his tablet against the dir

the security guard. "Urgent de

waved hi

positing him in a corridor of hushed luxury. Thick car

rom his monitor as th

wing the stress lines of someone who managed the ego of a tech billionaire.

auer," the courier said

ht his professional attention. He scrawled his name on the electronic pad, accepted the padded envelope, and was about to ope

ine for Mr. Bauer," his screen f

envelope on top of a stack of low-priority documents

rner office, the stack o

his tie in the glass reflection. The late afternoon sun c

iting the papers on the desk's corner. "I've pu

yes lit up, predatory

cross his chest. The white envelope sat inches from

on mode. Tell catering I want the 1996 Dom Pérignon chille

eting. With an impatient gesture, he swept the entire pile of documents-the files Alex had pulled, the unread industry reports, and

not even looking. "I need

the door without

his phone, wincing at the waste but knowing be

wung shut

ushing conditioned air into the silent space. The white envelope, now bu

s pa

of orange and violet. The office lights activated auto

night cleanin

ying reggaetón loud enough to drown out the vacuum's whine. She had twel

red the

f, and replaced it with a fresh one. The contents-a day's worth of a billionaire's discarded thou

hed it individually. It was

lining swallowed

ennon Bauer raised a cry

he said, grinning

ttal but present. Evelin Lamb laughed at something Thorne's ass

felt inv

rested. The IPO was within reach. Everything wa

hink about

ers of Macallan 25 from the hidden bar

feet on the desk, and smiled at his

was