Chapter Two – Cracks in the Ice
405 Words
Adrian’s POV
She didn’t belong here.
Not in my office. Not in this building. Not in my world.
The Vale Enterprises top floor was designed to be efficient, silent, and intimidating. People wore dark suits, spoke in low voices, and didn’t waste time on bright yellow dresses with floral prints.
Yet here she was.
She sat across from me like she owned the space, her posture straight but relaxed, crossing one leg over the other in a way that forced my gaze to follow the movement. Not that I would allow it to linger.
“Rescue your product launch,” she’d said.
Bold. Irritating. Intriguing.
I leaned back in my chair, deliberately letting the silence stretch. Most people broke within ten seconds under the weight of my stare. She didn’t fidget. She didn’t look away. If anything, she seemed amused.
“Tell me,” I said finally, “why you think you’re qualified to handle something my in-house team can’t.”
“Because your in-house team,” she said without hesitation, “is terrified of you. And terrified people don’t make creative decisions—they make safe ones. Safe isn’t going to save your launch.”
My jaw tightened. “You’re assuming fear is a bad thing.”
She smiled—a slow, infuriatingly confident curve of her lips. “Fear gets you obedience. But excitement gets you results.”
The audacity.
For a moment, I pictured telling her to leave. Ending this meeting before her sunshine-colored dress melted into the steel of my office. But instead, I heard myself say, “Fine. Prove it. You’ll work with me directly for the next month.”
Her brows rose, clearly not expecting that. “With you?”
“Yes. My schedule is… demanding. If you’re going to fix this, you’ll need to keep up.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “You mean keep up, or survive?”
For the first time in a very long time, I almost laughed.
“You tell me,” I murmured.
As she picked up her notebook and started outlining ideas, I found myself not listening to her words so much as watching the way her eyes lit up when she spoke. It was… distracting. Dangerous.
And completely unacceptable.
She wasn’t staying. She couldn’t stay.
But for now… I wanted to see what else she could do to make me forget I was supposed to be untouchable.
- Writer
