Page 32 of Mile High Ruin

Another argument.

Another opportunity to watch her struggle to maintain that calm professional expression while I deliberately make it difficult.

I want to know what she looks like when she laughs without trying to hide it.

I want to know whether she’s always that reckless when someone wounds her pride.

I want to know who she goes home to.

That thought changes something in me.

I close the contract. Sorin looks relieved, assuming the meeting is finally moving toward resolution.

It is. Just not the resolution he wants.

“The offer is withdrawn.”

All three men stare at me.

Sorin blinks. “What?”

“You heard me.”

He sits forward. “Vadim, there is no reason to make this personal.”

“It is not personal.”

“We have been negotiating for six months.”

“And during those six months, you were given terms far more generous than anyone else would have received.”

“We can accept the original percentage.”

“No.”

His face pales slightly. “You just said the terms remained unchanged.”

“They did.”

“And now?”

“Now they no longer exist.”

Marek lowers his head. I suspect he’s hiding a smile.

Sorin looks genuinely stunned. “You cannot pull access this late.”

“I can.”

“We already committed resources, Pakhan.”

“That was premature.”

“We have contracts dependent on those terminals.”

“You should have considered that before attempting to renegotiate an agreement you needed more than I did.”

The younger man speaks again. “This affects hundreds of people.”