Rival Moves

My phone buzzes before I even sit down.

Not a cute buzz either. The sharp kind that slices through your chest because your body knows something’s wrong before your brain catches up.

Unknown sender. Clean subject line. Too clean.

We’ve been watching your work. Coffee?

I stare at it, thumb hovering, heart already racing. I’m still outside the coffee shop. Leo’s words are still crawling under my skin. You can’t hide from me. I hate how true that feels.

I lock my phone and shove it into my bag like it might explode.

Work doesn’t give me time to breathe anyway.

By the time I get to my desk, the office is already buzzing. People whisper when I pass. Not subtle. Never subtle. Someone laughs too loudly behind me. Someone else stops talking the second I turn.

Pressure cooker. That’s what this place has become.

I open my laptop and my inbox floods.

Revisions. Deadlines. A meeting moved up. Another one added. My calendar looks like a bad joke.

Then another email slides in.

Same sender.

We think you’re wasted where you are.

My stomach twists.

This isn’t random.

I click it open, heart pounding. The email is short but sharp. Compliments wrapped in quiet threat. They name my project. They mention numbers only internal teams should know. They don’t name Leo, but he’s there between every line.

A competing startup. Everyone knows them. New money. Loud confidence. The kind of place that promises freedom and burns you out fast.

They want me.

I sit back, dizzy.

By noon, I’m called into a conference room I didn’t schedule.

Leo is already there.

He doesn’t sit. He stands by the window, arms crossed, jaw tight. He looks calm, but I know him. This is the kind of calm that comes right before something breaks.

“You got the email,” he says.

Not a question.

My chest tightens. “You read my inbox now?”

“No,” he says. “They emailed me first.”

That lands like a slap.

“Why?”

“Because they’re stupid,” he replies flatly. “And because they wanted leverage.”

I drop my bag on the chair. “So what, now you’re here to warn me?”

“I’m here to make sure you don’t make a mistake.”

I laugh, sharp and humorless. “You don’t get to decide that.”

He turns to face me fully. His eyes are dark. Focused. Dangerous in that quiet way.

“They’re offering you things they can’t give,” he says. “They’ll use you. Burn you. Then replace you.”

“And you won’t?” I fire back.

That hits something. His jaw tightens. “I already invested in you.”

“I’m not an asset.”

“You are to them,” he says. “You’re more to me.”

The room feels smaller.

Control.

“I didn’t ask you to step in,” I say.

“And yet you need me to,” he replies.

I hate that he’s right.

He moves closer. Not touching. Never touching. He knows exactly how much space to leave to drive me insane.

“I told them no,” he says.

My breath catches. “You what?”

“I shut it down.”

“You don’t get to do that,” I snap. “That was my choice.”

“They were never going to play fair,” he says. “I did what I had to.”

I stand, heart pounding. “You’re trying to cage me.”

“I’m trying to protect what’s mine.”

The words hang between us, heavy and loaded.

“I don’t belong to you,” I whisper.

His gaze drops to my mouth for half a second. “You don’t want to lie to me.”

Silence. Loud. Ugly. Electric.

Someone knocks on the door. The spell breaks.

The rest of the day is chaos.

Design files go missing. Feedback gets “lost.” A meeting is suddenly canceled and then rescheduled without me. Kayden smirks when I pass his desk. He knows something. I can feel it.

Sabotage. Clean and quiet.

By the time the office empties, my head is pounding.

Leo finds me again. Of course he does.

“You’re staying late,” he says.

“So are you,” I reply.

“Come with me.”

“Where?”

“My office.”

I hesitate. Every instinct screams don’t. Every other part of me already moves.

The door shuts behind us. Locked. Not dramatic. Just final.

He pours two glasses of water. Slides one toward me.

“Drink,” he says.

I do. My hands shake.

“They’re digging,” he says. “Not just at you. At the company.”

My heart stutters. “What does that mean?”

“It means someone wants me distracted,” he says. “And you’re the easiest way to do it.”

I laugh softly. “Figures.”

He steps closer again. The air shifts. Charged. My skin buzzes.

“You should take the offer,” he says suddenly.

I blink. “What?”

“Go to the meeting,” he continues. “Hear them out.”

“You just shut them down.”

“I reopened it,” he says. “On my terms.”

That scares me more than anger.

“You’re playing a game,” I say.

“Yes.”

“And I’m the board?”

“You’re the prize,” he says quietly.

My breath catches. Heat crawls up my spine. This isn’t safe. This isn’t smart. This is everything I promised myself I’d avoid.

“Why do you care so much?” I ask.

He looks at me for a long second. No armor. No mask.

“Because losing you once nearly destroyed me,” he says. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

The room goes still.

He steps even closer. Close enough that I can feel the warmth of him. Close enough that my body leans before my mind can stop it.

His hand lifts. Stops inches from my waist.

“Tell me to stop,” he says.

I should. I don’t.

Instead, I whisper, “You’re crossing a line.”

His mouth curves slightly. “You drew that line.”

The tension snaps when my phone buzzes again.

We both freeze.

I step back, heart racing, and pull it out.

New email. No sender.

He’s not the only one being watched.

My blood runs cold.

I look up at Leo. He reads my face instantly.

“What is it?” he asks.

I hand him the phone.

He reads the message. His expression darkens in a way I’ve never seen before.

Real danger.

“This just got bigger,” he says.

I swallow hard. “Someone’s undermining you.”

“And using you as the door,” he replies.

My phone buzzes again.

Another message.

Choose carefully, Skye. Everyone’s lying.

I meet Leo’s eyes. For the first time, I don’t see control or power.

I see fear.

And that scares me more than anything else.