The city was still asleep.
Nyra stood on the balcony barefoot, hoodie pulled tight, cigarette glowing softly against the dark. Zurich before sunrise felt unreal too clean, too calm, like it didn't know what chaos was yet.
She exhaled.
Smoke drifted upward, carrying last night with it.
Adrian's voice.
His eyes in the lounge.
The way he said we're leaving like it was instinct, not authority.
She scoffed quietly.
Men with power always confuse control with care.
The cigarette burned down slowly as she leaned on the railing. Somewhere far below, a tram hummed to life. Morning was creeping in whether she was ready or not.
She thought of the Eastside.
Of cracked sidewalks and loud mornings. Of Shark's voice cutting through the smoke, telling her not to get soft, not to forget where she came from. He would've laughed if she told him a CEO thought he could manage her nights.
That man wouldn't last five minutes where I'm from, she thought.
Yet… she couldn't deny it.
Adrian Vale wasn't like the rest.
That annoyed her.
She pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, thinking. She wasn't angry. She wasn't flattered either. She was alert.
Because obsession was dangerous.
On the streets, it got people killed.
In boardrooms, it ruined careers.
Either way, she wasn't planning on being collateral damage.
Behind her, the balcony door slid open quietly.
Nyra didn't turn.
"You shouldn't smoke this early," Adrian's voice said, low, restrained.
She smiled to herself.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked.
Silence.
She finally turned, eyes sharp, calm, unreadable.
"Relax," she said. "I'm not running. I'm just thinking."
He nodded once, hands in his pockets. No suit this time. Just a shirt, sleeves rolled, guard slightly down.
That made him more dangerous.
"I crossed a line last night," he said.
She tilted her head. "You noticed."
"I won't let it affect work," he continued quickly. Strategy again. Control. "This project matters."
Nyra stubbed out the cigarette slowly.
"So do I," she said simply.
He met her gaze.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The first hint of sunrise broke over the city, light spilling across glass and steel.
Nyra stepped past him toward the door.
"Good," she added over her shoulder. "Then we understand each other."
She went inside, leaving Adrian on the balcony with the morning and the truth he hadn't said out loud.
She was not a distraction.
She was a reckoning.