"Objectively," he added quickly. "This is not a matter of opinion. I'm fairly certain several people there are about to become dangerously annoying about it."
I swallowed hard around something nervous and awkward and warm all at once. The fundraiser was worse the momentwe entered. Light fractured across towering glass walls and polished marble, too bright and too sharp, while conversations folded into one another until the room became a single mass of noise pressing insistently against my skull. Somewhere behind the crowd, a string quartet played something elegant and forgettable. Perfume lingered heavily in the air. Laughter erupted too loudly from every direction.
I regretted coming almost immediately.
Bramwell seemed to notice before I said anything at all. He stayed beside me as we moved through the room, close enough to ground me without touching me.
"You can leave whenever you want," he said quietly as someone brushed past us with a champagne tray.
I nodded at Bramwell, but the moment I lifted my eyes again, I saw Ellis.
The sound in the room dropped away beneath the rush in my ears. He stood a few feet away, this time beside a man in a dark suit rather than anyone from the field teams. The man looked like someone from administration or civic coordination. He was listening to something being said to him when Ellis’s attention shifted. His gaze found mine with unsettling ease. My chest tightened so sharply it almost stole my breath.
For a moment, none of us moved. Ellis glanced briefly toward Bramwell, then back to me, his expression unreadable. I broke eye contact first.
The man beside Ellis followed the exchange with an easy, curious look before stepping forward with a practiced smile.
"Thorne," he said warmly, shaking his hand. "I was starting to think you avoided these things."
"I do, Simmens" Bramwell replied without hesitation.
The man laughed, then turned slightly, still relaxed, still unaware of the current under everything. Ellis stayed quiet beside him. The man’s attention landed on me and brightened at once.
"And you finally brought your girlfriend."
Heat rose instantly in my face. I went still, waiting for correction.
Bramwell simply shook his hand again. "This is April."
The man accepted it easily, then looked back at me with open friendliness. "Well, it is very nice to meet you. You are absolutely gorgeous."
My lips parted slightly before closing again. Compliments still felt unfamiliar, like being handed something delicate when I had no idea how to carry it properly. I managed a small smile that probably looked more uncertain than polite.
Beside him, Ellis finally spoke.
"Bramwell."
Bramwell turned slightly, expression unchanged. "Ellis."
A brief pause passed between them, sharp enough to be noticeable but too restrained to be anything anyone could question.
Ellis gave a small nod, then turned to me and smiled. "Good evening, April."
I managed a small smile in return, without fully meeting his eyes. Bramwell stepped in at once, his voice smooth and deliberate.
"I heard your foundation finally secured the northern basin contract."
Mr Simmens immediately launched into an enthusiastic explanation, and something tight in my chest eased. Bramwell didn’t look at me while he shifted the conversation, didn’t draw attention to the fact that he was doing it. But I felt the way he made space for me anyway, quietly pulling the moment away from where it had started to press too hard.
A few minutes later another man approached the group, older and broad-shouldered, his face lighting immediately with recognition the second he saw Bramwell.
"Thorne," he said. "I heard you were consulting out west now." Bramwell's posture shifted subtly into something more professional.
"Professor Delaney."
"You disappear for five years and suddenly everyone in geology is quoting your papers."
"I'd prefer they stop."
