Chapter 43 Gideon's Offer

The buzz of fluorescent lights hummed above her, sterile and unforgiving. Genevieve sat alone in her downtown office at Mercer Holdings, the skyline of Manhattan glowing like a thousand untouchable stars behind her. Her desk was a graveyard of half-drunk coffee cups, disorganized papers, and red-inked reports. She hadn’t left that room in twelve hours. She leaned forward, rubbing her temples, dark curls spilling over her cheeks. Her normally radiant brown skin now looked tired, like the city had drained every ounce of warmth from her. Her blouse clung to her damp back, the collar tight from long hours spent hunched over.