"I need to ensure my investment stays on course."
"You're a wild horse, Leo. You have strength, but you're prone to losing control."
"I don't need you to follow my orders, but I do need you to stay within my sight."
"That's the price."
She wasn't demanding a direct financial return. She was demanding the right to information and influence over Leo himself.
She wanted to keep that leash firmly in her own hands.
Leo didn't answer immediately.
He looked into Evelyn's eyes.
There was no flicker of emotion in them, only a rational, almost ruthless calculation.
'A report every two weeks.'
'It sounded like a subordinate reporting to their superior.'
Leo's instincts screamed at him to refuse.
But for a politician who had already prepared himself mentally, restraining his instincts was a fundamental skill.
Leo took a deep breath, expelling all emotion from his chest and filling the void with the fuel of ambition.
"Deal," Leo said.
