Margot POV
I kept the introduction short and professional, then went straight into the presentation.
Professor Cole had asked me not to stress, but there was no universe in which I was going to half-ass this.
The people in the front rows controlled our budget.
Some of them might one day decide whether my independent work ever gets funded.
I was grateful he’d given me the slot, and I intended to earn it.
The constant low-grade nausea from too many alphas in one sealed room burned off the second my hand closed around the microphone.
Adrenaline flooded everything else out.
My eyes found Rhett Vanderbilt in the first row without my permission.
He was already watching me. Only me.
When our gazes locked, he gave the smallest nod.
That single, quiet motion straightened my spine like a
