LOGIN"He also mentioned Vera Sorel has made her attendance at the follow-up conditional on yours," I said, letting the other piece of the weight land between us. "He wanted me to know that." The pen halted in her hand. She took a breath, slow, through her nose, and the line of her throat moved once befo
Edward's POV Phillip arrived at twenty past ten. He settled into the chair across my desk and set his coat on the arm of it. The draft was already in his hand before he opened his mouth. "Signed and filed as of this morning. Your name on the minority position. Clean." He set a single folded page
"I don't know." "You said it to him. Not here." The pause that followed remained too long to be casual. "What are you afraid of?" I didn't rush it. "That I'm seeing it right. And it still falls apart anyway." She shook her head slightly. "That's not uncertainty. That's you refusing to close y
Alicia's POV Elena didn't turn when I came in. She was at the counter, spoon hovering over a bowl she hadn't touched in a while. The kettle had gone cold long enough to feel intentional. My bag hit the floor by the door. She didn't look at it. "You came back wrong." "I came back two days ago."
She turned a page. No emphasis. "They agreed." No one in the room needed more than that. "Rotterdam," George said. "Two families," Alicia said. "Both meetings ran long. Same underlying concern, different language. We answered it both times. Follow-up is scheduled." "Documentation," Catherine sa
Edward's POV The term sheet had been in my inbox since the previous night. Four pages. Clean. Volkov's committee had approved the access deal exactly as the projection had asked for. Southeast Asia. The Gulf. East Africa. The network layer intact. The timeline fixed. Nothing negotiated down. I se
Alicia’s POV I didn’t breathe until the door clicked shut behind him. Not properly. Not all the way. The sound landed somewhere deep in my chest. It loosened something at first, then cinched everything tight again so quickly my fingers trembled against the table. My eyes stayed on the notebook I
I pulled into the underground garage. My hands were still shaking as I parked in a visitor spot. I sat there for a moment. Engine running. Breathing hard. Then I got out. The elevator ride up felt endless. I watched the numbers climb. My reflection stared back at me in the gleaming steel—hair loo
Edward's POV The boardroom table gleamed under the Thursday morning light when I walked in. Fresh paper stacked at every seat. Coffee going cold in the mugs. The air felt tight. Every chair was full. Edmund at the head. Catherine, beside him. Vincent, across from her. Mitchell, leaning back. Maria
"Yes." "Great." He stood. Meeting adjourned. "We'll reconvene Monday afternoon to assess the response and determine next steps." Papers shuffled. Chairs scraped against the floor. People stood and began filing out in quiet, tense order. Vincent lingered near the door. Caught my eye. Opened his mo







