ELENA
Two days later I walked into his office after six with a thin folder in my hand and no real excuse that would hold up under pressure.
The floor was quiet. Most of the lights were already off. His assistant’s desk sat empty. I didn’t knock. I just pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Julian looked up from his laptop. Whatever he had been about to say died the second he saw me.
“Elena.”
“What…”
“I brought the contracts Dad asked about.”
He closed the laptop slowly. “Your father could have emailed them.”
“I know.”
I set the folder on the edge of his desk and stayed standing. He rose from his chair like the movement cost him something.
The door was still open behind me. He walked past, shut it, and locked it without a word.
The sound of the lock turned the air thicker.
“Y
