
Oliver Queen was not a happy man as he stood in the middle of the crowd in the penthouse of one of the city's wealthiest politicians. His fingers were curled tightly around the glass of champagne in his hand, but he wasn't interested in drinking it. Not tonight. No, tonight, he was on duty, whether anyone else in the room was aware of it or not.
He'd been hearing disturbing rumors about the old man who was celebrating his sixtieth birthday that day. And not just about him, but about several of the other party-goers, as well. Several of whom happened to be employees at the Metropolis branch of Queen Industries.
So he'd come to find out for himself. Rumors weren't good enough, he needed to learn the truth, no matter how ugly it might be, firsthand. Which was the only reason he was there and not out patrolling the streets.
Chloe was having a girl's evening with Lana, which he knew both women were in need of considering how little Lex let Lana out of his sight. The thought of Lex Luthor only made him tense more.
He forced himself to take a deep breath and he nodded at a couple of familiar individuals as they wove through the crowd.
And that's when he spotted them.
A large, muscular man leading a young woman into the penthouse, his hand gripping firmly onto her upper arm. He could see even from where he stood that the girl wasn't happy to be there. He watched the way her eyes darted around the crowded room as though searching for an escape, as though the man holding onto her was going to let her out of his grip.
Oliver's jaw tightened as he glanced around, taking note of the fact that the birthday boy was nowhere to be found, and the beefy man was tugging the young woman down the hallway and out of sight.
Son of a bitch.
He hated when rumors turned out to be true.