Someone cleared their throat, and she turned to find Ted standing in the doorway. He met her questioning gaze briefly and came in, closing off the sound of the bullpen as the door latched behind him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. He and everyone else in the office had recently begun apologizing to her all the time. She didn’t think she’d treated anyone in a way that merited such a response, but on the other hand, she was well aware that she wasn’t herself lately either. Not like she was before Maddie, anyway.

She waved a hand dismissively and sat down at her desk, indicating the open chair across from her. He sat, a tablet in his hands, and simply gaped at her. She saw the questions in his eyes, saw the urge there to ask them out loud, but he smiled again—that fake, boardroom smile she was so practiced with herself—and launched into the end-of-quarter update. She listened, half aware of the good news he was sharing, but not particularly affected by any of it. She should be thrilled with this news, at the very least, because everyone here stood to make a great deal of money, but she couldn’t will herself to care much of anything about his report. She only realized he’d stopped talking after what must have been a very long pause, as he was fidgeting and twisting his hands together.

“Sounds good,” she said. “Is that all?”

His expression went through many changes in quick succession—shock, sorrow, fright, before settling on outrage. He leapt to his feet.

“Are you kidding me right now? Jesus, Ryann. You can fire me if you have to for saying it, but it can’t go on like this. What’s happening right now,” he gestured broadly with his hands, seeming to suggest her, the building itself, possibly the world, “it’s not all right. Not by a long shot.”

A flash of heated temper washed through her, and she narrowed her eyes. “Are we not making a shitload of money? Are we not doing better than we’ve ever done before?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“But nothing. The deal, no, my deal, is working flawlessly. Do you have complaints about my work beyond that?”

“No, but—”

“Good. I’m your boss, and your complaints would be baseless. My work, as always, is exemplary. We’re making lots of money, we’ll continue to make lots of money, and I’m already starting to formulate the next steps to make even more money. So again—I don’t see the problem.” She stood up and turned around to her window again. “You can leave, if you have nothing else to discuss.”