The board meeting started at eight sharp.
I knew because Damien had been awake since five. Not anxiously. Just awake in the way he was awake before things that mattered, quietly present in the dark, thinking through what needed to be thought through before the day made its own demands.
I made coffee at six and brought it to him in the study without being asked.
He looked up when I set it beside him.
He said: you did not have to.
I said: I know.
He looked at the cup for a moment.
Then he said: I have been thinking about what Sinclair will do if the board moves against him today.
I said: what do you think he will do.
He said: men like Sinclair do not accept outcomes quietly. He will have something prepared. Something designed to complicate whatever decision the board makes.
I said:
