The pressure he carried reached them before he did. The air around him bent the way it bent around Vespera when she walked into a room, and it did not ease once he arrived. Broad-shouldered. Silver at the temples. Expensive coat belted at the waist. He had chaired rooms with every head of intelligence in the country, and the ground beneath him seemed to settle the fact of his authority before his boot even touched it.
The girls, to their collective credit, did not reach for their weapons. They did, however, all track him at once.
The Chairman stopped in front of Kaiden, and the corner of his mouth tugged dry.
"Just as tight-lipped as his mother. And somehow even more troublesome. You should be studied."
Kaiden's mouth tugged at the corner.
"You've wanted to study me quite a bit already, Chairman."
The Chairman raised one silver brow.
