I don’t have to say a word. We both know I wouldn’t have.
Lochlan leans forward slightly. “TheWall Street Journalpiece was interesting, too. The one about your management style. ‘Demanding but fair.’ High turnover in your first two years, then almost none. People either couldn’t handle you or they stayed forever.”
“Is there a point to all of this?” I ask.
“Just researching.” He looks at my hands. “You do that when you’re nervous.”
I freeze, eyes dropping to my hand. My fingers are twisted around my grandmother’s ring. I didn’t even realize it.
“I’m not nervous.” I pull my hands apart and set them on either side of the contract.
“Then you were thinking hard about something.” He shrugs. “Either way. It’s a tell.”
No one notices that. No one hasevernoticed that.
“You’re observant,” I say. It comes out sharp but he doesn’t get ruffled at all. He just smiles.
“Occupational hazard. I run a security firm.”
“Independent of your father’s business?” I ask.
“Completely,” he says.
“And yet, here you are, doing exactly what he wants.” I lift an eyebrow, expecting some flip response.
But instead, his jaw tightens. “I’m not here for him.”
I file that away. Tension with Eamon. Could be useful. Or it could just be him trying to gain my trust.
“Fourth term,” I continue, tapping my pen against the table. “I want full transparency on any threats to my family. The Russians or anyone else. If there’s intel, I hear it. Not filtered through your father. I want it directly from you.”
“That might be harder to guarantee.”
“I don’t care. Guarantee it anyway.”
He holds my gaze for a long minute. Something passes between us, and my heart jumps as those blue eyes make the hairs on the back of my neck prickle.
“I’ll do what I can,” he says finally. “But my father doesn’t share information freely. Even with family.”
“Especially with family, from what I’ve seen.”
He grins. “You’re a quick study.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
The door opens. Jayne, my assistant, walks in with a tray of coffees. She does a double take when she sees Lochlan, and I bite back a smile. Of course she would. I’m sure he gets reactions like that all the time.
The interruption breaks the tension, and I use the moment to breathe and recalibrate.
This isn’t what I expected. He isn’t what I expected.
I thought I’d be facing down a Molloy enforcer. Some cold-eyed thug in an expensive suit, throwing his weight around and making demands. I had my defenses ready for that.
But Lochlan isn’t pushing. He’s listening. Agreeing. Making jokes that almost make me smile. Looking at me like I’m a person he wants to get to know, not a transaction.
It’s disorienting as hell.
Jayne leaves. Lochlan stares at the tray for a long minute then looks at me.
