Page 157 of Say My Name

“You don’t have my team.”

A few people around the table smile. Elena doesn’t.

She taps one section of the packet. “We need to normalize executive compensation, separate project revenue from recurring engagements, and test the client concentration under the corrected retention assumptions. Three days is enough for an initial model.”

“Take three,” I say. “If you need five, tell me before the end of the second.”

“I won’t.”

The words are clipped, absolute. Against my will, I almost smile.

That is the Elena I know. She’s competent enough to make certainty attractive and stubborn enough to treat an extra forty-eight hours as a personal insult.

She lowers her eyes, but the tension doesn’t leave her shoulders.

I want to ask if she’s sleeping. Whether she’s eating anything besides the yogurt I saw on her desk yesterday. Whether she’s opened the notes app where I once found every admission she couldn’t make aloud.

Those questions no longer belong to me.

I turn back to the associate. “Elena’s team will handle the first-pass analysis. Keep the project code in place until the intermediary has authorization to release the target’s identity. Limit the current materials to the people in this room and the analysts Elena assigns.”

The associate nods. “Do you want to join the identity-release call if they approve it?”

“No. I’m booked through Thursday, and there’s no reason to add another executive to a preliminary call. Elena can represent finance and report back through the normal diligence process.”

Elena’s pen stops.

I wait for her to object. She doesn’t.

“Any issue with that?” I ask.

“No.”

The answer is smooth, but a flicker of strain tightens the skin around her eyes.

I can’t tell whether being assigned the call worries her or whether every direct question from me feels personal now. I have no information that justifies pushing beyond the answer she gave.

“Good,” I say. “Proceed with the model.”

The meeting ends twenty minutes later.

Elena gathers her papers while murmuring instructions to two members of her team. She gives each of them an assignment, clarifies what they can share, and tells the associate exactly which source data she needs by noon.

When the others leave, she remains near the conference-room door, sliding the packet into her portfolio.

I keep the length of the table between us.

“Elena.”

She turns. “Yes?”

“Do you have a concern about taking the analysis?”

“No.”

“You seemed tense during the presentation.”

Her grip tightens on the portfolio.