~ Gideon ~
“Is she actually that quiet, or is she just terrified of you?”
Adrian’s voice cut through the hum of the server banks in my private office. I didn't look up from the tablet in my hand. We were on the sixty-fourth floor of Helix Tower, and the city of Ravenport stretched out behind me in a grid of cold, electric blue. My focus remained on the quarterly projection for our logistics merger—a project that required precision, not gossip.
“She’s reserved,” I said. My voice was even, the tone I used for board meetings where the outcome was already decided. “It’s one of the reasons the contract works. She doesn't feel the need to fill every silence with noise.”
Adrian let out a short, sharp laugh and leaned back in the leather guest chair. He was my closest friend, which usually m
