Damon's POV
The conference room on the top floor of Voss Group reeked of leather and bad faith. At the far end of the table sat a merger dispute worth several hundred billion, and the lawyer across from me was dressing up a clumsy lawsuit threat in language dense enough to choke a bull.
I rolled my pen between my fingers, half listening. He was already losing, and we both knew it.
Then my phone buzzed against the edge of the table.
Kate: Do you have time today? I have a design contract I'd love you to look at.
The room went quiet in a way that had nothing to do with the lawyer's monologue. The shuffle of paper, the hum of the air conditioning, the empty threats. All of it dropped away.
My first reaction wasn't strategy. It wasn't anything as dignified as professional judgment.
It wa
