Nathan must have seen it, too, because his grin widened ever so slightly before he finally turned toward his own seat.
“Shall we get started?” I asked, settling into my seat.
Damien sat opposite me, eyes scanning my face with a thousand unspoken questions. The frustration in him was palpable—tight, acidic, scraping under the surface.
“By all means.” The edge in his voice didn’t match the words.
The tension in the room shifted, subtle but unmistakable—the battle lines redrawn without a single word of open defiance.
“Let’s begin with operational oversight.” His voice stayed level but commanding. “Specifically, how management and decision-making will be divided. Elion has the technical infrastructure, but Falkirk holds broader administrative resources. It’s a delicate balance.”
Jennifer’s head lifted. Kevin leaned forward slightly, attention focused. Tessa folded her hands, her posture too still to be casual.
“Delicate?” Nathan repeated, a scoff thinly disguised as amusement. “Falkirk’s leadership isn’t delicate, it’s definitive. Elion won’t be heard without parading under Falkirk’s banner.”
Maria’s jaw twitched. Kevin’s eye twitched. Jennifer’s entire soul twitched.
I forced a slow breath through my nose, lowering my gaze like I was conceding. “You’re right.” I kept my tone agreeable. “Falkirk’s reach is extensive.” A deliberate pause—just long enough to look thoughtful, humble. “But Elion’s efficiency rates in the last two quarters have outpaced Falkirk’s by almost eight percent. We may not have the same size.” I lifted my eyes, just enough to catch his. “But we’re scaling quickly.”
That got their attention.
Damien’s brows tightened.
I continued, “I believe Elion is best suited to lead the technical integration.”
Nathan barked a laugh. “You? Equal influence? A grain of sand wanting to be the beach?”
Kevin flinched. Jennifer’s brows pinched, a flash of disbelief before she masked it behind professionalism.
Damien turned hard toward Nathan, tone cutting as flint. “That’s uncalled for.”
I didn’t look to him, I couldn’t stand it. Even David looked up now, eyes darting between them. Tessa’s attention slid to Maria, a subtle, wordless exchange passing between them.
I lifted my hand, calm, collected, performing damage control that wasn’t really damage at all. “And what’s so wrong with that?” I tilted my head, feigning genuine confusion.
He scoffed, leaning back in his chair. “What’s wrong with it?” His smirk was pure derision. “That simply isn’t how business is done.” He turned to Damien, pointing a finger toward me. “Actually, if this is how Elion comes to the negotiating table, then maybe our discussion here is over.”
Jennifer froze mid-breath. David started to speak, but I beat him to it, stepping neatly into the silence with a carefully crafted look of surprise.
“Sorry, that isn’t what I meant…” I said, letting a self-deprecating laugh smooth the edges of the moment. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”
Beside him, Damien’s jaw tightened. “Ms.Sinclair, there’s nothing unreasonable about parity.”
“In this instance there is,” Nathan blurted, face heating.
“What’s unreasonable,” Damien said, voice lethal, “is assuming experience only counts when it’s yours.”
Maria’s lips twitched, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. He was protecting me. Even now.
Even angry, confused, thrown completely off-kilter.
Just like I knew he would.
And later, when he realized what I’d done—how I’d twisted his care into a weapon—he’d be pissed.
A wave of guilt hit me—sudden and disorienting—but I crushed it down.
Absorbing his betrayals wasn’t my burden to carry.
