The control in her movements. The balance. The discipline masked as ease. When Theo asks why she stopped, I see the moment she walls something off. It’s subtle, but I catch it, the way her lips flatten, the way her eyes dim just a fraction.
There’s history there.
Weight.
She redirects the meeting cleanly and professionally, and I make a note: she knows how to reclaim authority without confrontation.
The meeting ends. People gather their things. Chairs scrape back. Voices rise. The room empties. Everyone leaves.
Except me.
Lucy exhales quietly, relief passing through her before she schools it away. She gathers her laptop, her notes, and her bag.
She thinks this is done.
“Yes,” I say when she asks if there’s anything else I need.
Just that.
One word.
Enough to make her pause.
She turns back toward me, guarded now. Professional. Careful.
“Mr. North?”
“Have dinner with me.”
Her brows draw together immediately. Suspicion. Caution. The quick mental inventory of risk.
“This isn’t...” she starts, blinking quickly. Her big brown eyes widen with worry. "I..."
“It’s a conversation,” I say calmly.
That’s important.
I’m not asking for romance. Not asking for intimacy. I’m offering clarity.
She studies me for a long moment; I don't give her the opportunity to say no.
"I have a proposition that I think you would find beneficial."
She doesn't respond, doesn't give in. Lucy stands there studying me, like she can peel back layers to see the man beneath. What she doesn't understand is that what you see is what you get with me.
I still don't see the yes, I want. So, I introduce leverage.
"I have connections that could help with your mother's care."
I could study her reaction all day.
Her eyes flare just barely. She takes a breath, and they shoot to the door where my brothers just left, like she is putting all the pieces together, figuring out that Rowan would have run a full background check on her... but she just doesn't know why yet.
“If you’re open to discussing options,” I add.
She cocks her head to the side slightly, her eyes moving over my face. She really is exquisite.
Then, without further question, she nods. “All right,”
