By Tuesday morning, Leo had discovered that knowing Samuel Bennett's secret was a terrible thing for his self-control.

He had spent most of Monday night telling himself he would behave normally.

At 9:03 a.m., Sam walked into the Mercer conference room carrying coffee, his laptop, and the expression of a man already prepared to argue.

Leo immediately abandoned that plan.

Sam took his usual seat.

Across from him.

"Morning," Sam said.

Leo looked at the cup in his hand.

"Oat milk?"

Sam stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

"Are you monitoring my breakfast now?"

"Just wondering."

"You don't wonder. You investigate."

Mason looked up from his laptop.

Leo ignored him.

Sam sat down.

"Should I be worried?"

"Constantly."

"Good. Back to normal."

The meeting began.

Daniel Mercer wanted a final joint proposal by Friday, which meant Callahan Capital and Halcyon Ridge were now being forced into the financial equivalent of sharing a lifeboat while arguing about who had drilled the hole in it.

Sam presented first.

Leo barely listened to the opening two slides.

Instead, he watched.

He had always watched Sam, but now he noticed different things.

The slight movement of Sam's left thumb when he was calculating something.

The way he pressed his tongue briefly against the inside of his cheek when irritated.

The silver coin appearing between his fingers whenever Daniel Mercer asked a difficult question.

These were no longer random details.

Leo knew the man behind them.

Or at least he knew Sparrow.

And that knowledge made Sam dangerously transparent.

"Leo?"

Sam's voice cut through his thoughts.

Leo blinked once.

"What?"

Sam's mouth curved.

"Would you like me to repeat the question?"

"No."

"What was it?"

Mason lowered his eyes.

Leo turned toward the projection screen.

"You're proposing that Callahan underwrite the first tranche while Halcyon takes the downside protection."

Sam's smile disappeared.

Correct.

Of course.

Leo hadn't been listening, but he'd read the slide in less than three seconds.

Annoying bastard.

"Then your answer?" Sam asked.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not running a charity."

"I've seen your fee structure. I'm aware."

Daniel Mercer sighed.

"Can we please survive one meeting without the two of you trying to kill each other?"

Sam looked at Leo.

"Probably not."

Leo leaned back.

"Definitely not."

---

Two hours later, Sam stood beside the conference room windows reviewing a financing schedule.

Everyone else had gone for coffee.

Leo remained.

Sam felt him before he saw him.

A presence behind his right shoulder.

Too close.

Sam's back immediately stiffened.

Leo leaned slightly over him to look at the document.

"Page six."

Sam didn't move.

"What about it?"

"Your covenant threshold."

"It's intentional."

"It's aggressive."

"So am I."

Leo's voice came closer.

"I noticed."

Sam turned.

That was a mistake.

Leo was directly behind him.

Maybe twelve inches away.

Possibly less.

Sam's brain, usually excellent with numbers, temporarily stopped measuring.

Leo's eyes dropped briefly to Sam's mouth.

Then returned to his eyes.

Sam took one step backward.

Leo noticed that too.

"Problem, Bennett?"

"No."

"Good."

Leo reached past him and tapped the document.

"Change the threshold."

Sam stared at him.

"No."

Leo's mouth almost smiled.

"There's the man I recognize."

He walked away.

Sam remained beside the window.

His pulse had no professional reason to be doing that.

Absolutely none.

---

That night, Sam called North before North could call him.

"He did it on purpose."

Leo was sitting in his home office.

He knew immediately.

"Who?"

"Don't pretend you don't know."

"Callahan."

"Obviously."

Leo turned his chair toward the window.

"What did the demon do today?"

"He stood behind me."

Leo waited.

"And?"

"Too close."

"Define too close."

"Why?"

"For scientific accuracy."

"North."

"I'm listening."

"He was practically breathing down my neck."

Leo smiled.

That was an exaggeration.

Mostly.

"Maybe the room was crowded."

"It wasn't."

"Maybe he needed to see the document."

"He owns reading glasses."

"Does he?"

"I assume billionaires have access to optical care."

Leo laughed.

Sam went quiet.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No. What?"

"You sound different when you laugh."

Leo's smile faded.

"How?"

"Less terrifying."

"You've never seen me terrifying."

"I can hear it."

Leo leaned back.

"Continue your story."

Sam groaned.

"He knew."

"Knew what?"

"That it bothered me."

"How?"

"I don't like people standing behind me."

Leo already knew that.

Sparrow had told North three weeks earlier that physical proximity made him uncomfortable when he couldn't see the other person.

Leo had remembered.

And today, he'd used it.

The amusement drained out of him.

Suddenly it didn't feel quite as harmless.

Sam continued.

"He looked at me like he was waiting for a reaction."

"Maybe he likes watching you lose your composure."

Silence.

Leo knew he'd chosen the wrong sentence the moment he said it.

Sam's voice changed.

"You think?"

"Possibly."

"Why?"

"Because you spend half your day trying to make him lose his."

"That's business."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"Completely?"

Another pause.

Sam sighed.

"I hate him."

Leo stared at the dark city.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

Too fast again.

Leo's mouth curved.

"Convincing."

"Whose side are you on?"

"Apparently his."

"Traitor."

They fell silent.

The teasing should have continued.

Instead, Sam's voice softened.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Do you trust people easily?"

Leo almost laughed.

"No."

"Neither do I."

"I noticed."

"How?"

"You talk to someone you've never met every night because it's safer than talking to someone you have."

The words landed harder than Leo intended.

Sam didn't answer immediately.

"That's unfair."

"Is it wrong?"

"No."

Leo waited.

Sam exhaled.

"My father trusted everybody."

It was the first time he'd offered anything substantial about his family.

"He thought people were basically decent. He kept giving them second chances."

"What happened?"

"They kept proving him wrong."

Leo said nothing.

"He lost money. Friends. Eventually my mother got tired of cleaning up the mess."

"I'm sorry."

"He died six years ago."

Leo's hand tightened around the phone.

Sam continued before Leo could respond.

"The coin was his."

"The Kennedy half dollar."

"Yeah."

Leo looked down.

He had no right to know this as Leo.

That realization felt different now.

Ugly.

Sam had given North something private because North was supposed to be safe.

And Leo had been carrying that knowledge into conference rooms.

"Sam—"

He stopped.

Silence.

Leo's blood went cold.

"What did you say?"

Sam's voice was suddenly alert.

Leo recovered instantly.

"I said, Sparrow."

"No. You didn't."

"I did."

A beat.

Then another.

Sam laughed uneasily.

"I'm more tired than I thought."

Leo closed his eyes.

"Probably."

The danger passed.

Barely.

Several minutes later, Sam spoke again.

"Promise me something."

Leo knew he wouldn't like it.

"What?"

"Don't ever lie to me."

The room became very still.

Sam continued.

"This only works because I don't know who you are. I know that sounds insane, but somehow that makes honesty more important."

Leo stared at his reflection in the window.

He could tell him now.

He could end it.

Instead, he asked, "And if the truth is complicated?"

"Complicated isn't the same as dishonest."

Leo said nothing.

"North?"

"I'm here."

"Promise."

Leo's throat tightened.

"I'll try never to give you a reason not to trust me."

Sam laughed softly.

"That is the most lawyer answer I've ever heard from someone who claims not to be a lawyer."

But Leo wasn't smiling.

Because for the first time since discovering Sparrow's identity, the secret no longer felt like leverage.

It felt like debt.

And sooner or later, Sam was going to collect.