I answer on the fourth ring. "Victor."
"Luther," he says, with the measured warmth of a man who's already decided irritation would make him look less reasonable. "Thank you for taking the call. I know the last several days have been demanding on everyone involved."
I keep my hand flat on the desk. "What do you need?"
"I wanted to speak with you directly about the climate in the meetings. There've been moments where the conversation's become less productive than it could be, and I think, given your role, you may be better positioned than anyone to help stabilize that."
The word stabilize lands exactly where he intends it to.
I look down at the revised packet spread in front of me. Blake's already marked half of it with comments sharp enough that I heard his voice in every margin. He was right in all of them. "If this is about Blake, speak plainly."
A faint pause moves through the line. "Blake's obviously gifted. No one's questioning his intelligence or his value to the process."
"Good."
"But brilliance and meeting discipline aren't the same thing." Victor's voice stays even, careful, groomed into something he can defend later if he needs to. "His responses to Dorian have become increasingly personal. I understand there are sensitivities around Ember House and around Luca's history,but we can't build a partnership if every difficult question's treated as an act of aggression."
"Dorian cornered Luca in a hallway while the children were with him," I say. "He asked about survivor stories and donor response. That wasn't a difficult question. That was a boundary test."
"That's one interpretation."
"It's the one I'm using."
Victor exhales softly, as if disappointed by my unwillingness to help him make this easier. "Dorian asked about visibility. Perhaps the timing was poor. Perhaps he misjudged the setting. But the reaction from your household has elevated a communications issue into something far more adversarial. Blake's barely let him finish a sentence since."
"Blake doesn't owe politeness to a man who frightened his mate and children."
"Blake is your mate as well as your business partner, Luther. And he's legally married to your Omega. I understand the complexity when that many personal bonds share a boardroom table. But I'm asking for proportionality. You understand the value of that. You know what happens when a room's allowed to follow emotional impulse instead of strategy. The merger affects hundreds of employees, multiple development teams, future funding channels, and the long-term position of Keller Industries. Blake's letting one incident define the entire relationship."
"One incident," I repeat.
Victor doesn't take the warning in my tone. Or he hears it and chooses to continue anyway. "A poorly handled conversation, yes. Not a pattern of corporate misconduct. Not a legal breach. Not a reason to derail months of work."
I lean back slowly in my chair. The leather gives under my shoulders, but nothing in me relaxes. "You're making themistake of thinking the absence of a legal breach means the absence of a threat."
"I'm making the distinction between discomfort and harm."
The heat begins low in my spine. I keep my voice even because Luca's beyond the door with my daughter asleep against him, and I know exactly how far my scent can carry when I let anger have too much room. "You don't get to decide that for Luca."
"I'm not trying to decide anything for Luca. I'm trying to make sure the adults in the room can still have a necessary conversation." Victor's voice softens, and that softness is more calculated than his frustration. "Ember House is separate on paper. I understand that. But public perception doesn't honor the walls lawyers draw. Your family, your history, your recovery work, Blake's platform, Luca's sanctuary. To investors and partners, those things are already connected. Ignoring that reality doesn't protect anyone."
"Ember House isn't a brand asset."
"Of course not."
"Then stop speaking about it like one."
Another pause. Longer this time. "You've always understood legacy better than Blake does."
The room seems to narrow around that sentence.
Victor continues before I answer. "That's not an insult to him. Blake built something extraordinary, but he's reactive where you're measured. He hears any mention of visibility and assumes exploitation. He hears donor strategy and assumes someone's reaching for Luca with a knife. I understand why, given what your family's survived. But you and I both know leadership sometimes requires separating what feels threatening from what's actually useful."
There it is, dressed well enough to pass through a boardroom without leaving fingerprints.
"You want me to control his reaction."
"I want you to help him keep the meetings functional."
