ELI 'S POV
The door clicked shut behind Mark, leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake. I watched him go, feeling the shift in the air as soon as Chairman Armand entered the room. The atmosphere became suffocatingly heavy, as it always did when Armand was around. He had that effect—a presence that swallowed the room whole and left little space for anything else. And now, his attention was fixed squarely on me.
I shifted in my chair, leaning back slightly as I mentally prepared myself for whatever was coming. I could feel the tension coiling inside me, but I kept my face carefully neutral. Armand had a way of getting under my skin, but I had learned a long time ago how to keep that from showing.
He stood there for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he looked from the door Mark had just exited back to me. His expression was hard to read, as usual, but the way his jaw tightened ever so slightly was enough to tell me he was not pleased.
