Natalie closed her eyes briefly.

“Blake.”

“What?”

“You know he isn’t.”

“I’m trying to help.”

Ethan looked toward the servers moving between guests in crisp black uniforms.

“I’m dressed nothing like the catering staff.”

Blake laughed.

“Fair enough.”

He stepped closer.

“Investor?”

“No.”

“Broker?”

“No.”

“Architect?”

“No.”

“Then what exactly are you doing here?”

Ethan looked at him for a long moment.

“Standing.”

Someone laughed harder than the joke deserved.

Blake’s smile tightened.

“You know what I mean.”

“I was invited.”

“By whom?”

Ethan didn’t answer.

That was the moment Blake decided the quiet man needed to be humiliated.

Not questioned.

Not teased.

Humiliated.

Blake turned slightly so more people could hear him.

“This is supposed to be a private event.”

“I know.”

“And apparently anyone can walk in now.”

Ethan shrugged.

“You did.”

A woman near the bar covered a smile.

Blake noticed.

His face hardened.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

One of Blake’s friends stepped forward.

“Careful, man.”

Ethan looked at him.

“With what?”

That answer produced another ripple through the gathering crowd.

But this time people weren’t laughing at Ethan.

Blake sensed it.

He straightened his jacket.

“Look, I’m just saying, there’s a dress code.”

“There isn’t.”

“How would you know?”

“I asked.”

Blake laughed.

“You asked who? The valet?”

Natalie touched his arm.

“Enough.”

He shook her off.

Then he looked at Ethan’s shoes again.

“Seriously, man, I’m curious. What do you do?”

“Construction.”

That answer delighted Blake.

“Construction?”

“Yes.”

Blake looked at his friends.

One muttered, “That explains it.”

The laughter came immediately.

Ethan’s expression did not change.

Blake pointed across the skyline toward the dark silhouette of the Meridian Point construction site several blocks away.

“You work over there?”

“I have.”

“Doing what?”

“Whatever needed doing.”

Blake nodded theatrically.

“Right.”

Then he leaned toward Ethan.

“Here’s some advice. If you’re working on a luxury development, it doesn’t mean you’re invited to the launch party.”

The laughter was louder now.

People were watching from lounge chairs.

Someone raised a phone.

Natalie whispered, “Blake, stop.”

But Blake was enjoying himself.

“You know what?” he continued. “I respect hustle. I really do. But there are rooms you earn your way into.”

Ethan stared at him.

“I agree.”

Something in the way he said it made Natalie look up.

Blake missed it.

“Good. Then we understand each other.”

“Perfectly.”

Blake reached toward a passing tray, took two champagne flutes, and offered one to Ethan.

Ethan didn’t take it.

Blake shrugged.

“Too expensive?”

A few people laughed.

Then Ethan asked quietly, “Are you finished?”

Blake lowered the glass.

“You don’t have anything to say?”

“I didn’t come here to argue with you.”

“Then why did you come?”

Ethan slipped one hand into his pocket.

The atmosphere changed.

Not dramatically.

Just enough.

Blake’s smile flickered.

Ethan removed his phone.

One of Blake’s friends laughed.

“What are you going to do, call security?”

Ethan unlocked the screen.

“No.”

He scrolled through several images.

Then stopped.

“I wasn’t going to say anything tonight.”

Blake folded his arms.

“Then don’t.”

Ethan raised his eyes.

“But since you seem extremely interested in who belongs here…”

He turned the phone around.

At first, Blake didn’t react.

The photograph showed four men standing beside a black SUV in what appeared to be an underground parking garage.

The timestamp in the corner read:

MARCH 17 — 2:14 A.M.

Blake was one of the men.

His face was unmistakable.

So was the envelope in his hand.