All Chapters of HIRED BY THE RUTHLESS CEO : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

65 Chapters

Chapter 21 - The Point of No Return: The kiss

Damien’s POVKissing her would be the worst decision I could make and I’m going to do it anyway.Her words hang in the air between us. I should hate you too. But she doesn’t. I can see it in her eyes, feel it in the way she leans into my touch instead of pulling away.Every rational part of my brain screams at me to step back. To restore professional distance. To remember why she’s here, not as a woman who makes my chest ache with something other than grief, but as David Holt’s daughter. The final piece of my revenge.But standing here on this rooftop, with the wind whipping around us and the city sprawled below like a universe that doesn’t care about our pain, I can’t remember why revenge ever mattered more than this.“This is a mistake,” she whispers.“The biggest one yet.” My other hand settles on her waist. “But I can’t seem to stop making it.”Neither of us moves. Neither pulls away.My forehead touches hers. Our breaths mingle in the small space between us. “Tell me to stop.” H

Chapter 22 - The Weight of What We Have Done

Aria’s POVI spend the weekend avoiding Sophie's pointed questions and hating myself for wanting him to kiss me again.Saturday morning, I wake up touching my lips. Again. It's become an unconscious habit since Friday night—my fingers drifting to my mouth like they're trying to confirm the kiss actually happened. That I didn't imagine the way Damien Cross held me on that rooftop like I was something precious instead of something to destroy."You're doing it again," Sophie says from the kitchen doorway.I drop my hand quickly, guilt flooding through me. "Doing what?""That thing where you touch your lips and get this look on your face." She crosses her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "You've been doing it since you got home Friday night. Want to tell me what happened?""Nothing happened.""Aria." Her voice goes soft. "I've known you since we were eighteen. I know what 'nothing' looks like on you, and this isn't it."I pull my knees to my chest on the couch, suddenly feeling very s

Chapter 23 - Before the Fall

Aria's POVI arrive at his office on Tuesday morning, expecting a cold dismissal, but instead I find something that looks almost like vulnerability.The executive floor is empty at 6:55 AM. My heels echo on the polished floor as I approach Damien's office, each step feeling like walking toward either salvation or destruction.The door is already open.Damien stands by the window, backlit by early morning sun. He's dressed impeccably as always—charcoal suit, crisp white shirt—but there's something different about his posture. Less controlled. Almost uncertain."You came," he says without turning around."You asked me to.""I thought you might ignore it. Would have been the smart thing to do."I close the door behind me. "When have I ever done the smart thing where you're concerned?"That makes him turn. His eyes find mine, and I see it immediately—the same conflict I've been wrestling with all weekend. Want and guilt and desperate confusion all tangled together."I didn't sleep much du

Chapter 24 - Exposed

Aria's POVVictoria's expression tells me she knows exactly what she just walked in on—and she's going to weaponize it.I make it to my desk before my hands start shaking. The coffee Damien made sits abandoned in his office, along with whatever fragile understanding we were building. All of it destroyed by Victoria's perfectly timed entrance.How long was she watching? What exactly did she see?The questions spiral through my mind as I boot up my computer with trembling fingers. We weren't kissing. We weren't even touching when she opened the door—not really. Just Damien reaching for my hand. Just me looking at him like he was something other than my tormentor.Just enough to be damning.My phone buzzes. A text from that same unknown number—the one I know is Damien:Stay calm. She saw nothing conclusive.I want to believe him. Want to think Victoria's knowing smile was just her usual predatory expression. But I've been her target for weeks now. I know how she operates. She doesn't nee

Chapter 25 - Dangerous Games

Damien’s POVVictoria is making her move, and I underestimated how dangerous she'd become when threatened.I pace my office long after Aria leaves, replaying this morning's disaster. Victoria's timing was too perfect. Her expression too knowing. She didn't stumble upon us by accident—she was looking for exactly what she found.My phone rings. Henry."We have a problem," he says without preamble."What kind of problem?""The Victoria kind. She hired a private investigator three weeks ago. He's been documenting your interactions with Aria Holt."The words hit like ice water. "Three weeks? Before this morning?""Before you even kissed her on the roof Friday night." Henry's voice is grim. "She's been watching you both for a while, Damien. Collecting evidence. Building a case."I sink into my chair, the implications crashing over me. "What kind of evidence?""Photos of you two in meetings. Timestamps of private conversations. Security footage from the building—though she shouldn't have acc

Chapter 26 - Too Late to Turn Back

Aria’s POVVictoria's threat hangs over me, but I can't stay away from him—and that terrifies me.The lobby of Damien's building is all marble and mirrors, reflecting my anxiety back at me a thousand times over. The chandeliers above cast fractured light across the polished floors, making the space feel both opulent and oppressive. I shouldn’t be here. I definitely shouldn’t be taking the private elevator to his penthouse at nine o’clock on a Tuesday night. My reflection in the mirrored walls looks like a stranger—wide-eyed, lips pressed tight, clutching my bag as if it’s a lifeline. I barely recognize myself anymore.But his text was clear: We need to talk. Come to my place.At Silverlake Heights, where Damien lives in a modern mansion perched above the city, the private elevator hums softly as it ascends. My stomach twists with every floor we pass. I’ve spent the last twelve hours replaying Victoria’s message in my head, her venomous words slicing through me: You’re finished, Aria.

Chapter 27 - The Intimacy

Aria’s POVMy blazer hits the floor, followed by his tie. Within moments, our clothes were gone, discarded without thought.I caught myself admiring the sharp lines of his abs and the strength in his broad shoulders—power and vulnerability laid bare. He lifts me easily, and my legs curled instinctively around his waist. I caught the way he admired my breasts —firm but soft, pink nipples hardened with anticipation.We both shared a silent excitement, a fiery hunger for this stolen moment.The city sprawls below us through the window—thousands of lights, people either strolling or driving , and none of it matters except this moment.We don't make it to his bedroom. Don't make it past the living room. both of us too desperate to slow down. His hands traced my skin, from my nipples to my back, and to my butt, smooching me with reverence and urgency, as if he’d awaited this night his entire life. The foreplay is intense.He pressed me hard against the floor-to-ceiling window, my skin bu

Chapter 28 - Loosing Control

Damien’s POVI've crossed every line I swore I wouldn't cross, and I don't care anymore.The elevator doors close on Aria's stricken face, and I stand in my living room like an idiot, surrounded by evidence of what we just did. Her blazer is still on the floor. The scent of her perfume lingers in the air.I grab my phone, pulling up the security feed for the building's entrance. There—Aria exits, walks to the corner, gets into a cab. And there, across the street, is the black sedan we've been tracking for weeks.The investigator.I watch as he raises his camera, capturing her departure. Time stamping her exit for Victoria's case file.My hand tightens on the phone until the screen cracks slightly."Fuck." I throw it on the couch, pacing to the windows where I had her pressed against the glass hours ago.This was supposed to be about strategy. About coordinating our response to Victoria's threats. About protecting us both from her schemes.Instead, I crossed the one line I promised mys

Chapter 29 - Heat of Consequence

Damien’s POVThe board call connects at exactly 7 AM. Nine faces in boxes on my screen, all looking varying degrees of annoyed at the early hour."This better be good, Cross," Jonathan Reeves says. He's the board member Victoria's been courting. The one most likely to side with her."It's not good." I pull up the first document. "It's necessary. I have evidence that Victoria Cross has been embezzling from Cross Technologies for at least two years."The silence is deafening.Catherine Park, another board member, leans forward. "That's a serious accusation.""I have serious evidence." I share my screen, walking them through the shell companies, the suspicious payments, the lack of deliverables. "Over $800,000 in the past eighteen months alone, funneled to companies that exist only on paper.""This is ridiculous." Victoria's voice cuts through, sharp and angry. "Those are legitimate consulting fees for services rendered.""Then you'll have no problem providing documentation of those serv

Chapter 30 - Shattered Illusions

Aria POVWe're caught in a pattern that's toxic and addictive—cruel in public, desperate for each other in private.The photos hit every device I own simultaneously. My phone. My laptop. My work email. Each one more damning than the last.Me and Damien through his penthouse window. The angle leaves nothing to interpretation.I stare at my phone screen in my tiny Koreatown apartment, my hands shaking so badly I almost drop it. Sophie's traveled. I'm alone with the evidence of my worst decision.My work email pings. Again. And again.I don't need to open them to know what they say. The subject lines tell the story: "Saw the photos." "Is this real?" "Aria, what were you thinking?"Another email. This one from Victoria, sent to my personal address: You should have disappeared when I gave you the chance. Now everyone knows exactly what you are.I'm going to be sick.My phone rings. Mom. I silence it.It rings again. Dad.Then Sophie. Then a number I don't recognize.I turn it off completel

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