"Yes, I have to…" Catherine's voice trailed off.
She didn't owe him an explanation. She could keep it simple. Vague. Distant.
But after a beat, she chose otherwise.
"I need to hear what he has to say," she said, meeting his eyes.
The meeting had to be professional. Strictly professional. Dorian Blackwood controlled the resources she needed: labs, funding, a full research team. She had only scratched the surface of her work. With the right facilities, she could finish what she had started.
And the Blackwood name could open doors that even the Prestons could not.
There was also the other matter.
He had expressed interest in marrying her.
She had no intention of accepting. But she needed to say it clearly, face to face. Draw a clean line. End that possibility properly, then see if they could work together without personal entanglements.
It was fortunate she made him believe that she had no memory of the past.
That made things… simpler.
"Why?" Maximilian asked.
