Dangerous Attachment

The elevators of Blackwood & Vale never sounded welcoming.

They opened with a soft metallic chime on the thirty-second floor, revealing polished marble floors, muted lighting, and an atmosphere so sharp it almost demanded silence. The associates moving through the hallway carried expensive briefcases and exhaustion beneath tailored suits, their footsteps quick, controlled, purposeful.

Everything in the firm breathed power.

And fear.

Vivian Cole adjusted the files pressed against her chest as she stepped out of the elevator, already mentally rehearsing the morning schedule in her head.

Nine-thirty strategy meeting.

Eleven o’clock conference call with the Harrington board.

Two witness statements to review before noon.

And somewhere between all that, she still had to convince Damien Blackwood not to destroy three junior associates before lunchtime.

Again.

Her heels clicked softly against the marble as she moved toward the corner office overlooking downtown Manhattan. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls framed the city beneath storm clouds, the skyline blurred by steady rain.

She barely made it to her desk before hearing his voice.

“Why,” Damien said coldly from inside his office, “would anyone submit a draft this careless under my name?”

Silence.

Poor Daniel.

Vivian placed her files down slowly and inhaled once before stepping toward the partially open office doors.

Inside, Damien Blackwood stood near the massive black desk, sleeves rolled to his forearms, one hand resting against his hip while the other held a marked-up legal document covered in red ink.

He looked composed.

That was always the frightening part.

Not the shouting.

Not the anger.

The control.

Daniel, one of the newer associates, looked seconds away from passing out.

“I—I thought—”

“You thought incorrectly.”

The words landed like a blade.

Vivian watched Damien toss the file onto the desk with enough force to make the younger lawyer flinch.

“Do it again,” Damien said. “Properly this time.”

Daniel nodded quickly, muttered an apology, then escaped the office like he’d just survived an execution.

The moment the doors closed behind him, silence settled heavily across the room.

Damien didn’t look up immediately. His attention remained on the document in front of him, jaw tense, dark hair slightly disheveled from what was probably another night spent at the office.

Vivian hated noticing things like that.

“Good morning,” she said carefully.

“Is it?”

She almost smiled.

Almost.

“You have the Harrington meeting in forty minutes,” she replied calmly, stepping farther into the office. “The board moved the call forward.”

That finally earned his attention.

Gray eyes lifted toward her.

Sharp. Intelligent. Exhausting.

There were moments when Damien Blackwood looked less like a lawyer and more like a man perpetually at war with the world around him.

Including himself.

“Reschedule lunch,” he said.

“You already canceled lunch twice this week.”

“I wasn’t aware you’d become concerned about my eating habits.”

“I’m concerned about your tendency to become intolerable when you haven’t eaten.”

A dangerous sentence.

The kind that would terrify anyone else in the firm.

But Damien only stared at her for a second longer before looking away again.

And somehow, that felt like victory.

Vivian crossed toward his desk and placed another folder in front of him.

“The Morrison case files.”

Damien opened the folder briefly before his expression darkened slightly.

“Morrison accepted outside representation?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Roman Ellis.”

The room shifted.

Not physically.

But something changed.

Vivian noticed the slight tightening in Damien’s jaw immediately.

Roman Ellis.

Even outside legal circles, the name carried weight. Wealthy. Influential. Brilliant. A corporate strategist known for turning lawsuits into public warfare.

And unfortunately for Blackwood & Vale, he’d just become their problem.

Damien leaned back slowly in his chair.

“I want every detail on Morrison Holdings before noon.”

“You’ll have it.”

“And Vivian?”

She paused near the door.

“If Ellis thinks he can corner this firm through intimidation tactics, he’s mistaken.”

There it was.

The thing about Damien Blackwood people feared most.

Not arrogance.

Certainty.

Vivian gave a small nod before leaving the office, though something uneasy settled in her chest as she closed the glass doors behind her.

Because she knew men like Damien.

Controlled.

Precise.

Dangerous when challenged.

But she also knew reputations like Roman Ellis’s didn’t grow from nothing.

Men like that enjoyed conflict.

Especially against opponents powerful enough to make the fight interesting.

Outside the office windows, thunder rolled quietly across the city.

The storm was getting worse.

By noon, the entire firm felt infected with tension.

Associates rushed between conference rooms while phones rang endlessly across the litigation floor. Vivian barely sat for more than three consecutive minutes, moving through paperwork, scheduling conflicts, witness revisions, and Damien’s increasingly impossible demands with practiced efficiency.

She was halfway through reviewing deposition notes when the receptionist called her extension.

“Vivian?”

“Yes?”

“There’s someone here requesting access to Blackwood’s office.”

Her brows pulled together slightly.

“Name?”

A pause.

Then:

“Roman Ellis.”

Vivian straightened instinctively.

That was fast.

Too fast.

“I’ll handle it,” she said.

The elevator doors opened moments later.

And for the first time that day, Vivian understood exactly why Roman Ellis unsettled people.

Confidence radiated from him effortlessly.

Not loud.

Not arrogant.

Controlled.

Deliberate.

He wore a charcoal suit without a single wrinkle, dark hair swept back neatly, expensive watch visible beneath his cuff as he stepped into the lobby with calm familiarity, like he belonged anywhere he walked into.

Including enemy territory.

But it was his eyes that caught her attention most.

Observant.

Amused.

Dangerously aware.

The receptionist looked visibly nervous standing beside him.

Roman’s gaze landed on Vivian almost immediately.

And stayed there.

Not inappropriately.

Not obviously.

Just long enough to make her suddenly conscious of herself beneath his attention.

Interesting, she thought.

Most men either tried too hard around powerful women or underestimated them completely.

Roman appeared to be studying her instead.

“You must be Ms. Cole,” he said smoothly.

His voice was calm, warm, confident enough to fill the room without effort.

Vivian maintained professional composure.

“Mr. Ellis.”

One corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“I was hoping Damien would be available.”

“Mr. Blackwood doesn’t accept unplanned meetings.”

“Not even from opposing counsel?”

“You’re not opposing counsel.”

“Not yet.”

That earned the smallest flicker of amusement in his expression.

And somehow, that felt dangerous.

Vivian folded her arms lightly.

“I can schedule an appointment.”

Roman glanced briefly toward Damien’s office through the glass hallway before looking back at her.

“Tell me something honestly,” he said quietly.

“That depends.”

“Is he always this difficult?”

Before Vivian could stop herself, the corner of her mouth twitched faintly.

Roman noticed.

Of course he noticed.

Something unreadable passed through his expression then. Interest, maybe.

Or curiosity.

Behind the office glass, Damien suddenly appeared.

And the entire atmosphere shifted.

His gaze moved first to Roman.

Then to Vivian.

Then back to Roman again.

Cold.

Controlled.

Sharp enough to cut through the room.

“Ellis,” Damien said flatly.

Roman’s expression remained relaxed.

“Blackwood.”

Vivian felt the tension immediately.

Two powerful men.

Two opposing forces.

And somehow, standing directly between them.

Neither looked away first.

Right there, she knew it was going to be a tough case between them.

"Should I prepare the conference room for both of you?"

she asked, meeting Damien's gaze.

"No" Damien said coldly

"I'm sure Ellis wouldn't mind talking in my office" he continued

"Whatever you say Blackwood" Ellis said sarcastically before following him inside his office.