Declan snorts into his coffee. "Kid's got the attention span of a goldfish when there's a pretty face involved."
"Hey! My attention span is perfectly..." I pause as Sophie reaches for the fruit platter, her bracelets jingling musically. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"
The table erupts in laughter, and I join in, not minding being the butt of the joke. There's something easy about this group dynamic that I never expected. If someone had told me a month ago that I'd be sitting here, trading jokes with the Ice Queen and actually enjoying her company, I'd have called them delusional.
Yet here we are.
The moment passes as Gloria taps her tablet. "Back to scheduling. After tomorrow's shoot, we have three days to review the proofs before the Vanity Fair interview on Friday. They've agreed to conduct it here rather than at their offices, which solves some security concerns."
Ethan nods approvingly. "The fewer public appearances right now, the better."
"But not zero," Jade says firmly. "I can't hide forever. I need to get back to work, back to some version of normal life."
"We'll make it work," Ethan promises, meeting her eyes. "That's what we're here for."
There's a current of something between them, subtle but unmistakable. It's been developing over these three weeks. Shared midnight conversations over cinnamon milk, morning strategy sessions that run longer than necessary. Not obvious enough for me to tease about. Yet.
"So about this shoot tomorrow," I pivot, because I'm a good friend (sometimes). "What exactly is happening at this Bradbury place?"
"It's a historic building downtown," Sophie explains eagerly. "All cast iron and Victorian details. The magazine wants to contrast Jade's modern looks with the vintage architecture."
"Sounds fancy," I say. "So we just roll up, you pose for a few hours, and we're out?"
"If only it were that simple," Gloria sighs. "Photoshoots are marathons, not sprints. Hair, makeup, multiple outfit changes, lighting adjustments. We'll be there all day."
"During which I will be tragically confined to the car," I lament. "Alone with my technology and my thoughts."
"And your triple-bacon cinnamon rolls," Jade adds. "I'll make sure the caterer packs extras."
I press a hand to my heart. "You do care."
"Don't push it," she warns, but there's no edge to it.
Yeah. We're good today. Really good.
Too good.
Because peace never sticks in our line of work.
I'm mid-coffee pour when my phone buzzes.
I glance down. Then freeze.
Not a test. Not a malfunction.
The buzz in my palm hits like a jolt, and when I see the notification, my stomach drops before my voice does.
"Uh... guys? We've got a problem."
All heads snap toward me, the easy atmosphere evaporating instantly.
"What is it?" Ethan's already on his feet, professional mode engaged.
I swipe through the alert details, my stomach sinking further. "Someone tampered with the east perimeter sensor about twenty minutes ago. System just caught the discrepancy during the automated diagnostic sweep."
"Could it be a malfunction?" Gloria asks, her knuckles white around her tablet.
"Possibly," I admit, "but these are military-grade systems with redundancies. For a sensor to register as functional during routine checks but show tampering in diagnostics..."
