THE REJECTED FOURFOLD LUNA: FATED TO TWO ALPHA TWINS

Chapter 13—Professional Boundaries

Celeste's POV

I took his hand and shook it.

"The pleasure is mine," I said, keeping my voice even and professional. "Welcome to Mercer and Vale. I hope the journey over was straightforward."

"It was, thank you." His grip was firm but not forceful, the kind that said he was confident without needing to prove it.

Amaris looked between us once with the satisfied expression of someone who set a meeting up and watched it go exactly as planned.

"I'll leave you both to it then." She moved toward the door, pulled it firmly shut behind her and then it was just the two of us.

The room felt different without her in it, more focused somehow, which was in its own way a compliment to how much of a presence Amaris carried without trying.

"Please, sit." I gestured to the chair across from my desk and moved back around to my side.

"Thank you." Torren settled into the seat with the ease of someone entirely comfortable sitting in offices that were not his own.

I pulled up the Carter portfolio, settled into my chair and got to work.

This was just business. That was all it needed to be and all I was going to let it be.

I took a second to look at him properly while I pulled up the account files on my screen.

Vaelina was not wrong. Tall, broad, well put together. The kind of person who looked good in a passport photo and somehow even better in real life.

I noted it, filed it somewhere under observations that did not require action and moved on.

"So." I turned my screen slightly toward him. "Let's start with the portfolio overview. I reviewed the preliminary files Amaris sent over and I have some questions about the account structure, specifically around the cross-territory holdings."

"Of course." He leaned forward slightly, attentive in a way that said he was not going to need to be asked anything twice. "Go ahead."

We worked through it steadily. Torren was sharp, answered everything directly and never wasted time circling around a point before making it.

I appreciated that immediately. There was nothing worse than a client contact who could not give you a straight answer.

He also asked good questions, the kind that told you immediately that the person asking actually understood the numbers in front of them and was not just nodding along waiting to leave.

About twenty minutes in, he glanced at a note on his phone and said, "One thing worth mentioning. Aiden and Jayden occasionally like to come in person. Check on their accounts directly. It does not happen often but it is something you should know."

I kept my expression completely neutral and professional.

I practiced neutral for years and I was not about to stop now.

On the inside something tightened in my chest with absolutely nothing to do with professional concern and everything to do with the fact that I was not ready to be in the same room as those two men.

Not here. Not in a place that was mine, that I built from a decision I made for myself two weeks into a new life.

"How often are we talking?" I asked, keeping my voice at the same level I used when I was asking about quarterly projections.

"Not frequently." He shook his head. "Once every one, two, maybe three months at most.

I carry the majority of the workload so there is rarely a need for them to come in person. When they do come it is brief, in and out. More of a check-in than anything that takes real time."

I let that settle.

Once every one to three months. That was manageable.

That was a meeting I could prepare for, a date I could see on the calendar in advance and be ready for. It was not something I would need to brace against every time I walked into the office.

I could work with that.

I was good at working with things I did not like when I understood the boundaries of them.

"That works fine," I said, and I meant it more than I expected to.

Torren nodded once. "Good. Then we have no issue there."

We moved on and I put the thought of the Carter twins back where I kept it, out of sight and entirely not worth unpacking while I was sitting at my desk in the middle of a working day with a client in front of me.

By the time we wrapped up the full account overview the hour was almost gone.

Torren checked his watch, a clean and efficient movement, and pushed back from the chair like a man who always knew exactly when he needed to leave.

"I have to get going." He straightened his jacket and picked up the folder. "The Alphas have something on their end that needs my attention this afternoon. But I am satisfied with where we are and I will be in touch with the next steps before end of week."

"Sounds good." I stood and walked him toward the office door. "I will have the preliminary report drafted and sent across to you before Friday. Everything we discussed will be in there with my recommendations attached."

"Perfect." He took the folder and tucked it under his arm. "You run a tight operation, Miss Celeste. I can see exactly why Amaris assigned you to this account."

I smiled. "I try." I picked up the file he left on the corner of my desk that needed signing and initialled the bottom section.

He smiled back and I opened the office door and we stepped out into the corridor together.

It was easy, the whole thing. Professionally easy in a way I genuinely did not expect from an introduction tied to names that made my chest tighten.

That was something at least. One thing I could cross off the list of things I was quietly dreading about this account.

"It was nice having you around," I said, and I meant it in the straightforward professional way it was intended.

Torren glanced back at me over his shoulder.

"You too."

He raised a hand in a brief easy wave and walked off down the corridor.