"Let me get this straight, Gianna…"
Arthur's voice over the phone was anything but pleased. It carried that clipped, polished edge he used in boardrooms and hostile interviews alike.
"You want me to give up my one chance of staying over the Whitmans in the jewellery industry? Is it because he is a friend of your friends too? Do you not care for your life, or the company's image?"
Gianna pulled the phone slightly away from her ear and looked at Athena quizzically, brows knitting.
Athena, perched comfortably nearby, gave her a slow, exaggerated thumbs-up, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Gianna rolled her eyes, exhaled through her nose, and brought the phone back to her ear, before responding to Arthur Beckett.
"Arthur," she said evenly, though there was steel beneath the softness, "Zane is innocent. The accident was set up to look like he did it—to deliberately dampen his reputation."
