“I also mean it.”
Summer studied me for one quiet second. “Good.”
Emme had designed my office to lower blood pressure on contact. The feng shui alone had carried me through client meltdowns, vendor implosions, and one deeply unfortunate champagne saber incident in Provence.
Unfortunately, Emme had not accounted for Nick Mercer in the house.
My fingers tightened once around my pen.
Summer saw it. Of course she did.
“He made one request,” she said.
The pen stopped moving.
“Same rules. No favors. No one wondering what got him through the door.”
I set the pen down before I clicked it into dust. “Then go make him earn it.”
“That was already the plan.”
Summer left with the faintest smile.
The meeting lasted fifty-three minutes. I didn’t count the seconds, because even I have limits.
I signed two contract approvals, answered four emails, rejected one proposed Azores itinerary because the client’s husband had requested “authentic danger with full concierge support,” and made it eleven minutes before I left my office with a folder I didn’t need.
Daisy looked up as I stopped beside her desk, which sat in a tragically useful position outside the main conference room.
“Tell me about your life,” I said quietly.
“While you stand here and spy?”
“I am mentoring you.”
“Into federal prison?”
“Into discretion.”
“You know Summer and Annie can see you.”
Through the glass, Summer sat at the head of the table with her tablet angled beside her water glass. Annie had a spreadsheet open and one eyebrow raised, which meant someone had placed the phrase “flexible budget” within striking distance. Gabe Vaughn sat across from Nick with his shoulders squared, younger than the title he had carried for the last month but not soft under it.
Nick didn't lean back or take over the room. When Gabe spoke, Nick wrote something down, and when Summer slid a document across the table, he read the relevant paragraph before answering.
Daisy brought coffee in at minute twenty-one and exited with the speed of a woman who had survived prolonged baritone exposure at close range.
I went back to my office.
My phone buzzed.
DAISY:He thanked me for the coffee.
ME:Thatisthe standard response to receiving coffee, Daisy.
DAISY: In that voice? No.
I turned the phone facedown.
