Guo Renwang and Huang Zedong passed without acknowledging me, and I watched them disappear down the hall before turning back to Meilan.
She had already reclaimed her smile, but I could see the irritation beneath it. The first stage of taking my house had not gone the way she wanted, and she hadn't even made it past the front hall yet.
"You're very calm," she said, like the observation was supposed to mean something.
"I live here," I replied. "Why would I not be calm?"
Her smile thinned as Commander Li's mouth twitched, but he covered it by looking toward the hallway.
His own men had stayed near the entrance and the outer perimeter, exactly where he had placed them. They weren't interfering, weren't helping, and weren't pretending this was their mess to solve.
That was smart.
If Meilan wanted to own the operation, she could own all of it.
