Halston.” Gavin’s voice had climbed half a step.

“Before we go any further, I want it on the record that this man’s dismissal has nothing to do with anything he could tell you about this company.”

Three seconds.

She adjusted the other side of her collar.

“Mr.

Mercer,” she said, “I haven’t asked him a single question.”

The espresso machine hummed through the wall, that low note it makes when the office has gone quiet and the day has gone wrong.

She laid one hand flat on the folder.