Stop it.
“Morning,” I said. “I’ve prepared a detailed schedule for today’s demolition work.”
“We saw it,” Jasper said, holding up his phone. “You emailed it to us at five AM.”
“I wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page.”
“We’re on the same page,” Clint assured me. “We’re on the same word on the same page.”
“Good. Then let’s—”
“Dr. Darcy,” Bo interrupted gently. “We’ve got this. You don’t need to supervise.”
“I’m not supervising. I’m... observing.”
“You’re hovering,” Chase said, not unkindly.
“I’m ensuring quality control.”
“We understand,” Gavin said. “But we promise we know what we’re doing. And we’ll update you every step of the way.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to insist that I needed to be there, watching, making sure everything went according to plan. But something in Mason’s expression, his calm, confident, genuinely reassuring expression, made me hesitate.
“You’ll call me if there are any issues?” I asked.
“Immediately.”
“And you’ll stick to the timeline?”
“Absolutely.”
“And if you need to make any changes.”
“We’ll consult you first,” Jasper promised.
I looked at my watch. I had surgery in two hours. I needed to leave soon anyway.
“Fine,” I said. “But I’ll be back this afternoon to check progress.”
“We’ll be here,” Mason said.
I left, feeling as though I was abandoning my post.
This is fine.
They’re professionals.
They know what they’re doing.
Everything will be fine.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Julien
Everything was not fine.
I returned at three PM to find chaos.
