Page 43 of No Boss
Her fingers curled at her sides.
She kept her face pleasant. “You wanted to see me?”
“I did.” He inclined his head toward the chair. “Sit.”
“I’m comfortable standing, thank you.”
A pause. Brief, but deliberate.
“Sit. Down.” His voice remained low.
She felt it.
She stayed standing anyway. “I have the morning counts after this. Standing is faster.”
She sounded completely cooperative. She meant to sound completely cooperative.
His jaw tightened. Just slightly.
She noticed. And, despite herself, felt a small, unprofessional flicker of satisfaction.
“The sale of this property will proceed. The next buyer gets full cooperation from this estate. Complete access. No complications. No interference.”
“Of course.” She nodded.
He watched her. “I mean that.”
“I understood you the first time.”
“Then why does it feel like you’re agreeing in a way that means the opposite?”
She offered her most practiced smile. The one used for difficult devotees, stubborn artisans, and contractors convinced they knew better. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
He stepped closer.
His cologne reached her first. Cedar, clean, controlled, distracting.
She registered it.
She resented that she did.
Her smile stayed in place. Her breathing didn’t.
“Three buyers. Four months.” He stopped close enough that she had to lift her chin to meet his eyes. “Ghost stories. A protest. Legal complications from records you sent. You set it all in motion.”
“I did my job.”
“Your job is not to decide what happens to this property.”
“My job is to manage this Haveli. Managing it means protecting it.”
“What it needs,” he said quietly, “is what I decide.”
“Respectfully.” She meant it to sound respectful. It came out respectful the way the edge of a blade is respectful. “You have been here one day.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Your father was born here. Your grandfather too. Generations before them. This Haveli held your family for four hundred years before Dubai ever did.” Her voice did not waver. “I won’t pretend a cheque carries the same claim simply because you want this done quickly.”
