The conference room fell quiet after Noah finished speaking—his voice cracking on the last sentence. Aarush had never heard him sound like that.
Not on TV.
Not at the gala.
Not even last night when he’d been shaking in his arms.
This was different.
This was raw
Aarush forced himself to stay calm, even though something fierce and protective curled tight in his chest.
“Thank you for trusting me,” Aarush said softly, turning fully toward him. “Now let me do what I’m good at.”
Noah blinked at him, eyes glossy. “Fixing everything?”
“No,” Aarush replied, voice low. “Protecting you.”
He stood and walked around the table, placing the stack of documents gently in front of Noah.
“First, the photo.” He tapped the printed image—grainy, blurry, and taken from too far a distance to show eithe
