Ryan looked at her. He saw the genuine, raw panic. She had signed up for a software startup, not a shadow war.
"Iralis," Ryan said, his voice a low, steady rumble in the quiet apartment. "Look at me."
She slowly raised her head.
"If this is too far for you," Ryan stated, his pitch-black eyes locking onto hers with absolute sincerity, "you tell me right now. I will cut a severance check tomorrow morning that ensures you never have to write another line of code for the rest of your life. You can walk away from the board, and nobody will stop you."
The offer hung in the air. A clean, golden parachute out of the warzone.
Iralis stared at him.
The silence stretched, filled only by the faint ticking of a wall clock in the kitchen.
She tightened her grip on the glass. The trembling in her shoulders slowly ceased.
"I didn't say I wanted to leave," Iralis said, her voice dropping into a quiet, fierce register.
Ryan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Then why did you call me?"
