The door clicked shut behind Adrian.
Silence settled over the office like fresh snow... soft, complete, absolute.
Catherine remained standing, her eyes fixed on the closed door, expression unreadable.
Then slowly her lips curved.
Not relief. Not satisfaction alone.
Something sharper.
Her smile was as if she'd just trapped someone exactly the way she wanted to.
Then, she turned without hurry, each step measured and controlled, and walked back to her chair closer to Victoria... the one she'd been sitting in before Adrian had entered.
Catherine settled into the seat with fluid grace, crossing one leg over the other, posture relaxed in a way that shouldn't be possible after what had just happened.
The tension that had filled the room moments ago... the cold precision, the surgical devastation... melted away like it had never existed.
She leaned back slightly, that small smile still playing at the corners of her mouth.
Satisfied.
Almost... pleased.
