MY BROKEN RULE

THE REBRAND

CHAPTER TWO: THE REBRAND

Three weeks later, I walked into a glass-walled boardroom on the fortieth floor with a pitch deck under my arm and the absolute certainty that I would never see that man again. I'd made my peace with it. Mostly.

"Blackwood Group," my boss said, sliding the client folder across the table. "New hotel rebrand across three cities. They specifically requested your team."

The door opened behind me, and I heard Chloe's sharp inhale before I even turned around.

Julian stood in the doorway in a charcoal suit that fit like it had been made for exactly this moment, boardroom instead of nightclub, daylight instead of gold lamplight — and for one unguarded second, the composed businessman flickered, and I saw the same look he'd given me at the bar three weeks ago. Recognition. Then something sharper underneath it.

"Ms. Hayes," he said, offering his hand like we were strangers, like his mouth hadn't been at my throat three weeks earlier. "I believe we'll be working closely together."

I shook his hand, kept my face as unreadable as his, and felt my carefully rebuilt walls start, quietly, to crack.

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