The document case Damian had left in the hallway contained his counter-proposal to the merger offer — not a refusal, not a counter-demand, but a thoughtful, detailed response that accepted the broad terms and proposed modifications to three specific clauses. His lawyers had clearly worked on it carefully. So had he — she could see his handwriting in the margins, the kind of notes a person makes when they're working something out honestly rather than tactically.
She read it twice. She gave it to Kane. He read it once and looked up.
"He's not fighting it," Kane said.
"No."
"He's trying to make it work."
"Yes." She took it back. "His proposed modifications are reasonable. Two of them are actually improvements." She looked at the handwritten margin note on page four — Lila should have ful
