Page 200 of Taken Away

"Most of them."

Her stomach tightened.

Walter wasn't sold. Lockwood definitely wasn't sold. Bennett wasn't openly against it, but he wasn't exactly championing it either.

And Vanessa Mercer would be sitting across the table — a woman who understood this world in ways Aubrey still had to fight for.

The thought hit where Aubrey least wanted it.

Bennett studied her for a moment. "You okay?"

No.

Not remotely.

Anne was here. Mabel was dead. Vanessa was downstairs. And somehow, everyone expected Aubrey to make the final decision on the biggest expansion proposal Blackwood had seen in years.

"Absolutely not."

His smile returned. "There she is."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, gathered the proposal, and stood.

Together, they walked toward the conference room.

Voices drifted through the glass.

Everyone was waiting. All of them expecting answers.

Aubrey stopped outside the door and took one long breath. Then another.

"You'll be fine," Bennett said softly.

She turned to him. "That's not reassuring."

"It wasn't supposed to be."

One corner of his mouth lifted.

"It was honest."

Aubrey shook her head. Then she squared her shoulders, reached for the handle, and pushed the door open.

Downstairs, Anne Langford made her entrance.

Which was exactly what Anne Langford always did.

Savannah glanced up from the reception desk first.

Then Chloe.

Both women blinked.

Anne wore a white linen dress that somehow managed to look effortless and expensive at the same time. Gold hoops glinted beneath perfectly styled blonde hair, and oversized sunglasses rested atop her head.

At sixty-eight, Anne Langford still walked into a room like she expected it to notice. Most rooms did.

"Good morning, ladies."