Viya's POV
"It's going pretty—"
When Julian almost answered honestly out of reflex. I cut in smoothly. "Pretty slowly, actually. We're still finding our way through it."
Julian caught on immediately that this was sensitive and nodded with an easy smile. "Right. We're still trying to figure out how to give Blackwood Industries a satisfactory update."
"Really?"
Alpha Shaw coughed—a wet, rattling sound that made him look particularly frail. His face was drawn, aged.
"But didn't I hear that you're already preparing for a launch event? If that's the case and things aren't going well, I imagine Blackwood won't let you off lightly."
His tone carried what seemed like genuine concern.
I'd never considered myself particularly good at reading people, so I didn't let my guard
