Chapter 13 – Fire Meets Steel

Dominic’s POV

The knock on my office door wasn’t loud.

It was quite sharp and steady.

But it still jolted through me like a pulse of static.

I looked up from the file I’d been staring at for ten straight minutes without reading a word. My jaw ached from clenching.

My wolf had been pacing inside me since the incident earlier today—since the moment I saw her, standing in the men’s restroom, scrubbing the damn floor like the world owed her nothing.

Like I wasn’t standing right there watching her with every part of me screaming, Mate.

And yet—she denied it.

Flat-out rejected the bond.

Rejected me.

Again.

Another knock.

I didn’t answer immediately. Instead, I let the tension drag a few seconds longer than necessary.

When I finally called out, “Come in,” my voice was sharper than I meant it to be.

The door creaked open.

And there she was.

Mannie Twain.

Hair still damp from sweat. Her cheeks flushed with rage.

A glint in her eye that told me she didn’t come here to apologize.

She stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

No hesitation.

No fear.

“I need to speak to you,” she said.

I leaned back in my chair slowly, steepling my fingers. “That’s bold of you.”

Her lips tightened. “You need to fire Evan Lin.”

I raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. He tried to coerce me into sleeping with him. Tonight. Room 302.”

I blinked once.

She didn’t flinch.

“You have proof?” I asked.

Without a word, she pulled her phone from her bag, tapped the screen, and set it on my desk. The audio started playing—Evan’s voice, unmistakable and revolting.

“If you want that promotion, you’ll come to Room 302 tonight... Don’t make this hard on yourself.”

I didn’t breathe.

Not until the recording ended.

Then she pulled something else from her bag—a flash drive—and dropped it on my desk with a soft clink.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Her name was Linda. She worked in marketing before me. She ended her life after he did the same thing to her. I found the complaint email she sent—just days before she jumped.”

The silence that followed stretched like a blade between us.

My wolf went still.

So still it scared me.

“I don’t tolerate predators in my company,” I said coldly.

“Then prove it.”

I looked up sharply. Her eyes were burning.

No fear.

No fake smile.

No mask.

Just fire.

She reminded me of someone. Not Zarah. Not the girl who’d been playing house in my mansion for five years.

This woman… was different.

Real.

But that only made the puzzle more maddening.

“Why do you act like you don’t know me?” I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. “Why should I?”

“We’ve met before.”

“In a bar? That barely counts.”

“No. Five years ago. Hotel. Rain. You were cleaning. I—” I hesitated, the memory clawing at my throat, thick with scent and moonlight.

She froze. Her jaw tightened.

And yet…

She still lied.

“I don’t know what delusion you’re under,” she snapped. “But I’ve never seen you before that bar. And honestly? You really think every woman who looks your way is trying to seduce you?”

“What?”

She scoffed. “Yeah. Because that’s what you said to me in the restroom. I must’ve followed you in, right? Hoping for a promotion? Do you always walk around thinking women exist just to crawl at your feet?”

I stood, the heat in my chest rising. “You think I’m some arrogant bastard who imagines women are obsessed with him?”

“You said it. Not me.”

I stepped around the desk slowly. “You’ve been playing games since the beginning.”

She looked almost amused. “That’s rich, coming from a man who accuses a woman of seducing him while she’s literally holding a toilet brush.”

“You wore my mate’s scent.”

“And you wear expensive cologne. Doesn’t make you my husband.”

That snapped something in me.

I stepped closer than I should have. She didn’t move. Not an inch.

I could feel the heat radiating off her. Anger. Frustration. Pain.

And something else.

Something that made my wolf whine softly in my chest.

“What are you hiding?” I whispered.

She blinked.

Just once.

And then that clever mouth of hers curved into the smallest smirk I’d seen since she walked in.

“I could ask you the same thing, Your Highness,” she said, voice syrupy with sarcasm. “Do you usually belittle women before asking for their names?”

I clenched my jaw.

“Dominic Blackmoore,” I said stiffly.

She mock gasped. “Oh, wow. The CEO himself. Forgive me, Your Majesty. Should I kneel now or later?”

The tension between us snapped like a whip.

I turned away before I said something I couldn’t take back.

Her voice followed me.

“You think I want your money? Your power? You think I enjoy crawling on floors to make rent? Do you know what it’s like to put your kids to bed hungry?”

My chest cracked at the word.

Kids.

Plural.

I turned back to her. “How many?”

“Eight,” she said boldly.

Eight.

Eight hearts.

Eight reasons.

My head spun.

It couldn’t be.

She was the one. The real one. My mate. The night I couldn’t forget.

But then—why deny it?

Why lie?

Unless… she didn’t know.

Or worse—she didn’t want me to know.

“I’ll deal with Evan,” I said finally. “Effective immediately.”

“You better,” she snapped. “Because if you don’t, I’ll release that file. I’ll release the recording. I’ll go to every media outlet in this city.”

“I don’t respond to threats.”

“Then maybe you’ll respond to facts.”

She grabbed her phone and turned to the door.

I stared after her, torn between fury and fascination.

“Wait,” I said.

She paused, hand on the handle.

“You don’t remember me?”

She turned, slowly, her face unreadable.

“No,” she said. “And if I did… I wouldn’t want to.”

That one stung.

She left without another word, heels clicking sharply on the floor.

The second the door shut, I punched the edge of my desk.

She was lying. She had to be.

The scent, the fire, the fight—it was all there.

It was her.

But why did she hate me?

Why wouldn’t she just say it?

Unless someone told her to forget.

Or forced her to.

I rubbed my temples, breathing hard.

I needed answers. Now.

My phone buzzed.

It was Daron.

“Sir, Evan Lin has left the building.”

“Fire him. Effective immediately. Prepare a statement for HR and legal.”

“Yes, sir. What do you want to tell the press, if it leaks?”

I stared at the flash drive she’d left behind.

“Nothing yet. Let’s hope it doesn’t.”

But I knew it would.

And she’d be the one to light the match.

---

Meanwhile...

Mannie

I slammed the door behind me and took a long breath.

My legs were still shaking.

But God, that felt good.

My phone suddenly buzzed in my bag