“Right now?”
“Not this minute, don’t panic.”
“I wasn’t panicking,” Bea denied. “Okay. Maybe a little.”
“You and Jaxon Dao provided critical commentary to the Gavin Trenor situation.” Maris’ expression turned wry. “And you’ve been here long enough to know we reward good work with more work.”
“The purest form of validation.”
“The spoiler,” Maris said. “So you don’t squeal and embarrass me. Promotion. With a pay rise, if that still matters to you.”
Bea sprang up from her chair, hands lifting in a reflexive, irrepressible burst of triumph. “Yes!”
Maris’ expression was enough.
Bea froze mid-celebration, arms dropping back to her sides as she cleared her throat. “Of course it matters.”
Rafael was rich, and he reminded her often that his money was hers, but that didn’t make this feel any smaller. This was hers. A rung she’d climbed herself.
Was it dumb she wanted to call home and tell Umma and Papa?
“You’re an asset here,” Maris said, unusually generous with her praise. Normally, she’d have vanished after that statement—heels clicking, message delivered. But this time, she leaned one hip against the edge of Bea’s desk. “Can I see it again?”
“You’reasking?”
“Even tigers pause for diamonds.”
Bea snorted and held out her hand.
Maris tilted her hand left and right. The blue and whites sparkled in the cold LED lighting. “However Griffin got his hands on this, one thing’s obvious.”
“What’s that?”
“That man is crazy about you.”
Bea noticed her colleagues inching back into range, notebooks in hand, pretending very badly to be on their way somewhere else.
“Buying a ring is shopping,” Maris continued pointedly. “Hunting down a stone likethatand deciding it only ever belongs to one woman?” Her eyes cut to Bea’s. “That’s him staking his reputation.”
The mats were warm beneath her bare feet, her gi clung at the collar, damp and heavy, wrists buzzing from bad grips and worse decisions. Across from her, Melody circled, light on her toes. They were evenly matched on most days.
Tonight, the balance wasn’t there. Her timing lagged, her grip slipped. She recovered, then found herself pinned, cheek pressed to the mat.
Tap.
Melody let go immediately. Bea rolled onto her back and stared up at the lights. Her chest rose and fell hard. She counted three breaths. Four. Pushed up before the burn faded.
“Again.”
They reset. She didn’t wait for the nod this time. Bea shot in fast, overcommitted, tried to muscle through a sweep she normally set up properly. Melody caught her.
Tap.
Bea exhaled through her teeth, sharp and annoyed. She slapped the mat with her palm, and rolled back onto her knees.
“Again.”
Melody hesitated. Bea didn’t. She closed in too aggressively, everything brute instead of clean. It took less than ten seconds this time.
