Adrian's POV
The boardroom had never felt smaller.
Twenty faces stared at me from around the long mahogany table. Some were curious. Some were hungry. A few, very few, looked like they wanted to be anywhere else. My grandfather sat at the head, his face carved from granite, his eyes saying I told you to fix this without a single word.
Alexandra was beside me.
Her hand was on my arm, light but present. A reminder. We're a unit. We're not crumbling. She had changed into a severe black blazer before we left the estate, her hair pulled back, her face a mask of calm that I knew was costing her everything.
She looked like a queen walking into a room full of assassins.
I loved her for it.
I hated that she had to be here at all.
"Thank you all for coming," I said, my voice steady despite the jackhammer in my chest. "I know this meeting was called under....unusual circumstances."
