“You’re not going down there.”
“It’s my department.”
“And you’re pregnant.”
Olivia’s mouth tightens. “I am aware.”
Caterina’s tone doesn’t soften. “Then act like it.”
I step away from the wall. “Neither of you is going down there.”
Both women look at me.
Caterina with immediate irritation.
Olivia with a kind of professional patience.
Caterina folds her arms. “We can’t ignore one of our biggest players because my bodyguard is in a mood.”
“This isn’t a mood issue.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a live floor, crowd density, open sight lines, and an unknown variable who is already agitated.”
Olivia leans back in her chair and exhales once through her nose. “He’s not an unknown variable. He’s a well-known high roller with a gambling problem and an ego issue.”
Caterina looks at me like I’ve just volunteered the stupidest thought in the room. “We can’t ignore a VIP.”
“You can send someone else.”
“Like who?” she asks. “The floor manager he’s already screaming at?”
Olivia rubs a hand over the edge of her legal pad. “He won’t calm down for just anyone. If it’s the marker account I think it is, he’ll take it as an insult if we keep him waiting too long.”
Caterina nods once, already calculating. “Exactly.”
The host is still standing inside the doorway, trying very hard to disappear.
I look at her. “How bad?”
“Loud,” she says. “Not violent. But he’s drawing attention.”
Caterina makes the call before anyone else can.
“Go back down,” she says. “Tell him I’m coming.”
I look at her. “No.”
That stops her cold.
She lifts her chin. “Excuse me?” Her tone is icy.
“You send another executive. Or you move him upstairs.”
“He’s not going to come upstairs calmly.”
“Then security escorts him.”
