Chapter 6

By the time Cassian returned to Devereaux Holdings, he had less than twelve hours left to make his decision.

He had spent most of the evening at Voss Holdings waiting for Seraphina to change her mind, but she hadn’t even bothered to come downstairs. That annoyed him more than it should have. He walked into his office and dropped the Bellamy file onto his desk.

“Three hundred and fifty million,” his CFO said, following him inside. “That’s what Voss Holdings is paying.”

“I know.”

“We could still increase our offer.”

Cassian turned toward him. “To what?”

“Three hundred and sixty. Maybe three hundred and seventy.”

“No.”

His CFO frowned. “Then we’ve lost Bellamy.”

“We already lost it.”

His CFO went quiet.

Cassian walked toward the windows and looked down at the city. The lights stretched across the streets below, but his mind was still back at Voss Holdings. Seraphina had known he was waiting for her. She had known exactly what she was doing when she told him to stay downstairs, and she had made him wait anyway.

He should have been thinking about Bellamy. The company had been important to Devereaux Holdings for months, and losing it would force them to reconsider several parts of their expansion plans. Instead, he kept thinking about her.

“Send me everything we have on Seraphina Voss,” he said.

His CFO looked at him. “The CEO?”

“Yes.”

“We already have her company profile.”

“I don’t want her company profile.”

“What are you looking for?”

Cassian turned from the window. “Where she came from.”

His CFO hesitated. “There’s not much.”

“Then find more.”

He nodded and left.

Cassian sat behind his desk and opened the file Seraphina had given him.

Three hundred million dollars. A profitable offer, the deal his board would usually have accepted without much argument. But this wasn’t a normal negotiation. She had walked into his office, looked him directly in the eye, and given him forty-eight hours to decide whether he wanted to do business with her. Then, less than a day later, she had taken Bellamy from him. It was almost insulting.

Cassian glanced at the clock. He had until morning.

He picked up his phone. “Get the intelligence team in here.”

His assistant answered immediately. “They’re already working on Ms. Voss.”

“Good. I want the report tonight.”

“I’ll let them know.”

He ended the call.

Something about Seraphina Voss didn’t sit right with him. Sure the way she negotiated was part of it but that wasn't all there was to it. He had dealt with people far more aggressive than her. It was the feeling he had whenever he looked at her, that strange sense that he had seen her before. He had dismissed it the first time. He couldn’t dismiss it anymore.

~

Seraphina was still at Voss Holdings the following morning when her assistant walked into her office.

She looked up from her laptop. “Please tell me you brought coffee.”

“I brought coffee.”

“You’re my favorite person.”

“I thought I was irritating.”

“You can be both.”

Her assistant placed the cup on her desk. “Bellamy’s lawyers sent the revised papers.”

“Good.”

“And there’s something else.”

Seraphina took a sip of coffee. “There always is.”

“Devereaux Holdings has been asking questions.”

Her hand paused around the cup. “What kind of questions?”

“About you.”

Seraphina lowered the cup. “Me?”

“Your background. How long you’ve been with the family. Whether there’s anything before the public announcement.”

A small smile touched her mouth. “So he’s curious.”

“He’s investigating you.”

“I know.”

Her assistant stared at her. “You knew?”

“I would have been disappointed if he didn’t.”

She returned her attention to the laptop.

Her assistant remained where she was. “Should I be worried?”

“No.”

“You don’t sound worried.”

“Because I’m not.”

Cassian found nothing. That was the entire point.

The Voss family had been wealthy for generations, long before Seraphina ever became part of the picture. They had also been notoriously private. Keeping one of their children away from the public had never been unusual enough for anyone to question it.

As far as the world knew, Seraphina Voss had always been their daughter.

She had never been seen.

There were no photographs of her as a child, no society appearances, no interviews, and no old articles with her name attached. She had existed behind the walls of the Voss family estate while the rest of the world knew only that they had another child.

Then, five years ago, she had stepped into Voss Holdings.

That was when people finally saw her face.

By then, the story was already established. She was a Voss. The Voss family had raised her. She had grown up surrounded by their wealth and eventually entered the company, working her way up before taking the position of CEO.

Nobody had any reason to look beyond that.

The Voss family had never needed to pretend they were wealthy. They had been wealthy long before Seraphina appeared in public. They didn’t need to invent a company for her or manufacture a fortune around her name.

They only had to give the world a daughter it had never seen before. And the world had accepted her.

Her assistant picked up her tablet. “And the three hundred million offer?”

Seraphina looked at the clock. “Has he accepted?”

“Not yet.”

She smiled. “Then he has until the deadline.”

“You really think he’ll accept?”

“He’d be stupid not to.”

“That’s a strong statement.”

“He needs the partnership.”

“And you know that because?”

Seraphina looked back at her. “Because I know his business.”

Her assistant smiled. “Right.”

She turned to leave.

“Wait.”

She stopped. “Anything else?”

“Tell the legal team I want the Devereaux contract ready for signature by tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

“And if he waits until the last minute?”

“Then we’ll wait until the last minute.”

Her assistant nodded and left.

Seraphina leaned back in her chair. Cassian was investigating her. That was fine.

He could search all he wanted. He would find a wealthy family that had kept its daughter out of the public eye for years. He would find a woman who had entered the business world without ever having to explain where she came from.

He would find exactly what he was meant to find.

He wouldn’t find the woman he was actually looking for.

He couldn’t.She had made sure of that.

~

By late afternoon, Cassian finally received the report. He read it once. Then again.

There was nothing.

Seraphina Voss, the file said, was the daughter of the Voss family. She had been kept away from the public eye throughout her childhood at the family’s own insistence. The Voss holdings stretched across several industries and had carried weight for decades, long before anyone had reason to care whether the family had a daughter hidden away from the cameras.

She had stepped into the company five years ago and worked her way through the ranks before eventually becoming CEO.

There were no childhood photographs. No school records anyone could access. No old classmates willing to talk. Just silence, and then Seraphina Voss. Everything about the file was reasonable.

Almost too reasonable.

Cassian closed the folder. “There’s nothing?”

His head of intelligence shook his head. “Nothing that contradicts the family’s account. If anything, it’s watertight. Old money protecting one of their own isn’t exactly a red flag.”

“Keep looking.”

“We already have people checking old records.”

“Then check harder.”

The man nodded and left. Cassian looked at the clock. Less than eight hours now.

His phone rang.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Devereaux, the board wants your decision on the Voss contract.”

“Tell them I’ll have one tonight.”

He ended the call.

His eyes fell on the photograph of Seraphina that the intelligence team had left on his desk.

He picked it up.She was smiling at the camera. He studied her face.Nothing.

Then he remembered her standing in Bellamy’s office. The way she had looked at him, the way she had smiled when she realized he was angry, the way she had said his name without hesitation, as though it cost her nothing at all.

Something was wrong.He didn’t know what.

The file told him she was a stranger with a legitimate name and a legitimate fortune behind her. Every instinct that had served him in business told him to believe it.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something. His phone buzzed.

A message from Seraphina.

“The deadline is approaching, Mr. Devereaux.”

Cassian stared at the screen. He typed a reply. “I’m aware.”

Her response came almost immediately. “Good.”

He smiled despite himself. She was enjoying this. That irritated him. For some reason, it also made him want to see her again.

He put the phone down. Less than eight hours.

Cassian had never liked being rushed into decisions, and he had even less patience for things he couldn’t explain.

Seraphina Voss was both.