POV: Olivia

She made me wait...

This was deliberate, I knew it was deliberate because I know Sofia, know the specific grammar of her power moves, the way she uses timing as a tool the way other people use words or money or physical presence. She had called and I had answered before the second ring and she had heard the readiness in my voice and she had made me wait anyway, six full seconds of open line with the connection sound between us and nothing else, because even now, even in this, she needed to establish that she was the one controlling the pace. Six seconds is not a...