"The Mask Comes Off"

Let me back up. Twenty-four hours.

Last night was Dominic Hale's annual masquerade gala. My boss. The man who signs my checks, controls my career, and reminds me daily that I'm replaceable. I wasn't supposed to be there. Assistants don't get invitations. But Dominic needed someone to manage the guest list, so I put on a borrowed dress and a mask and pretended I belonged.

That's when I saw him.

Tall. Dark suit. A mask that covered half his face but couldn't hide the way he looked at me — like I was the only person in a room full of billionaires.

He didn't ask my name. I didn't ask his. That was the rule.

One dance turned into one drink. One drink turned into a conversation on the terrace where he told me I had the kind of voice that could ruin a man. And then one conversation turned into a hotel suite on the forty-second floor with a view of the city I couldn't afford to live in.

It was reckless. It was electric. It was the first time in two years I felt like someone actually saw me.

I left before sunrise. No number. No name. Just the memory of his hands and a whisper I couldn't shake — "I'll find you."

I told myself it didn't matter. One night. No strings. Back to reality.

Then this morning happened.

I walked into Hale Industries carrying two coffees and a stack of contracts. And there he was. Sitting in the lobby. No mask. Same jaw. Same hands. Same eyes that made me forget my own name twelve hours ago.

Julian Vance.

CEO of Vance Capital. The man who's been trying to destroy Dominic Hale for three years. The man Dominic calls "the enemy." The man whose hostile takeover bid is the reason I've been working eighty-hour weeks.

Our eyes locked. He recognized me instantly. I saw it — the flash, the slight smile, the way his fingers tightened on the arm of the chair.

I turned and walked straight to the bathroom. Locked the door. Pressed my back against the wall.

This isn't happening.

Dominic's voice came through on my phone. "Maya, get in here. Vance just arrived and I need you in this meeting. Now."

I stared at my reflection. Mascara from last night still faintly smudged under my left eye.

I walked into that conference room and sat three feet from the man I'd slept with — while my boss laid out a war plan to destroy him.

Julian didn't flinch. He looked at me once. Just once. And the corner of his mouth lifted like he knew a secret that could burn this whole building down.

Because he did.

Then Dominic said five words that stopped my heart: "Maya is my most trusted asset."