PROTECTORS OF THE NATION4 December 2014 – The Pierre Hotel, New York
Maria Diaz walked into her boss’ penthouse at The Pierre Hotel as she’d done every day for the past five years. The CEO of the Ange’el Foundation cleaned her sweaty palms on her blue pantsuit and tried to shake off the stress with a quick neck stretch.
“Gabriel? Sebastian?” she called out. “Gabriel?”
Maria always felt tiny as she walked across the large living room with twenty-three-foot-high ceilings. The light coming from the large windows flooded the room with the rays of a hopeful autumn sun. Sebastian had told her earlier in the morning that Gabriel was away, but things had changed significantly in the past few hours and her deep anxiety was making her grasp at straws. She desperately needed to speak to him.
“Gab
