"Good thing our girl here isn't weak." Paige, a statuesque brunette I met earlier, joins us. She stretches her endless legs out, radiating practiced ease. "Honey, you've got nothing to worry about. The way Samuil looks at you? That's worth more than any social graces."
I catch Sam's eye across the room. For a heartbeat, his mask slips and I see my Sam---the one who proposed under the stars, who touches me like I'm precious.
Then Josef asks about profit margins, and the ice slides back into place.
"It's strange to see him like this," I murmur, more to myself than to my two new friends. "So... in his element."
"You can't deny that it gets results, though," Annika says, swirling her champagne. "People love him or fear him, no in between. The stories I've heard about what happened to the l
