I wanted to say something clever, something to reset the power balance. But all I managed was, “You okay?”
She thumbed tears from the corners of her eyes, then grinned. “Are you?”
I almost smiled. “You’re even scarier up close.”
She closed her eyes, breathing deep. “Don’t ruin this, Gabriel.”
“Not planning on it.”
We straightened ourselves in silence, her readjusting her skirt, me searching for missing buttons and dignity. She sat on the edge of the desk, looking uncharacteristically small for once.
The air was different now. Not lighter, not really. Just changed.
She started to say something, then stopped.
I waited.
She tried again. “Tomorrow, we don’t talk about this. Not in the office.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
She exhaled, like she’d just set down a briefcase full of bricks. “Okay.”
We stared at each other, neither quite knowing what to do. I wanted to stay, but I knew I shouldn’t. If I stayed, I’d want to do it all over again, and that was the problem.
She watched me go, chin high, posture perfect. But there was something new behind her eyes, something raw and unfinished.
I closed the door, soft so the latch didn’t echo, and walked out into the marble hallway.
We’d crossed a line, and there was no going back.
Thank fuck the office was empty and we were all alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Eliza
“Are you aiming for the world’s most intimidating clickety-clack record?” Calvin stopped at my door, leaned in, and made a production of peeking over his glasses at my screen.
I didn’t look up. “It’s called ‘productivity.’ You should try it sometime.”
“My therapist says I should avoid high-stress environments.” He shuddered, which might have been an attempt at humor, or an involuntary reflex from seeing the dashboard in progress on my screen. The numbers were obscene, even for Valor’s current pace. If I’d had anything approaching a soul left after last night, the burning beneath my skin would have been a warning sign.
Instead, I felt nothing. Or, I felt nothing I’d let anyone see.
“Heard you’re leading the offsite this weekend.” Calvin tried again, this time sidling inside the office to hover against the filing case, arms folded like a self-hug.
I finished the slide, hit send, and finally met his gaze. “Do you have a reason to be here or are you just trying to annoy me?”
Calvin let out a sound that could have been a laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m here to ask a serious question: Are you going to be okay with Gabriel?”
“Are you asking because of what happened last time? Because I wasn’t even there. They all set the meeting room on fire without me.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, then shrugged. “You’re in rare form today, Liz.”
My jaw twitched. “If I’m in ‘rare form,’ it’s because I have an actual job to do. Unlike some.”
Calvin finally took the hint and slipped away. I watched him go, the silence settling around me like dust after a demolition. If I squinted, I could almost see the outline of what I’d been before Gabriel Valor detonated my composure on my desk last night.