"Mr. Sterling, sir, I am so sorry," Miller gasped, looking like he was about to be sick. "This was a catastrophic failure in protocol. I take full responsibility. We rotate contractors on the weekends, I should have vetted them closer. Sir, do you need a medic?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately. He rolled his shoulders, feeling the deep ache where he had been slammed against the mahogany. He looked at Maya, who was wiping angry tears from her face, and then he looked down at Braddock. The guard was backed against the wall, hyperventilating, realizing that his life, his career, and his freedom were now entirely in the hands of the man he had just humiliated.
"I didn't know," Braddock pleaded, his voice cracking. "Mr. Sterling, please. I was just doing my job. I was following protocol for unbadged individuals. You didn't look like... you didn't look like you belonged here."
"I didn't look like I belonged here," Marcus repeated, the words slow and dripping with a venom that made the lobby drop ten degrees. "What exactly does a man who belongs here look like to you, Braddock? Does he look like someone you respect? Or does he just look like someone who doesn't share my skin color?"
The silence in the lobby was absolute.