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I file that away.

“What do you think they're supposed to do?” Annabeth asks quietly.

“I don't know yet.”

That's the honest answer.

“But I think they mean something to him.”

I glance around at these women. At the books scattered across Mitchell's enormous table. At the people who've built lives around this team.

“And I'm starting to think that's the real story.”

Carolina studies me for several long seconds.

“Look, I'm not coming into this with a predetermined conclusion,” I add. “If that's what you're worried about.”

“Is that what we're worried about?” she asks.

“I think it is.”

A tiny smile appears. Score one for me.

“I don't know how the story ends yet. That's not how I work. I follow the facts until they take me somewhere. Maybe there's still a financial angle I haven't found. Maybe there's something Mitchell isn't telling me.”

There almost certainly is.

“But I'm not going to invent a scandal because that's more exciting than the truth.”

“And if the truth is simply that he loves the Rovers?” Carolina asks.

The question catches me. Because of the way she says it.

Not likes.

Not believes in.

Loves.

I think about Mitchell standing in that new facility.

The details he notices. The pride he tries so hard not to show. The way he talks about what the Rovers could become.

And suddenly the simplest answer feels remarkably possible.

“Then that's the story I'll write.”

Carolina's gaze holds mine another moment. Then she nods.

“Fair enough.”

Apparently, I've passed round one. Dani reaches for something on the food tray.

“So are you sleeping with him?”

I choke on my drink.

Round two is on.