The Apex Global pitch had been on Elena's calendar for months, planned long before Dominic Cross's name had ever entered her life, and she refused to let it get swallowed by everything else happening around her. Vance Enterprises needed the win, and she needed something in her professional life that still felt like it belonged entirely to her.
She hadn't expected competition to walk in looking like Dorian Thorne.
"Elena Hayes," he said, extending a hand in the Apex lobby with the easy confidence of a man who'd never once doubted a room would like him. "I've heard a great deal. Some of it was even complimentary."
"Dorian Thorne," she said, recognizing the name instantly — Thorne Capital had been circling Vance Enterprises' territory for over a year, always just outside striking distance.
