Arianne's hand rested near the open file. Her fingers at the edge, not pressing. Her focus had moved. No longer on the past. No longer on Dominic. On what came next.
Franz stood beside her. Close enough that the space between them didn't matter.
Across from them, Nate and Julian stayed where they were. Gilbert stood at the head of the table. Silent. Waiting.
The room held.
Then Arianne spoke.
"This started with me."
Calm. No hesitation. Just fact.
"I'm the point of entry." A pause. "I'll handle it."
She had known, coming into this room, that the conversation would get here. She had been thinking about it while they traced the shell, laid out the dates. The shape of what needed to happen had been clear to her before anyone else said it. The cleanest solution was the one she would manage herself. Contained. Bounded. No one else exposed.
She had spent five years learning to move through the world alone. She was better at that than she was at anything else.
