The door opened twenty minutes later and Damien walked in carrying breakfast from her favorite place....he'd started doing that three days ago, figuring out the one thing the hospital genuinely couldn't offer and providing it every morning with the quiet consistency she'd come to rely on.
He stopped when he read the room.
His eyes went from her face to Alexander's, and whatever he saw there made him set the food down slowly on the table.
"What's happening?" he said.
"Alexander has a proposal," Aria said. "I think you should hear it."
Alexander repeated it. Singapore, the estate, the security infrastructure, the timeline. He was concise and clear and presented it the way he presented everything....like a business case, all logic, no visible emotion. Damien stood by the table and listened without interrupting, which Aria recognised as him exercising considerable restraint.
When Alexander finished, the room was silent for five seconds.
"No," Damien said.
