The car ride back from the shareholders’ conference was steeped in silence.
Tracy sat with her hands folded tightly in her lap, her nails pressing crescents into her skin. She could still hear the echo of her own words ringing in her head—They call him ruthless, but I see determination. They call him cold, but I’ve seen him protect what matters to him, fiercely.
She hadn’t rehearsed it. It had spilled out, raw and unfiltered, as if the truth had forced its way past her fear. And judging from the way the reporters had gasped, she had given them exactly the kind of headline they craved.
But what lingered most wasn’t the flashing lights or the murmur of approval. It was the fleeting look in Alex’s eyes when she spoke—the way his hand had loosened around hers, the faintest flicker of someth
