The suite door had barely clicked shut behind them when the lobby erupted again—voices, a manager's velvet, security's bass. It took thirty seconds for the elevator to deliver the storm back to their floor.
A hard rap. Colin opened the door a hand's width.
Steven filled the gap, jaw bruised, pride more so. Two club guards hovered, performing neutrality.
“Sir—" one began.
“It's fine," Colin told him, voice steady. “We'll be brief." He stepped into the hall, closing most of the door behind him and leaving a slice of Elowen's face in the gap.
“Brief?" Steven said. “You think you can—"
“Mr. Ford," Colin cut in, the calm of a man taking a scalpel out of someone else's hand. “You laid hands on a woman who told you not to. I intervened. That's the beginning and end."
“Beginning," Steven ec
