Everything except his presence.
“You’re really terrible at being subtle, aren’t you?” Ben said mildly behind me after following my gaze around the room.
“What would I need to be subtle about?” I asked.
Ben just grinned in response.
An alert sounded from Ben’s phone.
His gaze moved briefly toward the corridor beyond the office door, then toward the front entry hall.
“He’s at the inner gate.”
Already?
“He is early.”
“He’s five minutes early.”
“That qualifies.”
Ben’s smile returned, softer now. “You should go meet him.”
“I will see him when he enters.”
“You should meet him outside.”
“That is unnecessary.”
Ben’s voice changed when he spoke again—not teasing now, but steady in the way he used when he knew I required something more structured than reassurance.
“He came back, Tobias,” he said. “On his own. For the job. For you.”
That was true.
It was also the only detail that truly should’ve mattered.
So, by the time the vehicle turned the final curve of the driveway beyond the glass corridor, I had already begun walking toward the entry doors.
It was not one of the cars I kept on the property.
That should not have mattered, but it still made me cringe that something that did not belong here was here.
Cove remained seated for a minute after arriving, speaking to the rideshare driver from the back seat, one hand resting lightly against the interior doorframe as he finished whatever conversation had delayed his exit.
I could not hear what they were saying.
That did not prevent me from noticing how relaxed Cove looked while speaking with him.
There was a brightness in his expression that had nothing to do with me.
I did not care for that.
It was an irrational reaction. I recognized it immediately as such. The driver was inconsequential. A temporary presence. Someone who would leave within seconds and never return.
Still, I found myself watching the interaction longer than necessary.
Ben came to stand beside me without speaking, his hands loosely folded behind his back in a posture that mirrored my own closely enough that most people would not have noticed the imitation.
