Eyes on her

Mia had never felt more exposed.

She followed closely behind Harry Declan as he entered the executive boardroom. Every movement he made was purposeful, commanding. As soon as they stepped inside, the murmur of voices quieted, and all heads turned toward them.

Correction toward her.

She wore a pale ivory blouse tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt. Conservative. Professional. Yet judging by the glances she got, she may as well have walked in wearing lingerie.

Mia kept her chin up, but her heart thudded painfully in her chest.

Harry didn’t acknowledge the shift in the room. He walked straight to the head of the long obsidian table and pulled out the chair next to his own.

“Mia,” he said simply.

It wasn’t a request. It was a placement.

She sat, acutely aware that no other assistant had a seat at the table. The others stood along the walls, styluses in hand, avoiding eye contact.

A few directors exchanged glances. One even smirked.

Across the table, a woman leaned forward. She had icy gray eyes, a razor-sharp bob, and the confidence of someone who'd never once been told "no."

“New face,” she said. “You’ve upgraded, Harry.”

Mia’s cheeks burned.

Harry didn’t react. “Mia Williams. My assistant.”

His voice was steel. Controlled. A warning, if anyone was smart enough to hear it.

“If we’re done wasting time,” he continued, “let’s begin.”

The meeting launched into the logistics of the Korelli merger numbers, projections, potential liabilities but Mia struggled to focus. Her pen moved across her tablet, but her mind was racing.

Why had he brought her here? In front of the executive board? On her second day?

Was it strategy… or something else?

Afterward, the room emptied slowly. Mia packed up her notes in silence, avoiding the curious and condescending glances tossed her way.

She had almost made it to the hallway when a clipped voice stopped her.

“You’re not going to last long.”

Mia turned. The woman from across the table Ms. Layla Hart, if she recalled correctly stood a few feet away, arms crossed.

“I’m sorry?” Mia asked, confused.

“I’ve seen Harry Declan bring girls in before. Quiet ones. Pretty ones. They never stay long.”

“I’m here to work,” Mia said, steadying her tone.

Layla smirked. “So were they.”

She stepped closer.

“You think being close to him means you’re special? That he sees something unique in you?” Her smile thinned. “You’re a new toy. That’s all. And when he’s done, you’ll be discarded with a non-disclosure agreement and a broken ego.”

The words hit harder than Mia expected. She opened her mouth to respond, but Layla was already walking away, heels clicking like gunfire against the floor.

Mia sat at her desk for five full minutes before her pulse calmed enough to breathe. She was about to start typing up her meeting notes when the door to Harry’s office opened.

“Inside,” he said.

Her body reacted before her brain did.

His office door clicked shut behind her.

Then locked.

Her skin prickled.

“You handled the meeting well,” he said. “Though I noticed your hands were shaking.”

She kept her eyes down. “There was a lot of tension in the room.”

“There always is when someone new sits at the table,” he said, walking around her. She could feel his presence at her back. “Especially someone I’ve placed beside me.”

“I didn’t ask for that,” she said quietly.

“No,” he murmured. “But you didn’t refuse it either.”

She turned to face him. “Why did you bring me in there?”

He stopped, just a few inches away now.

“Because you’re smart. Because I trust your instincts. And because I wanted to see what you’d do under pressure.”

“And what did I do?”

“You survived.”

A beat.

"Barely.”

Her chest rose and fell quickly. “One of your executives cornered me afterward. She said I was a distraction.”

Harry’s jaw tightened just slightly. “Layla always had trouble keeping her emotions out of the boardroom.”

“She implied this job is something else. Something it’s not.”

His gaze sharpened.

“And what do you think it is, Mia?”

“I think this job is real. And I think I earned it,” she said firmly.

Harry stepped closer, his voice dropping into dangerous softness.

> “Then earn it.”

He held her gaze.

“Work harder. Be smarter. And above all—don’t let anyone control how you see yourself. Not even me.”

His words should have steadied her. Instead, they set her spinning.

But before she could say anything more, he turned away.

“Mia,” he said without looking back, “close the door behind you.”