“That you aren’t staff.”
She watched him carefully, absorbing that distinction the way she absorbed everything else. “Then what am I?”
He opened the door.
“Undetermined,” he repeated.
He left her standing in the warm morning light, the black uniform suddenly ill-fitting in a way it hadn’t been before.
In the hallway, Magnus paused onlyonce.
He’d reviewed contracts worth billions without hesitation. He’d dismantled empires with simple signatures. Yet the knowledge that Lorenzo had planned to assign Elia to another man had ignited something that had nothing to do with ports or percentages.
He hadn’t removed herfor leverage.
He removed her because the idea of her being passed between men had triggered an overwhelming response.And he didn’t allow anyone to provoke that response without consequence.
A discreet knock sounded at the far end of the corridor.
Magnus didn’t turn immediately. He’d been expectingit.
“Enter.”
One of his security leads stepped forward, posture painfully erect. “Captain. ADonati vehicle has arrived at the outer gate.”
Magnus’s expression didn’t shift. “Identification?”
“Lorenzo Donati. He’s requested an audience.”
Requested.
Magnus gave a faint nod. “He won’t cross into the private wing.”
“No, sir. We’ll make sure of it.”
“And he arrives alone?”
“With a driver. No additional security visible.”
Visible.
Magnus considered that for a beat. Lorenzo was arrogant, not reckless. If he’d come personally, it wasn’t for spectacle. It was to measure.
“Hold him at reception,” Magnus instructed. “Ten minutes.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Theguard withdrew.
Magnus remained where he was a moment longer, then turned back toward the open doorway behindhim.
“Elia.”
She appeared in the corridor almost immediately, as though she’d been standing just beyond the threshold. Her expression was composed, but he caught the alertness in hereyes.
“Lorenzo Donati is here,” he said evenly.
The name didn’t make her flinch. That alone confirmed what he already suspected about her resilience. But the subtle tightening of her lips didn’t escapehim.
