Chapter 2

My phone started buzzing at 7:01 a.m. It was Ethan. I ignored it. It buzzed again. And again. By the tenth call, I picked up.

"What the hell did you do?" he shouted, his voice cracking with panic.

"Good morning to you, too," I said, looking out the window at the rising sun.

"Mark Strahan just sent me an email. He's pausing the AmeriCorp deal. He cited 'technical leadership changes.' That was you. That had to be you!"

"I have no idea what you' re talking about," I said, my voice flat.

"Don't lie to me, Kat! You're the only one he'd listen to. You called him, didn't you? You're sabotaging your own company!"

"Our company," I corrected him. "And my project. The one you handed over to a twenty-four-year-old intern without so much as a conversation with me."

"I am the CEO! I make the decisions!" he yelled. "Chloe is brilliant. You're just being territorial and hormonal."

There it was again. Hormonal.

"Is that so?" I said. "Well, it seems our nine-figure client is also feeling a bit 'hormonal' about the change. Maybe you and your brilliant new lead should get on a call and convince them otherwise."

"Kat, fix this," he said, his voice dropping to a desperate plea. "Call Mark. Tell him you were mistaken. Tell him you have full confidence in the new leadership."

"No," I said.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. You made your decision, Ethan. Now you get to live with it. I have to go, Leo is waking up."

I hung up before he could respond. I blocked his number.

I spent the rest of the morning with my son. I fed him, I changed him, I held him against my chest and breathed in his scent. I felt a strange sense of peace. The world outside my quiet home was in chaos of Ethan's making, and for the first time in a long time, I felt in control.

My phone buzzed with a text from my father.

Dad: "Mark Strahan called me. Said you flagged an issue at Nexus. Everything alright?"

Me: "Just handling some internal restructuring. Nothing I can't manage."

Dad: "Good girl. Let me know if you need air support."

I smiled. Air support. That's what he called it when he brought the full weight of Vance Capital down on someone.

Me: "Not yet. But keep the engines warm."