Claire's POV
The Seine contract was awarded at two-seventeen p.m. on Thursday.
I know the exact time because I was in the council chamber when it happened — sitting to Alexandre's left at the long table, my title on the name card in front of me, the formal record of the meeting that would show, for anyone who looked, that the head of stakeholder relations for the Laurent Group Seine project had been present at the moment the vote was called.
Professional credit. Separated from the personal connection.
Exactly as required.
The vote was not close. Eight to two — Fontaine-Blanc voting yes with the decisive energy of a man who had made a decision and was not interested in revisiting it. The two dissenting votes were board members who had been in Victor Renard's orbit for years and whose d
