CHAPTER ONE

—LENA:

“I heard she fucked him to get this job.”

I froze where I stood, the tray suddenly feeling heavier in my hands as Victoria's voice drifted from the break room. For a moment, I wondered if I had heard wrong, but the laughter that followed erased any doubt.

“I mean, it's so obvious,” Celine said with a laugh, her voice sharp and unpleasant. “Have you seen her? She barely knows how to do anything around here. Why would someone as powerful as Sebastien keep her around this long if she wasn't warming his bed?”

Victoria snorted. “She's probably under his desk as we speak, choking on his cock. That's probably the only thing she's actually good at.”

Their laughter echoed through the room, ugly and cruel, and heat rushed to my face. Anger, humiliation, and disbelief tangled together inside me until I could barely think straight. I'd spent the last three weeks working harder than I ever had in my life. Three exhausting weeks learning Sebastien Vale's impossible schedule, memorizing contracts, anticipating his demands before he voiced them, and somehow surviving under a boss who had a reputation for destroying assistants and replacing them within days. 

I understood why people were surprised I was still employed, but reducing all my effort to a cheap rumor about sleeping my way into the position felt like a slap across the face. Before I could stop myself, I pushed the break room door open. Both women immediately turned toward me.

“Oh, look who's here,” Celine purred. “Lena, we were just talking about you.”

I ignored her and walked straight to the coffee machine. If they wanted a reaction, they weren't getting one. My hands remained steady as I prepared Sebastien's coffee, despite the storm raging beneath my skin.

“Is that for Sebastien?” Celine asked sweetly. “You do know he likes his coffee black, right?”

I slowly turned and met her gaze. “Thank you for the unsolicited reminder, Celine. I've been handling his orders for the past three weeks, and I've been doing just fine.”

Victoria laughed. “I'm sure you have, among other things.”

The two women dissolved into another round of giggles.I was just opening my mouth to finally tell them what I thought when the door swung open behind us.

“It's been ten minutes, Miss Moreau. Have you forgotten how to operate a coffee machine?” The deep voice instantly silenced the room.

“Mr. Vale,” Celine gasped.

Sebastien Vale stood in the doorway, tall and impeccably dressed, his slate-grey eyes sharp enough to cut through steel. His gaze swept over the room before settling briefly on Victoria and Celine. “Aren't you both supposed to be working?”

“Of course, sir. We were actually just leaving.” They practically tripped over themselves getting out of the room.

The moment they disappeared, silence settled between us. Sebastien's gaze shifted to me, and my pulse instantly betrayed me. It always did around him. There was something unnerving about the way he looked at people, as though he could strip away every defense and see exactly what they were trying to hide. Most days I convinced myself that the strange awareness between us existed only in my imagination, but then he would look at me for a second too long and every sensible thought would vanish from my head.

“My office,” he said. The words were simple, yet they still made my stomach tighten. “You have five minutes.”

I made it there in three. When I stepped inside, Sebastien didn't even look up from his tablet. He simply extended one hand. I placed the coffee into it and our fingers brushed. The contact lasted less than a second, yet heat shot through me so quickly that my breath caught. My entire body became painfully aware of him. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and I wondered if he had felt it too. 

The thought alone sent another wave of warmth through me, because as much as I hated admitting it, I was constantly aware of him. A glance. A touch. The sound of his voice. Everything affected me far more than it should have.

“The Zhao contract,” he said evenly. “I need physical copies prepared by eleven-thirty.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Miss Moreau?” His eyes finally lifted to mine. “Next time Victoria and Celine decide to discuss your sex life, don't just stand there. It's pathetic.”

My face immediately burned. Of course he had heard everything. “I was handling it,” I said quietly.

“You were standing there frozen like a deer.” He leaned back slightly, studying me with an intensity that made my stomach twist. It should have annoyed me how easily he could see through me, yet there was something equally intoxicating about having his complete attention. “If you're going to work for me, you'll need to grow a spine.”

I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him I was perfectly capable of defending myself. Instead, I bit the inside of my cheek. I needed this job more than I needed the satisfaction of winning an argument with him. “Of course, sir.”

“Good. Now get out.”

I turned toward the door, humiliation still simmering inside me, when his voice stopped me. “Oh, and Lena?”

My hand froze on the handle.

“They aren't wrong about one thing.”

My heart immediately began pounding. “And what's that, sir?”

His gaze slowly traveled over me, deliberate enough to make my skin burn. By the time his eyes settled on my mouth, I was struggling to breathe normally. “You do look at me like you want something.”

Heat flooded my body. For one terrible second, I couldn't speak. “I don't know what you mean, sir.”

“Yes, you do.” His voice dropped lower. “Every time you walk through that door, your pulse races. Your pupils dilate, and you look at me like you're trying to decide whether to run away or come closer.”

My breath caught. “Mr. Vale—”

“Don't lie.”

He rose from his chair and slowly rounded the desk. Every movement was controlled, confident, and entirely too distracting. The closer he came, the harder it became to think. His eyes settled on my throat as I swallowed. “Right there,” he murmured. “Your pulse. It's racing.”

The air between us suddenly felt too thick to breathe. “And you’re shaking, Lena.”

He was close enough that I could smell his cologne. Something dark, expensive, and dangerously addictive. It wrapped around me and clouded my thoughts until I could barely remember how to breathe. “Tell me, Miss Moreau,” he murmured. “What is it you want from me?”

A hundred answers crowded my throat. I wanted to keep my job. I wanted to stop reacting to him like my body belonged to someone else whenever he looked at me. I wanted to stop noticing how broad his shoulders were, how commanding his voice sounded, how every room seemed to bend around him the moment he entered.

Most of all, I wanted this impossible attraction to disappear. Because wanting Sebastien Vale was a terrible idea. He was my boss. A man completely out of my league. A man who could ruin my career with a single word.

Yet standing there beneath his gaze, every sensible thought deserted me. My body betrayed me completely, responding to him in ways I hated and secretly craved at the same time. But if I admitted any of that, then Victoria and Celine would win and every rumor would become true. So I swallowed hard and forced myself to answer. “Nothing, sir.”

His lips curved into something cruel and amused. "Liar."

Then his phone buzzed and the moment shattered.He stepped back and slipped his mask back into place so quickly it almost made me question whether any of it had happened at all.

“Get back to work, Moreau.”

I escaped before my legs gave out beneath me. By six o’clock, my eyes were burning and my head ached from staring at spreadsheets and contracts all day. The office had mostly emptied out. Employees were already heading home to enjoy their Friday evening freedom while I packed my bag and prepared to do the same.

That was when Sebastien’s office door opened. He stepped out wearing his suit jacket, his tie still perfectly knotted despite the long day. His eyes found mine immediately across the nearly empty floor.

“Miss Moreau.”

My stomach flipped. “Yes, sir?”

“Cancel your plans. You’re staying late tonight.”

I glanced toward the elevator. It was almost here.

“But, sir—”

“No buts.” His tone left no room for argument. “The Zhao deal closes at midnight. I need you here.”

My heart sank. No. God, no. Being trapped alone with Sebastien in an empty office for another six hours sounded like a special kind of torture.

The last time we’d worked overnight, I’d spent half the evening hiding in the bathroom trying to get my body under control because every glance, every command, every brush of his hand had left me embarrassingly affected. I didn’t trust myself around him. And lately, I was starting to suspect he knew it.

Still, I nodded. What choice did I have? “Of course, Mr. Vale.”

Behind me, I heard footsteps approaching the elevators. Victoria and Celine, they had clearly overheard. “Staying late again?” Victoria asked sweetly.

“On a Friday night, too,” Celine added. “How dedicated.” The elevator doors closed around their laughter.

Sebastien never looked in their direction. His eyes remained fixed entirely on me. “Lena.”

My pulse jumped.

“My office. Now.”

Every instinct in my body screamed for me to run. Instead, I crossed the empty floor toward him. The office suddenly felt far too quiet. And when I stepped inside, the door closed behind us with a loud click that seemed to echo through my entire body, settling deep beneath my skin.