"Sugar, get back to the office now," Tobias barked into the taxi phone.
"I am in a taxi," Kinsley said, turning the phone so the city noise swallowed his next word. "I'm on my way."
"North account lands at noon. You missed the briefing. You go, now. Do not argue."
"I need sleep," she said. "I've been on site since dawn."
"Sleep doesn't bill. Fly."
"This is the third trip this week. I can't—"
"You can," Tobias cut in. "You will. Or you'll explain to HR why you can't meet targets."
Kinsley closed her eyes for one precise second. She was twenty-one and tired and not in the mood for threats that smelled like intimidation and old ways. She inhaled and grabbed the one thing that might buy her time.
"I'm getting married."
There was a pause long enough for a taxi meter to tick twice.
"Excuse me?" Tobias sounded as if someone had thrown him in front of a bus.
"I didn't say I was available for international flights, I said I'm getting married. The ceremony is today."
"You're what? Who is this?" His voice sharpened. "Is this a joke?"
"It's not a joke," Kinsley said. "A legal thing for an inheritance. I can't leave town until the registrar signs it. I'm telling you now so you stop reassigning me to everything."
"You expect me to rearrange the official schedule because of a sudden marriage