Paolo made the calls individually, the way you deliver bad news to people who don't deserve it. He started with Helena because she was the hardest and he wanted to get it over with.
Helena answered on the second ring, her voice clipped and professional, the tone of someone who had already filed the morning's victories and was moving on to the afternoon's problems. Paolo told her about Derek. About Gina noticing the hovering, the questions about New York, the unauthorized calendar logins, the eight years of loyalty that turned out to be a performance. He told her fast, the way you rip off a bandage, and then he waited for the explosion.
It didn't come. Helena listened in a silence so complete that Paolo checked his phone twice to make sure the call hadn't dropped. When she finally spoke, her voice was colder than the silence had been.
"How long has Derek been reporting to Michael?"
"I don't know. Years, probably. Since before I rebuilt the label."
