Chapter 102

I woke up in a good mood.

Not just good. Floating-on-a-cloud, music-in-the-shower, spin-around-in-a-towel kind of good. My lips still tingled from that kiss, my chest still buzzed with the heat of his breath and the low rumble of his voice. The whole morning felt like an afterglow I had no business enjoying this much.

I hadn't dreamed of anything after getting back, but I didn't feel like I needed it either.

I went through my routine slower than usual, taking time with my skincare, actually doing something with my hair, and picking an outfit that was more flattering than anything I had ever owned before: bright red and body hugging. I practically skipped down the hall.

The faint warmth pulsing beneath my skin made me pause as I smoothed on my blouse. The mark throbbed gently like a heartbeat, steady and warm.

Arielle gave me a knowing look over her coffee mug as I came down the hall.

“Someone slept well,” she teased, hair piled on her head in an artful mess.

Dev was in the kitchen again, making something that smelled really, really good. Zeke was missing, but I wasn't really surprised about that.

I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Must’ve been the sea air.”

She grinned wider, clearly not buying it. “Sure. Must’ve been… Or you had a nice dream about alpha daddy. Get out of here.”

My face burned, and Dev burst into laughter.

I waved her off and headed out the door before the teasing could get worse.

" You're not staying for breakfast?"

"I'll grab breakfast at work."

"I suppose you do need to spend equal time with spanking daddy as you do with Alpha Daddy."

"Goodbye, Arielle!"

She cackled.

By the time I reached the office, I was fully in my professional zone, or I was trying to be.

My heels clicked crisply against the lobby floor. The security guard greeted me with a polite nod, and as I approached the elevators, the doors slid open to reveal none other than Dominic himself.

For a moment, we just looked at each other.

He stood there in a dark charcoal suit, subtle pinstripes catching the light. He looked devastatingly good, as usual. But this time, he didn’t look like the stoic Alpha-Panel-Judiciary leader. He looked at me like I was the only thing in the room. A soft smile on his lips. His gaze felt like a burning caress over my finger. And then he met my gaze. His eyes warm with interest. Note to self: definitely wear more red and more of whatever this skirt cut was called.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice low and smooth.

“Morning,” I replied, stepping into the elevator beside him.

The air between us was charged, but neither of us made a move beyond a small glance. It was like the kiss still hovered between us, along with the promise of more.

“How’d you sleep?” he asked quietly, eyes fixed on the elevator doors.

“Warm,” I said before I could stop myself. “Comforting.”

He smiled. “Good.”

We rode in silence for a few floors. At one point, our shoulders brushed slightly, and my entire body buzzed with awareness. I could feel his energy curling around me like a storm held at bay by sheer will.

When we reached my floor, he didn’t move, just tilted his head slightly.

“Have a good day, Renee.”

"You too.”

I stepped out before I could lose my nerve and say something ridiculous. The doors closed, and I leaned against the wall for a moment, breathing out.

Professional. We are staying professional… Somehow.

As soon as I reached the room where Neil's team was, I was greeted with a burst of applause and cheers. My new team had decorated my new desk with a little banner that said Welcome To the Team and a basket of snacks.

They seem to have also have moved everything from my old desk into my new one as if they had just transplanted my entire workspace over. This had Neil written all over it.

Neil gave me a side hug as he passed by.

“About time they let you work with the fun people… And I promised a cake is chocolate. All the cakes are chocolate.”

I laughed, touched by the gesture, glancing into the basket. All of the snacks were indeed chocolate.

“This is too much.”

“No such thing,” said one of the other interns. “We’re going out tonight to celebrate. You don’t get to say no.”

I laughed and nodded. "Okay."

The camaraderie was immediate and easy. It wasn’t just Neil, though his presence helped. Everyone on this team wanted to be here, and they wanted me there, too. The energy was high, focused, but without the undercurrent of rivalry that had existed on my previous team. The manager even smiled at me as I settled into my desk.

Someone came over, tapping his pen on my desk to get my attention. “You up for tackling the logistics files with me? They’re dense, but interesting, and I think everyone else has already plowed through most of their stuff.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Lead the way.”

He pulled up a chair with a sigh of gratitude and brought his laptop and files.

"I promise it's not always like this. It's just they just handed these down, and I had just gotten done. It's been a whole thing. Apparently, your old team is getting broken up."

I had a feeling I knew why. How many people in the company had been implicated in Vivian's campaign against me? Would she even still have a job? Something told me that she would. But I didn't know how long that would last.

I fell into a rhythm easily. They were all fast, sharp, but also patient. The guy I was working with paused often to check in or point out nuances. I didn’t realize how relaxed I felt until we hit a peculiar pattern in one of the older financial models. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place it.

My fingers hovered above the keyboard. “Wait… I’ve seen something like this before.”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

I stared at the chart. There was something about the arrangement of expenses, the way numbers were moved across accounts. My stomach tightened.

“I don’t remember where, but something about this doesn’t feel right.”

He studied the chart with me. “It’s an old file, from a couple years ago. Might be worth flagging it, though.”

I nodded slowly, but that sharp edge of anxiety didn’t fade. In fact, it grew sharper.

It wasn’t just the numbers. It was the structure. The accounts, the redirections, and the way they all seemed to fall together in a pattern. My pulse quickened as a flicker of memory darted just out of reach.

“Renee?” He asked. "You're all right. You look a little pale. Did you come back to work a little too early?"

I blinked, realizing I’d gone still.

"Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “It just… I don’t know. It gave me a weird feeling.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I lied.

But I wasn’t. Not entirely.

The room suddenly felt colder.

I stared at the screen for a moment longer, my fingers hovering just above the keyboard. The pattern on the chart shouldn’t have meant anything more than what they were. I told myself that once. Twice. But there was something about it. The way one of the dips matched a memory I couldn’t quite reach.

It’s nothing. You're tired. You didn’t sleep well.

That was a lie. I’d slept incredibly well. This was something else. I shook my head and forced myself to focus. The data wasn't going to sort itself out.

“Everything alright?”

Neil’s voice was low but concerned, and when I looked up, he was already halfway out of his chair, eyes on me, brows slightly furrowed.

I pasted on a smile. “Yeah, just got lost in the numbers for a second.”

“You looked like you saw a ghost.” He didn’t sound convinced.

"I said she looked a little pale---"

I waved my hand. “I think I just need caffeine. Or maybe more sleep. Or both.”

Neil’s eyes searched mine for another beat before he let it go, nodding and leaning back in his chair. “Manager has agreed to let us wrap up early today. We’ve already gotten through more than half the project files for the week. We're ahead by a mile.”

“Overachievers,” one of the interns muttered from across the room, but it was followed by a grin. "Glad we've gotten another one, but don't let us set you back on recovery."

I smiled back. "Glad to be among like-minded individuals."

The manager came back in. "Next round, ladies and gents. Renee gets first pick."

She set a stack of binders on the desk between us. “Want to take point on the next audit of liquid assets or investments? It’s the LiraTech portfolio. We need to prep an audit plan for the compliance team next week.”