Chương 5
“Yes.”
“Do you?”
His tone was controlled enough that an outsider might have missed the threat beneath it.
Adrian did not.
“Mr. Hale.”
Martin looked at him.
“If you have an employment issue with Ms. Mercer, handle it after this meeting.”
Martin’s mouth tightened.
Adrian added, “But don’t manufacture one because she answered my questions.”
“I don’t manufacture employment issues.”
“Good.”
The word landed like a door closing.
Eve hated that part of her felt grateful.
She did not want Adrian rescuing her.
Especially not now.
Especially not after the airport.
She gathered her papers.
“I can send the supporting files this afternoon.”
Adrian nodded.
“Do that.”
Martin rose without looking at her.
The meeting was clearly over.
At the door, Adrian said, “Eve.”
She stopped.
Martin stopped too.
Adrian glanced at him.
“I need two minutes with her.”
Martin looked from Adrian to Eve.
Something ugly flickered across his face and vanished.
“Of course.”
The door closed behind him.
Eve stayed standing.
Adrian remained at the far end of the table.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he said, “You didn’t know who I was.”
It was not a question.
Eve looked at the carpet.
“Not until the plane.”
“I guessed.”
“Was the mascara the clue?”
His mouth moved.
“Mostly the handkerchief.”
She looked up.
“I still have it.”
“Daniel will be relieved.”
“The security guy?”
“Yes.”
“I’m pretty sure he hated me.”
“Daniel has four daughters.”
“That explains why he knew better than I did not to take the handkerchief back.”
Adrian looked down at his hands.
The humor faded.
Eve noticed the shift.
At JFK, she had felt something similar when his arms tightened around her.
She still did not know what it meant.
He said, “Are you all right?”
The question irritated her more now.
She folded her arms.
“You mean professionally or because I cried on you?”
“Either.”
“Professionally, I may have just destroyed my relationship with my boss.”
“You told the truth.”
“That’s not actually a magical shield against consequences.”
“No.”
His answer came too quickly.
That made her look at him.
For the first time since entering the building, Adrian Sterling did not look like the most powerful person in the room.
He looked tired.
Not sleep-deprived.
Something older than that.
Eve said, “And personally, I’m trying not to check whether Preston has taken the espresso machine.”
Adrian blinked.
“The espresso machine.”
“It was mine before we met.”
“That seems legally decisive.”
“You joke, but he believes possession is nine-tenths of emotional warfare.”
Adrian laughed once.
A real laugh this time.
It changed his face enough to make Eve uncomfortable.
She looked away.
He said, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“About Preston?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know him.”
“No.”
“He might be wonderful.”
“Is he?”
Eve opened her mouth.
Closed it.
“That’s an unfair question.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m currently biased.”
Adrian nodded.
“Fair.”
His phone vibrated again.
He glanced at the screen, and whatever softness had entered the room disappeared.
Eve saw only the name before he turned it over.
Rachel.
His jaw tightened.
Eve looked away immediately.
“Your two minutes are probably up.”
“They are.”
She reached for the door.
“Eve.”
She turned.
Adrian’s expression had returned to something carefully neutral.
“Send Priya everything.”
“Even if Martin tells you not to.”
There it was.
The line she did not want him crossing.
She held his gaze.
“You don’t get to manage me because I cried on your suit.”
Adrian went still.
Eve’s heart began pounding immediately after the words left her mouth.
Then he nodded.
“You’re right.”
No defense.
No offense.
Just that.
It unsettled her more than an argument would have.
She opened the door.
Martin stood twenty feet down the hall beside the elevators.
He did not ask what Adrian wanted.
He waited until the elevator doors closed around them.
Then he pressed the lobby button.
The numbers began descending.
Forty-one.
Forty.
Thirty-nine.
Martin stared straight ahead.
Eve watched his reflection in the polished metal doors.
At thirty-six, he said, “You had one job in there.”
Eve gripped her laptop.
“I did my job.”
“No.”
He turned toward her.
“You performed.”
The elevator continued downward.
“You wanted to impress him.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“You contradicted me three times.”
“Because you were wrong three times.”
Martin laughed quietly.
It was worse than shouting.
“Be very careful, Eve.”
The warning hit the same place Preston’s text had.
Please don’t make this harder.
Choose your words carefully.
Be very careful.
Men who wanted silence seemed to have an entire shared vocabulary.
The elevator reached thirty.
Eve looked at Martin.
“Are you threatening my job?”
His eyes hardened.
“I’m telling you that judgment matters.”
“So does honesty.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Turn this into some moral stand because a billionaire paid attention to you.”
Eve felt the blood drain from her face.
Martin saw it.
He had guessed there was more to the airport meeting.
Or maybe he had simply aimed for the ugliest explanation available.
Either way, he had found it.
The elevator slowed at twenty-seven.
The doors opened.
A woman carrying two coffees stepped inside and smiled politely.
Martin smiled back.
Eve said nothing.
The woman pressed twenty-one.
For six floors, the three of them stood in complete silence while soft instrumental music played overhead.
The woman left.
The doors closed.
Martin adjusted his tie.
“Send me every file before you send anything to Sterling.”
Eve stared at the descending numbers.
“No.”
Martin turned.
Eve’s hands shook again, but this time she let them.
“No,” she repeated.
Martin stared at her as if the elevator had made an unscheduled stop somewhere outside reality.
“What did you say?”
Eve kept her eyes on the numbers above the doors.
“I said no.”
“You work for me.”
“I work for Hale Advisory.”
“You report to me.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m telling you to send me the files first.”
“You told me not to raise the issue in the meeting.”
May you like
“Because it wasn’t substantiated.”
“It was substantiated enough that you didn’t want the client to see it.”
