Silence filled the room like a held breath.
Shark leaned against the counter, arms crossed, eyes never leaving Adrian. Not hostile. Not curious. Just… present. Like he'd already measured the distance between bones.
Adrian stood straight, shoulders squared, posture immaculate. He didn't fidget. Didn't offer explanations. He understood one thing clearly:
This man did not care about titles.
Nyra moved between them, casual, grounded, pouring herself water like this wasn't a collision of worlds.
"You want a drink?" she asked Adrian.
"No," Shark answered for him.
Nyra shot him a look. "Didn't ask you."
A corner of Shark's mouth twitched. That was her. Still her.
"So," Shark said, eyes back on Adrian, "you bring my girl home."
Adrian didn't correct him.
"She works for ValeTech," Adrian said calmly. "She's an asset. One of our best."
Shark laughed once. Short. Dry. "Funny. You talk like you own things."
Nyra stepped in before the air tightened further. "Nobody owns me."
Both men looked at her.
That settled it.
Shark nodded slowly. "Good. Then we understand each other."
Adrian met his gaze. "I respect boundaries."
Shark smiled again. Still no warmth. "Respect is proven. Not said."
Another pause.
This one heavier.
Outside, a car passed too slowly. Someone laughed on the stairs. The Eastside listened even when it pretended not to.
Nyra felt it. The eyes. The awareness.
She turned to Adrian. "You're not staying long."
It wasn't a question.
"I wasn't planning to," he replied.
Good answer.
Shark pushed off the counter. "Then we good."
He stepped closer to Adrian not invading, just enough. "You take care of her at work."
Adrian didn't blink. "I do."
Shark's eyes sharpened. "No. You don't take care of her. You don't break her either."
The line landed.
Nyra exhaled slowly.
Shark turned to her then, voice softer. "You eating tonight?"
"Later," she said.
"Don't disappear."
"I won't."
That was trust.
At the door, Adrian paused. He glanced back once at Nyra, steady and unshaken in her world; at Shark, rooted like concrete.
He understood something then.
This wasn't a place he could dominate.
This was her territory.
The door shut behind him.
Nyra leaned back against the counter and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Shark watched her carefully.
"Don't let that man confuse you," he said.
She met his eyes. Calm. Certain. "He won't."
But outside, Adrian stood on the sidewalk longer than necessary, realizing the truth he couldn't outthink:
Power meant nothing where he wasn't fluent.
And Nyra was fluent everywhere.