“This—” Blair folds her arms, “—is a PR minefield waiting to blow.”

The boardroom is too cold. Too polished. And far too silent as the presentation slides fade to black on the wall-sized screen. Tension pulses under the glass tabletop like it's wired straight into the company’s foundation.

Reo stands at the head, jaw flexing, arms braced on the table. He doesn’t say a word at first. Not even when the senior rep from Artem Global Capital clears his throat and pushes forward a sleek silver folder.

“We’ve reviewed the quarterly performance,” the man says in a clipped British accent. “Numbers are... adequate. Expansion into Southeast Asia is solid. But...