d any right to be, and Elena knew before she opened it that t

Black tie. Your attendance is r

t, was doing a lot of

imand, no further questions, just a silence that felt more like careful observation than forgiveness. What she hadn't anticipated was that his next move would be t

livering weather rather than strategy. "New head of special acquisitions review, out in public for the first

t. It was becoming something

-

e kept carefully to herself as she moved through the crowd in a dress that cost more than her old apartment's monthly rent, n

men perform in rooms full of other powerful men. He caught her eye across the space before she'd finished crossing it, and

she took it, his grip lingered a half-second longer than professional courtesy require

t done - attached his own credibility to hers, publicly, in front of people who mattered. It was generous. It was also,

response when a voice at her shoulder

omeone who'd never once in his life had to work for a room's attention. "Richard Voss. No relation,

ere in particular and everywhere at once - a board member, she registered, filing the name Alexander had mentioned once in passing. *Richard Voss.* Not the name from her

nt, quick and thorough, the kind of look a man gives when he's deciding whether a stranger is actually a stranger. "You have quite

ke a strong fi

tion strictly required, something unreadable passing behind it. "I ho

ty of a man who owned the room without needing anyone to acknowledge it, and Elena stood very still for a moment,

something against a memory. Not suspic

ber named Carlton, three drinks into the evening and loud enough that half the room could hear him, cornering her n

ordinary, for someone with your - background. I did look into your f

xander himself had said, and she felt the room narrow slig

ver bothered keeping one," she said, keeping her voice ev

entirely joking. "That almost

t the small of her back - brief, deliberate, entirely public -

er with three more words if he chose to. "Ms. Voss's file passed a background review m

ed into the crowd, and Elena was left standing beside Alexander, his hand still not quite gone fro

e to do that,"

n't move away. "

to something distant and unimportant, and felt, not for the first time this week, the

ant more by it than the

ving behind his eyes that looked almost like i

e said. "I find that conce

pleasant expression of a man simply enjoying a party - and said nothing at all about the fact that the shape o