A/N: Guys, we will go slow here, take your time. This is Female Lead's (FL) Arc
The day had been a slow burn of digital demands, a tempest in a teacup that he'd navigated with divine ease.
Hours spent with ARIA, decoding financial projections that would make the Treasury Department weep, coordinating with Charlotte as she morphed from a trust-fund princess into a ruthless corporate queen, and reviewing the terrifyingly elegant tech Tommy was constructing.
Through it all, Patricia had watched from the sectional, curled up with coffee, wearing nothing but one of his black henleys that hung on her like a silk secret.
She didn't demand; she simply existed, and her quiet, smiling presence was the grounding force in his day.
Then Isabella had called, her voice a breathless, desperate whisper. Her daughter was safe for two hours. She was at the Crown Jewel right next door.
