Page 49 of Caterina
The meeting resumes.
I finish walking them through the numbers. I answer questions. I redirect two bad suggestions and kill one idiotic idea about expanding beverage costs. By the time we wrap, my voice is steady, my face composed, and my notes are neat and thorough.
“Thank you, everyone,” I say. “I’ll send the updated reserve model by close of business.”
We disconnect.
The screen goes dark.
Silence settles over the office, broken only by the hum of the air and the faint, distant thrum of the casino beyond the walls.
I close the laptop slowly and lift my eyes to Adrian.
He is standing near the window again, hands relaxed at his sides, expression unreadable.
For a second, neither of us says anything.
Then I say, “Do you enjoy this?”
One dark brow lifts. “Enjoy what?”
“Turning every room into a problem.”
“I'm not turning anything into a problem. It's already a problem.” His gaze holds mine. “And I would rather have a plan.”
I should have a sharper answer for that.
I do not.
Which is irritating in itself.
I push back from the chair and stand. “You made me move in the middle of a meeting.”
“Yes.”
“You could have waited.”
“No.”
I stare at him.
He gives me nothing but the truth, stripped down to the bone and set in front of me like he expects me to deal with it.
I cross my arms. “You really don’t care whether this is inconvenient for me.”
His expression shifts, just slightly.
“That’s not true.”
I blink once, surprised despite myself.
He continues in the same even tone. “I care, but it ranks below your safety. I am sorry that your meeting was interrupted, but my priority was putting you where someone can’t line you up from outside.”
“It's a double-sided mirror,” I explain, trying to keep my patience. “The windows, I mean. You can't see in from outside.”
“I know,” he says calmly.
Anger spurts, but I fight to keep it down. “So, what? Making the move was for fun?”
