The legal team occupied the entire twentieth floor of the Kingston Building in Victoria Island. Glass, steel, and the kind of silence that comes from people billing eight hundred dollars an hour.

Kemi led us through security—retinal scanners, badge access, guards who looked like they'd retired from military special operations. The elevator ride was smooth enough that I couldn't feel us moving, just the floor numbers climbing.

"They're going to test you," Elijah said, eyes on his phone. "Ask questions designed to find inconsistencies. See if you actually understand the evidence or if you're just reading from a script."

"I spent three years analyzing these types of transactions. I know the material."

"Good. Because Marcus Chen, the lead prosecutor we're working with, will assume you're a liability until you prove otherwise." He pocketed his phone. "He doesn't know about the contract. No one does except Kemi. To everyone else, you're my wife who happens to be a brilliant analyst."

"What if someone asks how we met?"

"Tell them the truth. You discovered irregularities, brought them to my attention, we worked together. They'll assume the romance part without you having to sell it."

The elevator opened. A conference room stretched before us, dominated by a table that could seat twenty. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of Lagos Harbor. Five people were already seated, laptops open, documents spread.

They looked up as we entered. I felt the assessment happen in real time—eyes cataloging my suit, my posture, the ring now on my left hand.

"Everyone," Elijah said, hand settling on my lower back. "This is my wife, Eniola. She's the analyst who uncovered the Westbridge transactions we've been building the case around."

A man in his fifties stood. Chinese-American, expensive suit, eyes like a shark. "Marcus Chen, federal prosecutor on temporary assignment. Mrs. Kingston." He didn't offer his hand. "I understand you were recently terminated from Westbridge."

"Three days ago." I pulled out a chair, sat without waiting for permission. "After six months of them telling me to ignore what I was finding."

"Which was?"

"A laundering operation moving approximately 2.3 billion naira through shell companies registered in Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Caymans. The money originated from construction contracts in the Niger Delta, got washed through fake consulting fees, then reappeared as legitimate investments in Lagos real estate."

I pulled up my laptop, connected to the screen at the head of the table. "The pattern was obvious once you looked. Every month, Westbridge would process payments to companies that existed only on paper. No employees, no office space, no actual services rendered."

The spreadsheet appeared on the main screen. Color-coded, annotated, showing the flow of money across eighteen months.

"I flagged it in my first report. Management told me it was administrative delays. By the third report, they told me to stop digging. When I documented the pattern anyway, they fired me."

Marcus studied the screen. "And you went to the police instead of selling this to a competitor."

"I went to the police because it's evidence of crimes." I met his eyes. "Not because I wanted revenge, though I won't pretend I'm not angry. But mostly because letting this continue would make me complicit."

"Noble." His tone suggested he didn't believe in nobility. "Or calculated. You knew Mr. Kingston would be interested in this information, given his father's partners are implicated."

"I didn't know who was implicated when I went to the police. I knew the shell companies connected to entities doing business with Kingston subsidiaries, but I didn't know the human targets until Mr. Kingston's attorney explained it."

"Convenient timing. You report his enemies, he offers you protection."

"He offered me a choice." I leaned back. "I could stay exposed and hope the police protected me better than they usually protect witnesses against billionaires. Or I could accept security while helping build a case. I chose survival."

"And marriage?" A woman spoke—forty-ish, Nigerian, immaculate in navy. Her nameplate read *Yetunde Makinde, General Counsel.* "That's quite fast."

"We work well together." I glanced at Elijah, who'd been watching the exchange with that unreadable expression. "Turns out spending every night reviewing evidence of corporate crimes is a bonding experience."

"Six weeks from meeting to marriage." Yetunde's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Some might call that impulsive."

"Some might call it decisive." Elijah's voice cut across the room. "I'm thirty-four. I've dated enough to know when someone is worth keeping. Eniola is brilliant, principled, and understands the stakes of what we're facing. That's more than I can say for most people in my life."

Marcus made a note on his tablet. "Mrs. Kingston, walk me through how you identified the shell companies."

For the next hour, I did exactly that. Pulled up transaction records. Explained the patterns. Showed how payments would go out to Company A, which would immediately transfer to Company B, which would wire to Company C, until the money was so laundered you'd need a forensic team to trace it back.

Which is exactly what they had. And what I'd already done.

"The linchpin is here." I highlighted a series of transactions. "This company—Delta Consulting Partners—exists on paper but has no digital footprint beyond incorporation documents. No website, no LinkedIn employees, no office lease. Yet it received forty-seven million naira in consulting fees over six months."

"Who owns it?" Marcus asked.

"Three layers down? A holding company controlled by one of Alexander Kingston's former partners. James Okonkwo." I pulled up the corporate registration. "Same pattern for the other shell companies. All of them eventually trace back to the same group of men."

"The same men currently allied with Thomas Kingston." Elijah stood, walked to the window. "The same men trying to take my company."

Marcus studied the documents. "This is solid. Financial forensics will take months to build the complete case, but you've done eighty percent of the work already."

"I had three years to study their patterns." I closed my laptop. "They weren't as careful as they thought. Money leaves trails. You just have to know what to look for."

"And you can testify to all of this? Under oath, under cross-examination?"

"Yes."

"Even knowing that defense attorneys will try to destroy your credibility? They'll say you're bitter about being fired. That you're in collusion with your husband to eliminate his business rivals."

"Let them say it." I kept my voice level. "The evidence doesn't care about my motivations. The shell companies exist. The transactions happened. The money trail is documented. My personal feelings don't change the facts."

Marcus actually smiled. Small, but real. "You might actually be useful, Mrs. Kingston."

"High praise," Elijah said dryly. "Should we frame that?"

The meeting continued for another hour. Details about testimony schedules, protective orders, media strategy. By the time we finished, my head ached from concentration and Lagos traffic below had descended into rush-hour chaos.

"One more thing," Yetunde said as people packed up. "The board dinner is Friday. You'll both need to attend. Thomas will be there, along with the partners we're investigating."

"So a room full of people who want us to fail." Elijah helped me gather my materials. "Sounds delightful."

"It's necessary." Yetunde's expression was serious. "They need to see you as a united front. A stable couple. If they sense this marriage is a strategic move rather than a genuine relationship, they'll use it against you."

"Then we'll give them a performance." I slid my laptop into its bag. "I've been playing roles my entire career. 'Competent analyst who doesn't threaten male egos.' 'Grateful employee who works twice as hard for half the credit.' I can handle 'devoted wife.'"

Something flickered in Elijah's eyes. "We should practice."

"Practice what?"

"Being married. In public." He checked his watch. "We have three days before the dinner. That's not much time to build chemistry that looks authentic."

Marcus gathered his things. "He's right. You two look like business associates, not newlyweds. If you can't sell this to a room full of executives who've known Elijah his entire life, the marriage won't protect either of you."

After everyone left, Kemi pulled me aside. "He's not wrong. Victoria and the board will be looking for cracks. Any sign this is transactional."

"It is transactional."

"Yes, but they can't know that." She lowered her voice. "Which means you need to look at him like he's more than a contract. You need to touch him like it's natural. Laugh at his jokes. Defend him when someone criticizes. All the things real couples do without thinking."

"We barely know each other."

"Then get to know each other. Fast." She headed for the elevator. "You have seventy-two hours to become convincing. I suggest you use them."

---

The SUV ride back to the penthouse was quiet. Elijah scrolled through emails. I watched Lagos stream past—vendors closing up shop, buses packed with exhausted workers, the endless negotiation of survival.

"You did well today," he said finally. "Marcus is notoriously difficult to impress."

"He's right to be skeptical. I'm a massive liability."

"You're a massive asset who happens to also be a liability." He pocketed his phone. "There's a difference."

"Is there?" I turned to face him. "They're going to dig into everything. My bank accounts, my employment history, every relationship I've ever had. When they find out I have nothing—no family connections, no pedigree, no reason for someone like you to marry me—what then?"

"Then we tell them the truth. That I fell for your mind, not your résumé." He met my eyes. "People believe what makes sense to them. A lonely billionaire falling for a brilliant woman who challenged him? That's a story they understand. It fits their narrative about successful men wanting intellectual equals."

"I'm not your equal."

"In terms of money? No. In terms of intelligence and courage?" He tilted his head. "You reported billionaires to the police knowing it could get you killed. I call that courage. You memorized eighteen months of financial transactions and can recite them under pressure. I call that intelligence. Don't sell yourself short, Eniola."

The compliment caught me off guard. I looked away. "Kemi says we need to practice being married."

"She's right. We're not convincing yet."

"How do we fix that?"

"Spend time together. Learn each other's habits. Build the kind of familiarity that can't be faked." He leaned back. "Starting tonight. We're having dinner. Not a business meal. An actual conversation."

"About what?"

"Everything you'd know about your husband if this were real." He pulled out his phone, typed something. "Grace is making reservations. Somewhere quiet, no business associates. Just us."

"A date."

"Research," he corrected. "For the performance."

But when we arrived at the restaurant two hours later—a rooftop place in Ikoyi with string lights and a view of the harbor—it felt dangerously close to real.

Elijah held my chair. Ordered wine without asking what I wanted but somehow chose exactly what I would have picked. Made conversation about everything except work.

"Where did you grow up?" he asked.

"Surulere. Small apartment, loud neighbors, not enough space." I sipped the wine. "You?"

"Boston. Big house, quiet neighbors, too much space." He smiled slightly. "We're predictable inversions of each other."

"Poverty and wealth. The classic romance."

"Is that what this is?" He leaned forward. "Romance?"

"No. It's a transaction that requires us to look romantic."

"Then we should establish parameters. What's acceptable in public?"

I thought about it. "Hand-holding. Maybe a kiss on the cheek. Nothing that makes me feel like I'm being sold."

"Agreed. And in private?"

"Separate rooms. Separate lives. This is a contract, not a relationship."

"Until the heir requirement."

The clinical phrase landed between us like a stone. "Until then."

The waiter brought food. We ate, and somehow the conversation became easier. He told me about Harvard, about building the business, about his father's impossible standards. I told him about university, about my first job, about realizing competence wasn't enough in a world that valued connections over credentials.

"Your father," I said carefully. "What was he like?"

Elijah's expression shuttered. "Demanding. Brilliant. Impossible to please." He paused. "And possibly still alive."

I nearly dropped my fork. "What?"

"Nothing was recovered. No body, no wreckage beyond scattered debris. The investigation concluded mechanical failure, but..." He trailed off. "My father didn't make mistakes. And he had too many enemies for a convenient accident."

"You think someone killed him."

"I think the timing was convenient for my uncle. And I think my father would have had contingencies." He met my eyes. "But without proof, it's just paranoia."

"Or pattern recognition."

"Same skill that made you a good analyst."

We left the restaurant near midnight. The city had quieted to its nighttime rhythm—generators humming, security guards at their posts, the occasional burst of laughter from bars.

In the SUV, Elijah's phone rang. He glanced at it, frowned. "I need to take this."

He answered. Listened. His expression went cold.

"When?" Pause. "How bad?" Another pause. "I'll handle it."

He hung up. Leaned forward to the driver. "Change of plans. We're going to Westbridge."

"Now?" I checked the time. "It's almost one a.m."

"Someone just broke into their offices. Set fire to the records room." He looked at me. "The room where your evidence was stored."

My stomach dropped. "They're destroying the paper trail."

"They're trying to. But they don't know you already gave copies to the police. And they don't know you have a photographic memory." He squeezed my hand—the first spontaneous touch between us. "This just became war, Eniola. Are you ready?"

I thought about the men who'd fired me. Who thought burning documents would erase their crimes. Who'd underestimated a woman with nothing left to lose.

"I've been ready since they walked me out with security watching."

He smiled then. Sharp and dangerous. "Good. Let's go watch them panic."

As we sped through Lagos toward the burning building, I realized something had shifted. This wasn't just a contract anymore. Somewhere between the police station and the legal team meeting and this quiet dinner, I'd stopped being just his strategic asset.

I'd become his partner in something real.

And God help anyone who got in our way.

The Westbridge building was a beacon of chaos when we arrived. Fire trucks blocked Victoria Island Road, their lights painting everything red and blue. Water arced from hoses into shattered windows on the fourth floor, steam rising where it hit flames.

Elijah's driver stopped as close as the police barricade allowed. We got out into air thick with smoke and burnt paper—the smell of destroyed evidence.

"Stay behind me," Elijah said.

"It's my evidence burning."

"Exactly. Which makes you a target if whoever set this fire is still watching."

A fair point. I stayed close as he approached the police line, flashing some kind of credential that got us through. An inspector met us near the building entrance—older man, tired eyes, shirt soaked with sweat despite the night air.

"Mr. Kingston. Didn't expect you here."

"Westbridge contracts with several of my subsidiaries. I have an interest in what happened." Elijah gestured to me. "This is my wife, Eniola. She's a former analyst here."

The inspector's eyes sharpened. "Former as of when?"

"Three days ago."

"Interesting timing." He pulled out a notepad. "The fire started in the records room. Fourth floor, southeast corner. Someone bypassed security, used an accelerant, and was gone before the smoke alarms triggered."

"Professional," Elijah said.

"Very. No cameras caught anything useful—the system went down twenty minutes before the fire started. Came back up ten minutes after." The inspector looked at me. "What kind of records did Westbridge keep up there?"

"Physical backups of transaction reports. Audit trails. Anything that needed to be preserved for regulatory purposes." I watched another window shatter from the heat. "Seven years of financial documentation."

"Someone wanted that documentation very badly." The inspector made a note. "We'll investigate, but without witnesses or camera footage..." He trailed off meaningfully.

"I understand." Elijah pulled out his phone. "I'll have my security team send over anything our cameras caught. We have offices across the street."

After the inspector left, I stared at the building. Smoke still poured from broken windows. Everything I'd documented, every paper trail I'd carefully preserved—gone.

"They think they've won," I said quietly.

"They think they've removed the evidence." Elijah's hand found the small of my back. "They don't know the evidence is standing right here."

A black Mercedes pulled up behind the fire trucks. A man emerged—fifties, silver hair, expensive suit despite the hour. He moved through the chaos like he owned it, security detail flanking him.

Elijah's entire body went rigid. "Thomas."

His uncle. The man trying to steal his company.

Thomas spotted us. His face arranged itself into concern, but his eyes stayed calculating. "Elijah. What a terrible coincidence, finding you here."

"Coincidences don't exist in our world, Uncle."

"No, I suppose they don't." Thomas's gaze shifted to me. "And you must be the mysterious wife. Congratulations on your marriage. So sudden, I didn't even receive an invitation."

"It was intimate. Immediate family only." Elijah's voice could have frozen steel.

"How unfortunate. I would have loved to meet the woman who finally convinced you to settle down." Thomas stepped closer, studying me like I was an acquisition he was considering. "Eniola Adeyemi, correct? Analyst at Westbridge until recently."

"That's right."

"Such timing. You leave, and days later their records burn." He smiled. "One might think there's a connection."

"One might think a lot of things," I said. "None of them would be correct."

"Hmm." He turned back to Elijah. "The board is concerned, nephew. A hasty marriage to a woman from... uncertain background. Erratic behavior. Some are questioning your judgment."

"Some are questioning their own futures once the forensic accountants finish their work."

Thomas's smile hardened. "Careful, Elijah. Accusations require proof. And proof, as we can see—" he gestured to the burning building "—has a tendency to disappear."

"Physical proof, perhaps." Elijah pulled me closer. "But my wife has a remarkable memory. Photographic, actually. Every transaction she ever reviewed is still right here." He tapped his temple, then mine. "You can burn buildings, Uncle. You can't burn what she carries in her head."

Something dark flickered across Thomas's face. "How... convenient. Though judges tend to prefer documents to memories. People forget. Or remember incorrectly. Or get confused under pressure."

"Are you threatening my wife?"

"I'm stating facts about the legal system." Thomas straightened his cufflinks. "See you both at the board dinner Friday. I'm sure it will be... illuminating."

He walked away, security following. But one of his men looked back—a hard stare that lasted two seconds too long to be casual.

"We need to leave," Elijah said. "Now."

In the SUV, neither of us spoke until we were blocks away. Then Elijah made a call.

"Kemi. Thomas just threatened Eniola at the Westbridge fire. I need security doubled on the penthouse immediately." Pause. "Yes, I know it's two a.m. I don't care. And pull the footage from our building—I want to know if anyone was watching Westbridge before the fire started."

He hung up. Looked at me. "You're not going anywhere alone until this is over."

"I can't live in a cage."

"You can't testify if you're dead." His hand found mine, gripped it hard. "They just showed their hand, Eniola. This isn't corporate maneuvering anymore. This is them trying to erase you."

My phone buzzed. Unknown number. I almost ignored it.

Then it buzzed again. And again.

I answered. "Hello?"

Breathing. Then a voice, distorted through a modifier: "You should have stayed quiet."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone. Elijah took it, checked the number, his expression darkening. "Burner phone. Untraceable."

"They know where I am."

"They know you're with me. That's different." He leaned forward to the driver. "Take the long route. Make sure we're not followed."

The SUV made sudden turns through Lagos streets I didn't recognize. Twenty minutes of doubling back, switching routes, ensuring no one was tracking us.

When we finally reached the penthouse, security had tripled. New guards, new protocols, new scanners at every entrance.

Elijah walked me to my suite. Checked the rooms personally. Windows, locks, the small balcony I'd never used.

"I'm putting a guard outside your door," he said.

"That's excessive."

"You just got a death threat after watching evidence burn. I'm not sure what would qualify as excessive at this point." He stood in the doorway, reluctant to leave. "You should try to sleep."

"Right. Because that's happening."

"Fair point." He checked his watch. "It's almost three. We have the security review at seven, then media training at nine. The stylist arrives at two for the board dinner prep."

"Sounds delightful."

"Welcome to being a Kingston." He started to leave, then stopped. "Eniola. What you said to Thomas—that was well done. You didn't back down."

"I'm not very good at backing down."

"I've noticed." Almost a smile. "It's one of your better qualities."

After he left, I stood at the window. Looked out at Lagos, at the distant glow where Westbridge was probably still smoldering.

Someone had tried to erase me tonight. Burned the evidence, made threats, sent a message.

They thought I'd break. Run. Disappear.

They didn't know that the girl who'd walked into that police station three days ago had nothing left to lose. And the woman standing here now had something even more dangerous than evidence.

She had a billionaire husband with unlimited resources and a very personal grudge.

My phone lit up. Text from Elijah: *Guard is posted. Press the panic button by the bed if you need anything.*

I looked at the device mounted on the nightstand. Sleek, black, probably connected to enough security to invade a small country.

Then another text: *And Eniola? Thank you for not running.*

I stared at those words. He'd expected me to bolt. To decide this wasn't worth my life.

Maybe I should have.

Instead, I texted back: *I don't run. I finish what I start.*

Three dots appeared. Then: *Good. So do I.*

I turned off the lights but didn't get into bed. Just stood at the window, watching the city, making mental calculations.

Thomas had made his move. The fire, the threat, the intimidation.

Now it was our turn.

And I had seventy-two hours before I'd face him across a dinner table, smile on my face, diamond ring on my finger, ready to prove that burning evidence was meaningless when the witness had perfect recall.

They wanted war?

Mrs. Kingston was about to give them one.

The stylist's name was Chinwe, and she looked at me like I was a renovation project with a tight deadline.

"Hmm." She circled me slowly, lips pursed. "Good bone structure. Decent skin. But we're working with..." She gestured vaguely at my entire existence. "Limited time."

"Encouraging," I said.

"I work with reality, not flattery." She pulled out her tablet, started making notes. "The board dinner is in—" she checked her watch "—thirty-seven hours. That's enough time to make you presentable but not enough for miracles."

Elijah looked up from his laptop at the other end of the suite. "She needs to look like she belongs at that table, not like she wandered in from a job interview."

"I'm aware of the assignment, Mr. Kingston." Chinwe didn't even glance at him. "Mrs. Kingston, stand straight. Arms out."

I obeyed. She took measurements with practiced efficiency, calling out numbers to her assistant.

"Your build is athletic. We'll use that—structured pieces, clean lines. Nothing too soft or romantic. You're not selling ingénue, you're selling equal partnership."

"I'm not selling anything."

"You're selling everything." She met my eyes. "That dinner? Every woman there will be cataloging your clothes, your jewelry, your posture. Judging whether you deserve to sit at that table. My job is to make sure they see someone who earned her place, not someone who got lucky."

She pulled out fabric swatches. "We'll do emerald. It works with your complexion and sends a message—wealth, confidence, stability. Not black, which reads desperate to blend in. Not red, which reads desperate for attention."

"What if I like black?"

"You can like whatever you want after you survive Friday." She made another note. "Hair needs work. Nails are acceptable but uninspired. We'll do something understated—you're the wife, not the mistress."

I glanced at Elijah. He'd gone back to his laptop, but I caught the slight twitch of his mouth. Amusement.

"Jewelry," Chinwe continued. "What did Mr. Kingston give you?"

"A wedding band."

She looked at my hand. Plain platinum. Elegant but simple. Her expression said volumes.

"That won't do. You need something that photographs well. Something that makes the other wives feel inadequate." She turned to Elijah. "The Kingston collection. Where is it?"

"New York. My mother has access."

"Get her to overnight something. Emeralds if possible. Diamonds as backup." Chinwe snapped her fingers at her assistant. "And someone needs to teach her how to walk in heels without looking like she's navigating a minefield."

"I can walk in heels."

"Can you walk in five-inch Louboutins while carrying on a conversation with someone trying to destroy your credibility?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's a different skill set."

---

For the next six hours, I was measured, photographed, draped in fabric, and lectured on the politics of appearance. Chinwe was relentless.

"Posture is status. Slouching reads as apology. You're Mrs. Kingston now—you apologize for nothing."

"Smile with your eyes closed and you look weak. Keep them open and engaged. You're not afraid of being seen."

"When another wife tries to insult you—and they will—you don't defend. You simply look confused, as if the comment was so beneath notice you couldn't possibly understand its intent."

By the time she left, my head ached and I had three dresses to choose from, all of them costing more than my previous monthly salary.

Grace brought lunch. Elijah joined me, loosening his tie as he sat.

"How was it?" he asked.

"I've been to friendlier interrogations."

"Chinwe's the best. If she says you're ready, you're ready." He picked up his sandwich. "The jewelry arrives tomorrow. My mother's sending options."

"Your mother hates me."

"Victoria doesn't hate you. She doesn't know you well enough to hate you." He took a bite. "She hates what you represent—loss of control over my choices. She'll adjust."

"Will she?"

"Eventually. Or not. Either way, her opinion doesn't change the contract." He pulled out his phone, showed me a photo. "This is what we're walking into tomorrow night."

The image showed a massive dining room. Crystal chandeliers, a table set for forty, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan. This wasn't Lagos. This was the Kingston family estate in New York.

"We're flying to New York?"

"Tonight. Private jet, six-hour flight. We land at eight a.m., have the day to prepare, dinner at seven tomorrow evening." He swiped to another photo. "These are the board members who matter."

Faces appeared. Names. Brief descriptions.

"James Okonkwo. One of the men you exposed. He'll be polite to your face and destroy you the moment you turn around."

"Comforting."

"Richard Chen, Marcus's uncle. He's neutral but suspicious. Convince him, and you convince Marcus's entire network."

"Margaret Ashford. American, old money, thinks anyone born after 1960 is beneath her. She'll ask where you went to school. The correct answer is 'University of Lagos' said with enough confidence that she assumes it's prestigious."

I studied the faces. Memorized the names. "And your uncle?"

"Will sit at my father's old seat and make pointed comments about legacy and responsibility." Elijah closed his phone. "He's already circulated rumors that our marriage is a publicity stunt to distract from financial instability."

"Is it working?"

"Some believe it. Others are waiting to see." He met my eyes. "Which is why tomorrow night is critical. We need to be flawless. Unified. Completely convincing."

"No pressure."

"Enormous pressure. But you handled the legal team. You faced down Thomas at a burning building. You can handle dinner with people who weaponize silverware."

Grace appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Kingston, the car leaves for the airport in two hours. Mrs. Kingston's luggage has been packed per the stylist's instructions."

After she left, I turned to Elijah. "I don't remember packing."

"You didn't. Grace coordinated with Chinwe. Everything you need will be ready." He stood. "We should go over the seating chart. You need to know who you're sitting next to and what topics to avoid."

---

The private jet was obscene. Leather seats that reclined into beds, a full bar, enough space to forget we were in a metal tube seven miles above the Atlantic.

Elijah worked through takeoff, his laptop balanced on a teak table that probably cost more than a car. I tried to sleep but my mind wouldn't settle.

"Nervous?" he asked without looking up.

"About flying into enemy territory and performing for people who want me to fail? What's there to be nervous about?"

He closed the laptop. "Come here."

I moved to the seat across from him. He pulled out a leather folder, extracted several documents.

"Background reading. Every person who'll be at that dinner. Their business interests, their relationships to the Kingston portfolio, their vulnerabilities."

I scanned the first page. James Okonkwo. Age fifty-two. Married three times, currently involved in a very quiet affair with his business partner's daughter. Overleveraged in commercial real estate. Three companies on the verge of bankruptcy.

"You have this level of detail on everyone?"

"Information is currency. The more you know, the less they can surprise you." He handed me another file. "Margaret Ashford. Publicly supports women in business. Privately blocks every female promotion in her company. Lost her daughter to a custody battle last year—don't mention children or family."

"Why would I mention that anyway?"

"Because she'll ask about your plans for starting a family, and if you answer wrong, she'll use it against you." He leaned back. "These people aren't just eating dinner with us. They're conducting reconnaissance. Every question is a test."

"What's the right answer?"

"Depends on the question. But generally—defer to me for business, be vague about personal plans, and never, under any circumstances, look uncertain."

I read through the files. By the time we were three hours into the flight, I had a mental map of alliances, grudges, and pressure points.

"You should sleep," Elijah said. "Tomorrow will be longer than today."

"I can't. My brain won't stop running scenarios."

He stood, moved to the bar, poured two glasses of something amber. Handed me one.

"Whiskey. It helps."

I sipped. Smooth, expensive, burned in exactly the right way. "This is excellent."

"Twenty-five-year Macallan. My father's favorite." He sat beside me this time, closer than the separate seats required. "He used to say that good whiskey and bad company were the only honest things in business."

"Was he right?"

"About the whiskey? Absolutely. About the company?" He swirled his glass. "He surrounded himself with sharks and wondered why he got bitten."

"Is that what you're doing? With me?"

He looked at me then. Really looked. "I don't know yet. Ask me when the contract ends."

Something in his tone made my chest tighten. We were sitting too close. The cabin lights were dim. This felt too intimate for a business arrangement.

I stood. "I should try to sleep."

"Eniola." He caught my wrist, gentle but firm. "Tomorrow, when we're in that room, you need to trust me. Completely. If I cut you off or redirect a conversation, don't fight it. I'm not trying to silence you—I'm protecting you."

"I don't need protecting."

"You need strategy. There's a difference." He released my wrist. "These people will try to separate us. Get you alone, ask questions designed to find inconsistencies in our story. Stay within my sight line. If you can't, find Kemi."

"You make it sound like a battlefield."

"It is. Just with better wine." He finished his whiskey. "Get some rest. We land in three hours."

I moved to the bedroom section of the plane—because apparently private jets had bedrooms—and lay on a mattress that was somehow more comfortable than my bed on the ground.

Through the thin door, I heard Elijah make a call. His voice was too low to make out words, but the tone was sharp. Angry.

Then silence.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine tomorrow. Walking into that dining room on Elijah's arm. Smiling at people who wanted me gone. Pretending this marriage was real enough to believe in.

The plane hit turbulence. Nothing serious, just enough to remind me we were suspended in air with nothing but metal and velocity keeping us from falling.

Kind of like this entire arrangement.

I must have slept, because the next thing I knew, Grace was knocking softly. "Mrs. Kingston. We land in twenty minutes."

I sat up, disoriented. Checked my phone. 7:43 a.m. New York time.

When I emerged, Elijah was already dressed for the day—different suit, fresh shirt, looking like he'd slept for eight hours instead of none.

"Coffee?" He held out a cup.

"Please."

"We have meetings until four. Then you meet with the stylist for final preparations. Dinner starts at seven."

"What kind of meetings?"

"The kind where I remind the board that I'm still in control." He handed me a folder. "This is your schedule. Grace will coordinate everything."

The car was waiting when we landed. Not an SUV this time—a black Rolls-Royce that glided through Manhattan traffic like it owned the streets.

We pulled up to a building that looked like it was made of money and intimidation. Kingston Tower. Sixty stories of glass and steel in Midtown.

"This is home?" I asked.

"This is headquarters. Home is twenty minutes north." He helped me out of the car. "But we're staying here tonight. Less distance to the estate for dinner."

The lobby was marble and modern art. Security that made Lagos look casual. Elevators that moved so smoothly I couldn't tell we were ascending.

Fifty-seventh floor. Executive offices. People in suits that cost more than cars, moving with purpose.

Everyone we passed stared.

Not at Elijah—he belonged here. At me.

The woman who'd appeared from nowhere and married their CEO.

Elijah's hand found my lower back. "Let them look. You're Mrs. Kingston. They answer to you now too."

His office took up an entire corner. Windows on two sides. A desk that looked like sculpture. Art that belonged in museums.

And sitting in one of the leather chairs, looking at me like I was something she'd scraped off her shoe, was Victoria Kingston.

"Hello, Elijah." Her voice could freeze fire. "I see you brought your acquisition."