spered closed

with the same mechanical precision she used to execute mergers. The dress was black

ucha

cklace. Nothing for anyone to compliment

inged liner, zero warmth. Every detail

't feel

lt pre

e penthouse door-soft,

ed it with

et and a pair of metallic heels she'd

to eat a corporate scandal

replied. "Th

finalized two hours ago. The press is locked out of the VIP wing. El

rmless people," Livia

. Reid already left. Sa

look up. "Of

it was safer if he entered t

ricter moral code and

ked. "Stil

te him. I just haven't decided whether

not b

multitask usually

ls, adjusted once, then

n't need it. Weather didn't touch women like Livi

ped the tablet again. "And y

h wipe. Only your

one else's will l

ghtly. "Just li

-

eady gathered-floodlights, velvet rop

hbulbs kiss the edge of her cheekbones, but never qui

d about the gala. About the leake

dn't f

lked i

ritably-where the hell R

rved glass-designed to impress without revealing anything re

Crest's satellite c

ery-eyed tech founders with e

em like she always did

idn't feel like the

elt s

with a champagne flute raised

th her teeth. "

bout the AI p

"I wouldn't trust rumors.

ed. But her min

Reid was

n't appeared by the marble staircase. He wasn't l

meant he

from some

p of the gala floor b

eces were arranged. He wasn't standing still. He was moving-slowly, deliberatel

d his eyes

as focused on

wed his lin

w Elia

too quietly to a man

undone like he wanted you to think he was relaxed. But the posture was wrong. The sta

was wat

t

re she could be spotte

ling at the right people, nodding when appropriate

being second in any

ally n

P bar was quieter-just far enough fr

ched champagne in her glass. She wasn't interes

s calc

n he ap

accented voice from behind

rned s

standing inches from her table, smiling with effortless

I'm allowed to be

try never to approach a woman who looks

Older than Elias by a decade at least. Black

aking your own rule,"

uld have passed for a chuck

out

your

stopped on the s

der, scanning the room idly as if this were a c

ery... precise. I won

ed dry. "He doesn'

miled. "E

sip. Her eyes

know

idn't ans

-not enough to draw attention,

s not the only one wa

opped h

use

od, still smiling as i

t ventilation. A shame about the blind sp

aid n

ed, "I'm sure he al

had

rchief, and dabbed the corner of his mouth as though

er directly in t

e you stand when t

se thudded

at-he turned and disa

n

sines

rea

rooms with steady, careful steps-fast enough no

alcove just behind the staging wing. It was dark there. Quiet. Th

ed out h

ext. Not

che

for digital presence mapping. Technically it was for

a color-coded map of active signa

thorized

was n

thorized

two-meter radi

tes ago.

red dot. She stared at it like

idn't

t bre

't p

eant someone ha

hind her, a c

ompromised te

tu

ly two steps away. He wasn't winded. Wa

t him, he didn't look like he was wat

one away. "You thin

oticed

're saying this wasn't

't have mattered if t

say it to

e it was a sta

m, closing the distance

't kno

don't

dn't change. "

w g

enough that I don't t

flicked u

held hers,

y came to see

t her like a

s no longer a

weakn

n her

s abo

r had come

o watch