Page 64 of The Silent Hour

She swore beneath her breath.

The air in the conference room felt thick, charged with impatience. I could taste the collective frustration, like metal on my tongue. I understood it. I felt it too, but frustration wasn’t proof.

“We have no evidence that Lila’s done anything for Cortez,” I explained, keeping my voice calm. “I’m not turning a routine boundary discussion into a full-blown interrogation just because her father tossed her name onto a prison defense table.”

Caleb’s pen hovered over his notepad, the click of its mechanism the only sound. “That’s... rational,” he admitted.

Knox pointed at him with a crooked grin. “See? Caleb likes it. Motion passes.”

“I did not vote,” Caleb protested, lowering his pen.

“You’re ruining this for me,” Knox teased. A reluctant laugh echoed around the mahogany table, cracking a sliver of the tension—but only a sliver.

Katerina folded her hands neatly in front of her, dark nails tapping. “There’s another consideration.”

All eyes shifted to her. “Yesterday, Lila’s behavior didn’t match someone bracing for her father to drop a bombshell in her lap.”

Serena leaned forward, brow furrowed. “Meaning?”

“If she’d entered this firm on Cortez’s orders, she’d have played it safe. If she’d known he planned to demand her placement on his defense, overtly seeking Ethan’s approval would’ve been wildly careless.” Katerina’s gaze swung to me, sharp as a scalpel. “What we’re seeing looks personal.”

My jaw clenched. That had been the goddamn problem this entire time. Eric, ever watchful, caught the shift in my posture. Of course, he did. He noticed everything.

“So we keep these issues separate until we have proof tying them together,” he stated, jotting a note on his tablet.

I forced my shoulders to relax. Lila wanting my attention didn’t prove she was working her father’s angle. Being Cortez’s daughter didn’t automatically mean she’d joined Marcelli Group because of him. And Cortez’s accusations weren’t gospel. I lived and died by evidence. I’d be damned if I abandoned that standard now just because coincidence made my skin crawl.

“We’ll audit everything we’re authorized to audit. Discreetly. Case files, internal communications, any client matters connected to Cortez—anything that falls outside her normal duties gets flagged.”

Caleb gave a curt nod. “Defined parameters reduce false positives.”

“Exactly.”

Serena tapped her pen against the glass tabletop. “Her personal communications?”

“Off-limits,” I replied. “Unless we establish a lawful basis to dig deeper.”

Rafa glanced up from his notes, eyebrows raised. “You’re remarkably lawyerly about someone who might’ve been living under our roof for two years.”

“I am a fucking lawyer,” I said evenly. “We’re not manufacturing guilt based on a surname handed to us,” I continued. “If there’s something there, we’ll find it.”

Eric was already sketching out next steps. “And if there isn’t?”

“Then there isn’t.”

Serena leaned back, pen still in hand. “What about assigning her to Cortez’s defense team?”

“No.” The word came out sharp and immediate.

“No matter what?” Serena pressed.

“No matter what.” I reclined in my chair, cracking the leather. “Even if she’s completely innocent, putting an associate on her own father’s federal criminal case is a conflict nightmare. Cortez doesn’t get to pick my lawyers.”

That decision had come easy. Every other corner of this situation felt like a labyrinth.

Serena’s eyes narrowed. “You’d actually keep her here besides that?”

“If she respects the boundary and our audit finds nothing—yes.” I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”