His Deal, Her Heart

ain out of him all at once, replaced by a dawning, sober horror. His eyes, wide and pleading, found mine one last time. There was no triumph in me, only a vast, echo

s face ashen. He took a step forward, his hand

scuss your son's future employment prospects-or lack thereof-at a later date, Robert," Julian said, his voice still holding that arctic chill

ill a warm, heavy presence on my shoulder. He surveyed the room, his stormy eyes daring anyone to speak, to even whisper. The board

e you alright?" he asked, his voice losing its icy ed

thrumming with a toxic cocktail of adrenaline and shame. The public

ith me for

me in a room full of powerful strangers, was a different kind of pain. It wasn't heartbreak; it was t

s words have no power here," he said, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

anipulation. I found none. He was simply stating it as a fact. *A treasure.* The word was so a

he commanded gently. It was an ord

and global logistics. No one mentioned the incident. No one looked at me with pity. They looked at me with a newfound respect, or perhaps fear. I w

net, mixed with the lingering smell of old leather from the chairs. The low murmur of conversation was a dull buzz in my ears. All I could focus on was the solid presence of Julian beside me, a ba

back seat, exhausted. The silence between us was different this time. It wa

id, my voice smal

y lights striping across hi

u said. And

ock. "His outburst was unprofessional. It required a correction. My defense of you was a logical extension

it to a calculated business move. And yet... it didn't feel that way. I remembered the we

hrough the haze. Was I building another fantasy aro

imidating. The view of Veridia's glittering skyline seemed to mock me with its beaut

d," I said, needing to es

a," h

d, my ba

at you felt was not an obsession. It was loyalty. A misplaced, unreciproc

With his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing strong, capable wrists, he loo

you know?"

business to know things. I had a full background rep

ave felt invasive, violating. But stra

-long crush on Mark Ashford?" The

ated his minor successes as if they were her own, who offered quiet support without ever asking for anything in

the source of my deepest shame, and reframed it. He hadn't excused it or ignored it. He had redefined it as a st

heart. For the first time, I looked at Julian Thorne and didn't just

ning and walking down the hall t

e city lights twinkled below, no longer mocking, but just... there. I brought my hand

reas

. And for the first time since I had walked into that sterile office at City Hall, I felt

-