When Ace Kane returned to stand beside Lora Hale, he wore a warm, almost gentle smile—an expression that contrasted sharply with the electricity still crackling in the office after the chaos he had just diffused.
He leaned slightly toward Lora, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
“Lora, I just rewarded Luther Ladd with a car. You don’t mind, right?”
She blinked, then answered naturally, “Why would I mind? You paid for those cars. The final decision is yours.”
She paused—then reconsidered her own reply. It felt too stiff, too businesslike, almost as if she might be distancing herself.
So she corrected herself softly:
“And honestly… Luther deserved it. I’ve wanted to reward him myself before. But that accounting software he patched—that was originally something Zachary Hawke pus
