Chapter 8 - THE NEW EQUATIONThree weeks later, the glass conference room at Romano Holdings felt entirely different.
The damp hair, the wrinkled blouse, and the trembling analyst who arrived thirteen minutes late were gone. In their place sat the newly appointed Chief Operations and Compliance Director of Romano Holdings, dressed in a sharp, tailored charcoal suit, reviewing the final restructuring logistics for the Cicero property.
The door opened quietly, and Dante stepped in, holding two cups of black coffee. He placed one beside my laptop without interrupting my train of thought.
" Cicero logistics are locked in," I said, looking up with a small smile. "No padded fuel charges. No hidden liabilities."
Dante leaned against the edge of the conference table, crossing his arms and looking down at me with an unreadable expression. "You know, Madison... when you gave me that presentation two weeks ago, I asked you a question at the bottom of the page."
I remembered it clearly. What would you change if no one could punish you for telling the truth?
"I remember," I said softly.
"You changed the whole company," Dante said, his lips curving into a rare, genuine smile. "And you proved something else."
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"What's that?"
"That you didn't need rescuing, Madison," Dante murmured, his eyes holding mine. "You just needed someone smart enough to hand you the keys so you could lock the door behind you."
