I recounted the night’s events with clinical precision, leaving nothing out. He listened intently, his expression never giving away anything.
“And the woman?” father finally asked. I knew he’d bring her up. Nothing went unnoticed by him. “Lena, was it? Why was she there?”
My jaw clenched, but I met his gaze without flinching. “She’s valuable.”
“Valuable enough to bring her into something so sensitive?”
“If I say she is, then she is.”
Father leaned back in his chair, the leather creaking under his weight as he regarded me with cold, calculating eyes. “Valuable?” he said slowly, his tone carrying a note of arrogance. “But valuable to whom? To you? Or to this family?”
“To both,” I replied, keeping my voice calm, though the tension between us was palpable. “She has a rare talent, and I
