Dangerously Mine

Ten

FLAVIAN'S POV

I was reviewing the deposition outline when my secretary informed me the lawyers had arrived.

I gathered the remaining papers and left my office, already in the mindset I used for situations like this. Depositions weren’t new. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to defend my company’s integrity or the technology people loved to misunderstand when it suited them.

I opened the conference room door.

And she was there.

Fiona Carlisle.

She didn’t belong in my office. She didn’t belong in this building. And she definitely didn’t belong anywhere near this case.

Yet there she stood, composed and painfully beautiful, holding a folder like she hadn’t occupied my thoughts for weeks.

Something tight and unwelcome pulled in my chest.

This deposition had just become complicated.

I didn’t hide my reaction fast enough. Fiona, however, gave nothing away. Her posture was perfect, expression neutral, eyes on the documents as though I were nothing more than a name on a legal notice.

I forced myself back under control and took my seat.

Richard Hale got straight to it. “You must be Mr. Flavian Navarro.”

“Yes.”

Introductions followed; associate, court reporter, clerk.

Fiona opened her binder and readied her notepad, movements precise and efficient. If she felt anything, she buried it well.

“I trust you received the subpoena,” Hale said. “We’ll proceed.”

The questioning began immediately.

Romano’s founding, Corporate structure,Software architecture,Data aggregation. Encryption protocols, Security permissions and Access logs.

Hale wasn’t just asking how the system worked. He was mapping responsibility, trying to suggest that Delaney’s concealment of transactions could be attributed to technological capability rather than deliberate human action.

A strategy.

Create enough technical complexity and accountability blurs.

It was smart.

I answered calmly, methodically, keeping my tone neutral and my explanations precise. Facts were safe. Facts couldn’t be twisted if you controlled how they were presented.

Still, my focus kept drifting.

Fiona sat beside Hale, documenting everything. Calm. Alert. Untouchable. She didn’t look at me unless necessary. Her spine stayed straight. Her pen never paused.

she was clearly well trained.

I hadn’t expected that to unsettle me.

Occasionally, Hale asked her for a document. She provided it instantly; organized and prepared. completely unflustered. Watching her work here, in this world, shifted something in my understanding of her.

She wasn’t out of place.

She belonged.

That realization sat heavily.

I had stepped into her life believing I was helping.

Now she stood in mine, composed, capable, impossible to dismiss.

The lines weren’t where I thought they were.

The deposition ended nearly two hours later. I stood and shook hands with Hale and his associate.

Then Fiona.

She looked at me fully for the first time.

Our hands met.

Her skin was warm.

I held on a fraction too long.

Her throat cleared softly as she withdrew with quiet professionalism, as if the contact meant nothing.

Maybe to her, it didn’t.

But as they left my office and the door closed behind them, one thing settled with uncomfortable certainty.

This wasn’t going to be the last time i saw her.

And I wasn’t sure how i was going to ensure that but i was looking forward to finding out.