The Bloodline She Burned novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Lobby

"A review," Gabriel said, reading the screen over her shoulder. "On a wire your father signed for."

"He's stalling until Friday," Roz said. "No fee, no entry."

"Then we go and get it."

"In the lobby?"

"You said you wanted him public."

She had.

In the van on the way downtown, she stared at the gray towers and gripped the strap on the door.

Nina sat in the back with the phone on speaker, already dialing the family lawyer.

"One rule," Gabriel said, eyes on the road. "Before we walk in."

"Go on."

"Players and staff don't touch each other off the server. I've seen what happens to teams that do. Somebody always ends up crying in a parked car."

"You mean no one gets in the way of winning."

"I mean no touching," he said. "Say yes."

Roz turned her head and looked at the side of his face.

He had shaved that morning, and she noticed it.

"Yes," she said.

The Ellsworth Holdings tower had a lobby with a forty-foot ceiling and a marble floor so polished it reflected the light.

A hundred employees crossed it every minute with badges clipped to their belts.

On the wall behind the security desk hung a huge screen playing Crown highlights on a loop.

Dane's face was on it, grinning.

Roz walked straight across the floor to the desk.

"Rosalind Ellsworth for Conrad Ellsworth," she said.

The guard looked at her coat. "He's not available."

"Then I'll wait."

She turned around, stepped onto the center of the marble and raised her voice.

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