“Then someone’s making me smarter than I am. If I’d run the numbers, I wouldn’t have lowballed the attrition costs.” She said and she didn’t even blink. She slid the paper across the table. My hand reached to take it, our fingers touched, slightly, but it was electric—enough to make me forget for a nanosecond that there were witnesses.
She didn’t flinch, her eyes locked on mine, daring me to call her a liar.
“We’ll cross-validate after,” I said as I retracted my hand first.
Calvin, ever the white knight, jumped in. “We can run a three-way compare. Maybe have Eliza work it up with someone from your team, Valor?”
His tone was all innocence, but the implication wasn’t lost on anyone; put her under watch. I caught the smirk he shot me, barely there.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s sync after lunch. My office?”
Eliza nodded, unbothered. “Don’t forget snacks.”
She was still needling me about that morning. I liked her, and that was a fucking problem.
The next agenda item was vendor transition, boring, but necessary. I let the chatter roll, content to watch her as she fielded questions with surgical precision.
She didn’t grandstand or ramble, she appeared unaffected by the pressure. It was impressive and disconcerting. She was the only one here who could win a battle without even entering the arena.
I dismissed the room with a nod, then leaned back in my chair. The room emptied, leaving only Eliza, still gathering her things.“You torpedoed Hastings in there. That was intentional.” I spoke.
She zipped her portfolio, slow and deliberate. “He came at me with a butter knife. I brought a scalpel.”
I let my gaze linger. “Why not take credit for the model? You could have scored points.”
“Maybe I don’t need points.” She cocked her head.
Or maybe you don’t want to owe me anything.
She hovered at the door, backlit by the migraine-white of the hallway. “One more thing,” she said. “Next time you want to test me, do it directly. I’m not here to dance around spreadsheets with your ghosts.”
It stung but only a little. Mostly, it made me curious to see what she’d do if I pushed harder. I let her leave without answering and watched the place where her shadow lingered a moment too long. I wondered if I was looking at my next protégé, my next adversary, or both. There was something dangerous about her. Something familiar, too.
I only really knew her as my best friend’s sister. Sure, we crossed paths in school, mostly in events that mixed grades because I was two years older than her, but still.
Maybe she was as brilliant as the rumors said. Or maybe she was just very, very good at bluffing. Either way, I had to find out.
Chapter Three
Eliza
Gabriel Valor’s name was on the glass, two inches tall, frosted in laser-perfect Helvetica —the kind of office marker meant to say,Fuck you, I’m important.
I reached his cabin door and entered in. I didn’t knock. Knocking was for people who needed permission.
He looked up, in that slow, surgical way of his, like the world had only just occurred to him and, frankly, he wasn’t impressed.
“Eliza,” he said with a neutral and deadly calm.
I set the manila folder on his desk with enough force to make the crystal glass of water - I hoped it was water, anyway, be better to not have been drinking on the job - rattle. “Care to explain why, after I told you that wasn’t my version, you mass emailed the board that my mistakes wouldn’t happen again?”
He barely blinked. “There was an inconsistency. I flagged it. Standard protocol.”
Standard protocol, my ass. “You flagged it after I specifically told you that it wasn’t my error. If you had a concern, you could have waited for this planned meeting to discuss the issue before publicly – and incorrectly – calling me out.”
“I wasn’t aware we were coloring outside the lines of process,” he said, that infuriating upper lip not moving a millimeter. “I assumed, since your tactics were so aggressive, you’d want them pressure-tested. I did you a favor.”
I had to laugh; short, sharp, a bark that did nothing to break his composure. “If by favor you mean ‘attempted public execution,’ then yes, thank you so much for that.”
