“On?”
“Whether you still want the unofficial part once the official one has rules.”
“I already know that answer, Juliette.”
I gripped the edge of the island. “Then say it.”
A radio cracked somewhere behind him. Nick ignored it.
“I want to see you,” he said. “Without a breach. Without a transfer schedule. Without half my team outside the door.”
My mouth went dry. “That was almost a normal sentence,” I said.
“Don’t get used to it.”
I looked toward the closed laptop. “Summer can keep the process clean. Gabriel can protect the internal chain. You can finish what needs finishing there.”
“And you?”
“I’ll be here.”
His breathing changed. “That a promise?”
“No. A location.”
“Juliette.”
“Yes?”
“It’s both.”
My fingers tightened around the counter edge. “Good,” I said. “Then don’t hide one behind the other.”
“I’ll be there,” he said.
The words were quiet, with no reach for drama. That was why they reached me.
“For the meeting?” I asked.
“For the meeting.” A pause. “And after.”
I braced one hand against the island, letting the cold stone steady my pulse. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I know.”
The call should have ended there, before either of us mishandled the evidence.
Instead, Nick said my name.
My fingers went still around the phone. “Yes?”
“This would be easier,” he said, “if I couldn’t still hear the way you breathed when I touched you.”
My nails pressed half-moons into my palm. “That is wildly unhelpful.”
“I wasn’t trying to help.”
“Evidently.”
