The flight was eleven hours.
Eve slept for three of them. Spent the rest going through briefing documents and rearranging the meeting schedule one more time.
They didn't talk much on the plane.
That was normal. Professional. Exactly how it should be.
When they landed Singapore was already deep into its evening. The air outside the terminal was warm and heavy in a way that felt completely different from home.
A car was waiting.
They got in.
The city moved past the windows. Lit up and alive in that particular way of a place that doesn't really slow down at night.
Eve looked out the window.
"First time," Ethan said.
She turned. "Sorry?"
"Singapore," he said. "First time here?"
"Yes," she said.
He looked out his own window.
"It's a good city," he said. "Efficient. Honest about what it is."
The car stopped at the hotel.
The hotel was exactly what she expected from him.
Not flashy. Just precise. The kind of place that understood that quiet and expensive were the same thing when done correctly.
She had her own room.
She unpacked efficiently. Showered. Changed. Sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her phone.
Two messages from Kelvin.
Singapore. Good. Use the environment.
Report by Thursday.
She put the phone face down on the bed.
Then picked it up again and replied with one word.
Understood.
She put it away.
Tuesday evening came quietly.
She was ready at seven. Simple dress. Nothing that tried too hard.
He knocked at seven exactly.
She opened the door.
He looked at her for a moment.
Then — "Ready?"
"Yes," she said.
They took a car to a part of the city she wouldn't have found on her own. Away from the main streets. Quieter. A restaurant tucked into a side street with no sign outside and no menu in the window.
They were seated immediately. Small table. Low light.
"How did you find this place," she asked.
"I come here twice a year," he said. "You find things when you keep coming back to the same city."
"You seem comfortable here," she said.
"I am," he said simply.
She picked up her glass.
The conversation moved easily. Nothing forced. Nothing calculated. Just two people in a quiet restaurant far from the office and everything that came with it.
At some point he set his fork down and looked at her.
"I need to tell you something," he said. "About why we're actually here."
She waited.
"There's a meeting happening Thursday," he said. "Dealers. Moving goods through the port. I've been tracking this network for a while." He held her gaze. "I want you in the room."
She looked at him.
"As your assistant," she said carefully.
"As someone I trust," he said. "You read rooms well. Better than most people I've worked with. I need that Thursday."
She sat with that for a moment.
"Okay," she said quietly.
He nodded once.
Picked up his fork.
"Now finish your food," he said.
She looked at her plate.
"You're bossy outside the office too," she said.
"You're just noticing that now," he said.
She almost smiled.
And said nothing else.