THE CASE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Aria tried to tell herself that Damon Reed didn’t intimidate her.

Not his reputation, not his wealth, not the way his presence filled a room like a storm cloud ready to break.

But as she sat alone in the conference room, waiting for the first official briefing on the Reed Corporation audit, her hands betrayed her—trembling slightly around her pen.

She forced them still.

You worked your whole life for this. Don’t act like a rookie now.

The door opened abruptly, and a group of senior partners walked in, followed by a few associates. Conversations quieted when Damon entered last, moving with the lazy confidence of a man used to controlling everything he touched.

His cold gaze swept over the room…then locked on her.

Aria’s pulse betrayed her again.

The partners began the briefing.

“Reed Corporation is undergoing a routine audit,” Mr. Harrison said. “We’ve done this before. Usually, it goes smoothly.”

“Usually,” Damon repeated, lowering himself into the chair at the head of the table. His gaze flicked to Aria again. “This year is…different.”

Different?

Aria’s attention sharpened.

Mr. Harrison cleared his throat. “We’ve received notice of an anonymous complaint. Allegations of financial misconduct.”

A ripple of shock spread through the room.

Aria frowned. “Is there evidence?”

Damon’s eyes shifted toward her, slow and deliberate. “If there were evidence, Miss Donovan, you wouldn’t be needed.”

Some people laughed quietly. Aria didn’t.

She turned back to Harrison. “What exactly was the allegation?”

The room fell silent—everyone waiting to see if someone would dare answer.

It was Damon who finally spoke.

“Fraud,” he said. “Large-scale.”

Then, after a beat: “And internal.”

Aria’s chest tightened. Internal fraud meant betrayal—someone inside his company had turned against him. And someone outside wanted to expose it.

“Do we have names?” she asked.

Damon’s jaw flexed. “Not yet. But whoever filed it knows far too much.”

Aria felt his gaze drilling into her. When she looked at him, something dark flickered in his eyes.

He wasn’t afraid of being investigated.

He was angry.

Angry that someone would dare threaten him.

“Miss Donovan,” Damon said, voice smooth but sharp enough to cut, “you’ll be reviewing the complaint, tracking the source, and reporting directly to me.”

Several heads snapped toward her.

A junior associate? Reporting to him?

Aria swallowed. “Why me?”

For a moment, Damon didn’t answer.

Then he leaned back, studying her like she was a puzzle only he could solve.

“Because,” he said, “you’re new. Clean. Unconnected to anyone in my company or this firm.”

A pause.

“And you’re not afraid of me.”

A few people sucked in their breath. Aria felt heat rise to her cheeks—but not from embarrassment.

She stared back at him.

“Should I be?”

His smirk was slow, wicked. “Most people are.”

“I’m not most people.”

He held her stare for a beat too long. Something unspoken sparked between them—challenge, tension…interest.

Mr. Harrison cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Moving on—Miss Donovan, you’ll have access to all the necessary files. But understand this investigation is confidential. One misstep could cost us the entire case.”

Damon’s gaze hardened.

“And cost you much more.”

Aria felt the warning in his voice, dark and unmistakable.

She should have been intimidated.

Instead, she felt…energized.

As the meeting ended, partners filed out quickly, eager to avoid Damon’s scrutiny. Aria gathered her notes when she sensed him approaching.

She didn’t look up until his shadow fell over her.

“Miss Donovan,” he said quietly, “walk with me.”

She followed him into the hallway, her heels clicking softly against the marble. Damon didn’t speak until they were alone near the glass window overlooking Veridion City.

“You’re going to be thorough,” he said. “Obsessive. Relentless.”

“I already planned to be,” she replied.

“Good.” His voice dropped, dangerously soft. “Because if you disappoint me, if you betray my trust, if you tell a single soul about this investigation—”

“I won’t,” she cut in sharply.

Damon’s eyes flashed. “Interrupting me again.”

“Then get to the point, Mr. Reed.”

A slow smile curved his lips.

“You remind me of someone I used to know.”

“Is that a good thing?” she asked.

“No,” he said simply.

“It’s not.”

The bluntness hit her harder than she expected.

Before she could respond, Damon stepped closer—too close. The faint scent of his cologne wrapped around her, dark and addictive.

“This case is dangerous,” he said. “You’re in deeper waters than you realize.”

“I can handle it,” she whispered.

His gaze dropped to her lips for the briefest moment.

“Be careful, Aria.”

Hearing her name in his voice sent a shiver through her for reasons she didn’t want to name.

Then he turned and walked away, leaving her alone with her racing heartbeat and a truth she couldn’t ignore:

Whatever this case was…

It was going to change everything.

For both of them.