He had ordered a banner reading A NEW CHAPTER FOR BELMONT ROW even though Harbor Gate had not yet approved the announcement. The photographer had already been instructed to capture him beside it for the company website. When a junior events coordinator asked whether the banner should be stored until Monday, Bradley told her to stop worrying about formalities. He had grown impatient with anyone who reminded him that a promotion was a decision rather than a prediction.
Loretta arrived with Patricia shortly after seven. She wore a dark plum dress and the same sensible shoes she had worn Monday, with a simple coat over her shoulders. Patricia looked elegant and unmistakably important in a charcoal suit, but Loretta made no effort to appear like the person with the deciding vote. They moved through the reception together, greeted the staff, and paused beside a display of photographs showing Belmont Row's properties and executive leadership.
"This is your last chance to leave quietly," Patricia murmured. "I can invent a board call."
"And miss the hospitality?" Loretta asked.
Patricia gave her a weary look. "You have an unusual idea of entertainment."
"I'm not here to be entertained. I'm here to see how people treat each other when they believe the outcome is already decided."
Bradley spotted Patricia before he spotted the woman beside her. He crossed the terrace with his arms open, greeting the managing partner as though his promotion had already been formally confirmed. "Patricia! There she is," he called. "Come see what we're building. This is what a winning team looks like."
Then he saw Loretta and stopped. The recognition in his eyes was immediate, followed by a kind of irritated amusement. "Oh my God. You again?" he said, loud enough for a few guests to turn. "Honey, we're not hiring cleaners tonight."
"She's my guest," Patricia said.
Bradley laughed. "Of course she is. Patricia and her charity projects."
Patricia's expression hardened, but Loretta touched her forearm gently. She was not ready for Bradley to learn why Patricia was behaving so carefully. "Good evening, Mr. Kincaid," she said. "You seem pleased with the way the week has gone."
"Why wouldn't I be? We're celebrating a major acquisition and a major promotion."
"A promotion?"
"Don't play coy. Everybody knows I'm taking over Monday."
Sloane Avery appeared beside him in a glittering silver dress, holding her phone vertically and speaking to an unseen audience. She recognized Loretta from the lobby clip and turned the camera toward her for a moment. "Babe, isn't that the woman from your building?" she asked, laughing. "The one with the chair?"
"Yes," Bradley said. "Apparently she's doing the full tour now."
Loretta did not raise a hand to block the camera. Instead, she shifted slightly so that the bright terrace lights fell on her face, and she looked directly at Sloane. "I hope your viewers have had a pleasant evening," she said. "They deserve to know when they're being entertained at somebody else's expense."