The Blackthorn delegation arrived at precisely two o'clock the following day. I watched from my office window as three black SUVs pulled into the reserved spaces below. My heartbeat quickened traitorously, a reaction I despised but couldn't control.
I had chosen my armor carefully—a crimson power suit that emphasized the strength I'd built in his absence, my hair swept up to reveal the delicate curve of my neck where his mark had once been, now concealed beneath expertly applied cosmetics. The scar had faded, just as I'd forced the memory of his teeth breaking my skin to fade.
"They're in the conference room," Sarah announced, her voice tinged with curiosity. Like most of the staff, she sensed something significant about today's meeting beyond business implications.
"Let them wait," I r
