rea

essly efficient executive as

at made him pause, his finge

r was And

request for a flight booki

ne read: Resig

rmal, polite, and unequivocal. Andrea Ayers was resignin

ven me years ago. A way to keep me officially on the pa

The "business trip" in Europe, and now this. It felt wron

y to the heavy oak doors of Braxton's o

has of several allied packs. He looked up, his expression annoyed

ater, he unmute

pped, his voice low and imp

n the desk, the email displayed clearly. "Mr.

aw the word 'Resignation.' His brow furrowed

thought

being dramatic.

cident. This was another passive-aggressive mov

aped his lips. He pushed the tabl

empt. "It's a useless position anyway. If she do

erious than it seemed. But one look at the icy fury in Braxton's eyes and

d dismissively. "Follow standard procedure. A

ention back to the video conference, his face onc

his orders. He sent a formal, impersonal reply to my email, accepting my resignation. He th

alifornia, the email notificatio

tion Ac

words without any emotion. It

st official tie to Braxt

ed the

erlooked the sprawling tech campuses of Silicon V

logo was designed. A stylized, elegan

us L

hon of meetings. He leaned back in h

ng him. He needed a second opinion, someone to bounce ideas

t the edge of his mind-a memory of other late nights when Andrea had stayed late to help him structure a negotiati

s head, dis

. A mix of frustration and an odd sense of...

ng away. It was just the stre

phone and diale

d sweet, answered

as just think

h Bonnie. The strange, unsettling feeling in his chest

. Everythin