Rex understood Valentina's movement toward the door as a signal that the meeting had concluded, prompting him to stand and follow her. She opened it herself and walked out into the corridor, which was not the usual procedure, and Rex understood that she was going to continue something rather than end it.
She stopped when she saw Diana and Lily waiting near the corridor junction.
The reunion was brief and had the specific quality of something that didn't need to be long to be complete. Valentina held Lily's face in her hands for a moment and said something low enough that Rex couldn't hear it.
Diana was looked at with the evaluating pride of someone who had observed a person develop into their capabilities over many years.
"I need ten minutes with Elizabeth," Valentina said and looked at Rex. "Would you mind?"
"Of course not," Rex said.
