The number settled into the air between them, and Mike let it sit there for a moment because it deserved the moment and also because he was watching her.
She was watching him back.
'HOLY FUCKING SHIT...!!! THIS AIN'T A DREAM, IS IT?!' Mike screams in his thoughts. 'She's giving me much, and that... I could use it with a lot of things that I wanted!'
He closed the case himself, carefully, and rested one hand on top of it. "That's a significant number," he said.
"Tyler is a significant person," she replied.
"He is," Mike agreed.
And then, because the moment called for it and he had been reading the room since he walked in, he said, "But I want to be honest with you..."
"Money is necessary. It's not always sufficient." He said it evenly, without pressure, letting it be the simple observation it was shaped to appear.
Aveline tilted her head. "Meaning?"
