***
Marcus slid a file onto Damian’s desk the next morning.
Damian didn’t look up from his coffee. “Gabriel Knight.”
Marcus nodded. “CEO of Knight Holdings. Divorced. Rich. Polished. The kind of man women don’t just work for—they fall for.”
Damian’s jaw tightened. “Not my woman.”
Marcus sighed quietly. He’d seen this look before—the one that came before Damian destroyed something. Or someone.
“Sir,” Marcus ventured carefully, “if you push her again, you’ll lose her completely.”
Damian leaned back, eyes dark as storm clouds. “You think I haven’t already?”
He stood abruptly and walked toward the window. The city stretched before him, alive, indifferent. Somewhere out there, Emery was moving on. Laughing. Smiling. Forgetting him.
He couldn’t let that happen.
******
Emery’s apartmen
