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onaire's C
ot
Adrian C
onference room. Forty people sat around the
hecked the figu
was the worst part. He dropped her report onto the table as if it were something dirty. "T
ir seats. Someone near the b
face still. She had been trained for this by years of foster homes, cheap apartments, and
it by mor
s winter glass. "And Miss Reyes? If you can't handle this job, there are
actually b
s, s
smis
eady hands and walked out. She d
ding without cameras. Amara pushed through the door, let it close behin
let hers
ree months of this. Every meeting, every email, every hallway. Of all the analysts in Cole
I ever d
no money for lunch until payday. She pulled her knees up and breathed u
paper bag was waiting
, a bottle of water, and a small sl
ne was typing, heads down, avoiding h
d, though Delia had never spoken to her. She a
the floor. If she had looked up, she might have noticed that his reflection was watching her. Th
didn't
rected report. Not one figure had chan
it. He kne
he night guard and the hum of the lights. She stepped out through the
Amara
sto
than her yearly rent, hands folded in front of him. He wasn't a reporter. He wasn't a debt
's as
met." His voice softened. "Miss Reyes, I need you to list
mmered. "I do
as been looking for you
eet went
hadn't said aloud since she was five years old, standing on the steps
t funny," s
he car door. "Your family name is Hartwell
d frozen at the glass wall, watching the black car below.
whispered. "She wasn't s
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