BEFORE YOU

of operations, Marcus Webb's counterpart on her ow

iligence on our manufacturing partners before Cross Capital will release the sec

to be me s

tional operations," he said. "That's you, Elena. Three days

ection when her phone buzzed with a text tha

me due diligence window. Coordinating logistics now

actly what "someone" meant, and composed three different responses before settling

end log

ble professional distance from. Daniel himself boarded twenty minutes after she settled into her business-class seat, offering an apologetic smile as h

how it must look. "Marcus insisted the lead partner needed to handle manufacturing due dilige

ckled grip on her coffee cup suggested otherw

intimacy of eight hours trapped together in close proximity until turbulence somewhere over the Atlantic jolted the cabin hard

gh burned, though the warmth of his skin under her

Daniel said quiet

lines of exhaustion around his eyes that hadn't been there six years ago, the particular stillness he carried now that felt different f

he said, before she

iel admitted. "Haven't, f

y n

gave up everything to build never actually filled the space I thought it would. I kept

warring against the unwelcome, undeniable pull of genuine vulnerability from a man she

me to do with that," she sai

we're apparently going to be spending considerable time together over the next few months, that I'm

all, unexpected moments of genuine connection breaking through a shared joke during a tedious compliance presentation, Daniel remembering, unprompt

lity inspections, Elena found herself walking alone through the hotel's courtyard garden, pr

ass of wine he wasn't really drinking, staring up at a sky con

g onto the bench beside him with more ea

ng here, with you it's bringing up things I

e wh

e, necessarily, though I won't pretend that isn't part of it. Just this. Talking to someone who

e admission landing somewhere dangerously close to t

onfession surprising even herself. "More t

ething cautiously hopeful crossing his

not ready for whatever you're about to say. I don't know if I'll ever be ready for it. But I'm not prete

uinely, Elena. That's more than I expecte

ng between them, both acutely aware that whatever careful professional distance they'd promised each other was growing more

f Cha