The woman who walked into the boardroom moved like she owned gravity itself, not fighting it, but bending it to her will with each measured step. Elena watched from her position near the windows, Lidia's carrier at her feet, as the stranger commanded attention without saying a word.

Slate gray suit, perfectly tailored. Hair the color of expensive cognac swept into a chignon that somehow managed to look both severe and sensual. Cheekbones sharp enough to cut contracts, and eyes that catalogued ...