NOTE: The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the authors. To the extent any real names of individuals, locations, or organizations are included in the book, they are used fictitiously and not intended to be taken otherwise.
Jillyanna smoothly straightened her posture, brushing an imperceptible speck of dust from the lapel of her sleeveless ensemble. She smoothed the delicate puff sleeves of her top with unhurried grace, offered a warm, reassuring smile to the lingering employees, and turned around to face the intruder.
The man standing at the threshold of the executive elevator bank was well into his sixties, carrying himself with an air of entrenched, arrogant authority. His lined face was set into a permanent, sour sneer, his sharp, predatory eyes scanning Jillyanna from head to toe in an overt, deliberate display of calculated disrespect.
