He nodded once. "We have a meeting at noon. I expect everything to be ready before then."
She stared at him, unable to hide the flicker of disbelief in her eyes. Two hours? For this mountain of paperwork?
But he wasn't joking. There was no humour in his expression, no sympathy, no softening. He'd handed her a challenge. She could either meet it, or she could crumble.
Without another word, Darius went back to his laptop, fingers flying over the keys as though she no longer existed. Just like that, she had become background noise.
Cassandra turned slowly, file clutched tightly in her arms, and made her way to the corner desk. Her heels clicked against the marble floor again, but this time they sounded like countdowns to a bomb rather than confident steps.
The desk was colder than it loo
