I knew before he opened his mouth that I’d lost something.
Not my job. Not yet.
Something worse.
Ezra stood at the head of the boardroom table like a war general who’d just decided which soldier was worth saving and which one was expendable. His tie was loose. His jaw tight. The directors were still whispering from the emergency vote that almost ended me.
Almost.
He blocked my removal.
But the way he looked at me now? It wasn’t relief. It was ownership.
“You’re not suspended,” he said, voice flat. Controlled. The kind of calm that cuts deeper than shouting. “However, effective immediately, Nina will report directly to me. All communications reviewed. All decisions cleared through my office.”
The air shifted.
That wasn’t protection.
That was a leash.
My stomach dropped but I kept
