.

Lake opened his mouth, staring at the boiled broccoli that had just come out of the pan. Its vibrant green color looked fresh and tempting in his girlfriend's eyes, but to him, it was anything but. Just looking at it made it hard to swallow.

Damn it.

If I'd known it was vegetable day, I wouldn't have come home so early.

Lake's mind raced. As he waited for the meal to be served, he silently prayed for an emergency call—something like another plane hitting the building next to the World Trade Center.

But...

his prayer went unanswered.

At the dinner table.

Lake stared at the plate of green vegetables in front of him, completely devoid of appetite.

Across from him, his girlfriend ate with relish.

"By the way."

Maureen looked up at Lake, who was poking at his food—taking a bite every ten seconds, eating one vegetable every three minutes—and asked casually, "I heard you got a new partner right after being reinstated. And she's a beauty?"

Lake raised an eyebrow.

"Alright."

Lake put down his fork and looked at his girlfriend Maureen across the table. "Who told you? Montgomery or Esposito?"

A bunch of big mouths.

It was three in the afternoon when it happened. Now it was six, and probably the whole precinct already knew.

Maureen smiled. "Your Major Crimes Division is the most important department in the precinct, bar none. Nothing that happens on your floor stays secret. I heard it from Olivia."

Olivia.

Full name Olivia Liv Moore. From Baltimore. One of the three forensic examiners in the New York Medical Examiner's Office. Most of the bodies from Lake's cases were autopsied by Olivia.

A bunch of big mouths indeed.

Lake shook his head and said, "Joe Martinez is already married. And she's not my partner. She's in George's unit. But George's operation is about to wrap up, so it's not a good time to add someone. That's why Montgomery temporarily assigned her to me—to show her the ropes. Once the current case is done, she'll go to Unit One. You know me. I prefer working alone."

Maureen hummed in acknowledgment. "So that's why Internal Affairs has their eye on you."

Lake shrugged and said nothing.

Maureen crossed her hands, her gaze flickering. "The effects of that operation haven't faded yet, have they? You should know, working a case alone feels good, but it's dangerous."

Lake smiled. "I'll avoid the danger."

SSR-level undying body backing him up.

Who could kill him?

Who could grant him death?

Ha!

After dinner.

Maureen's phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, sighed, and reluctantly walked to the balcony to answer it.

Lake watched his girlfriend on the balcony and smiled.

No need to guess.

It had to be her family calling again.

His girlfriend, Maureen Hand, was from New Rochelle and the only college graduate in her family—the pride of the Hand household.

Maureen had an older brother and an older sister.

But...

Their different upbringings meant Maureen and her brother had clashing life philosophies. So, despite living apart, whenever her brother got into trouble and was arrested by the local police, the family always asked Maureen to help.

Of course.

That was what Maureen had told him herself.

Though the surname Hand sounded vaguely familiar, Lake wasn't the type to dig deep into his girlfriend's background—that was something control freaks did.

Lake watched his girlfriend gesturing with the phone on the balcony, smiled, figured this call would drag on for at least half an hour, then grabbed the case files he'd brought back from the station and headed upstairs to the study.

In the study.

Lake rubbed his temples, turned on the computer, and pulled a special USB drive from a drawer with a fingerprint lock.

The USB drive had two letters printed on it.

MD!

The Continental's abbreviation.

This USB drive was the access code for assassins to log into The Continental Hotel—one per person. Only this drive could log in properly, allowing them to take on tasks from The Continental's Bounty Network.

Lake logged in.

He checked the latest bounty tasks, scrolled through them, found nothing simple, and shut it down again.

He was a freelance assassin for The Continental, unaffiliated with any organization. So, after taking a task, all intelligence work was either done by himself or purchased with gold coins from The Continental.

Lake had no money.

And right now, there was no need.

After all...

He had a case to crack at the moment.

PS: Olivia Liv Moore—from iZombie

PS: The Continental Hotel organization—from John Wick