SELENE’S POV
I was still at my desk when the message arrived in the evening. I had been reviewing the Tokyo partnership terms, making margin notes in the shorthand Clara had learned to decode, when my personal phone lit up beside the acquisition file.
The number was known to fewer than eight people in the world.
I looked at the screen and it was a message from ADRIAN LAURENT.
I sat very still for a moment, then I picked up the phone and read it. We need to meet.
The words were perfectly clear but I read them over and over again, till I noticed I’ve done that more than a healthy times.
Adrian Laurent did not send imprecise messages. Every word in that sentence had been chosen and placed deliberately, which meant every word carried exactly the weight he intended it to carry.
Not as
