MARRIED TO MY RUTHLESS BOSS

EIGHT; The Merger Begins

The board room was full of expensive suits and expensive people. Daniel owned most of them, either through loyalty or threat. The merger was being presented in less than an hour, and the entire future of Mallik Empire depended on getting the investors on board.

Daniel stood at the head of the table, reviewing his presentation one final time. Numbers, strategy, the vision of what Mallik Empire would become if they controlled the Ashford subsidiaries. It was perfect. Everything he did was perfect.

Sephora stood to his left, tablet in hand, watching his face for any signs that he needed something she could fix. She'd noticed, this week, that fixing things for him had become less about the job and more about wanting to see him succeed.

That was the problem. She cared now. And caring made you vulnerable.

'You're going to destroy them,' she said quietly, so only he could hear.

Daniel looked at her, and for a moment, the armor came down. 'You mean the presentation?'

'I mean whatever you set your mind to.' She smiled. 'Go be brilliant.'

He went. And he was brilliant. For forty-five minutes, Daniel Mallik stood in front of twelve of the country's most powerful investors and made them believe that his way was the only way. Not through pressure or manipulation, but through vision. Through certainty. Through the kind of confidence that came from knowing, absolutely, that he was right.

By the time he finished, the vote was unanimous.

The investors stood and applauded. Daniel shook hands, accepted congratulations, remained perfectly composed. But when he looked back at Sephora, standing by the wall, he saw her grinning at him with pure joy. And he felt something like pride, which was strange because he usually only felt pride for himself.

After the board room cleared, Daniel pulled her aside into an empty conference room.

'Did you just use an empty conference room to corner me?' she asked, amused.

'Yes.'

'That seems unprofessional.'

'I'm aware.' He closed the door. 'I wanted to do this without an audience.'

He kissed her. Not like a stolen moment or an accident. Like a choice. Like something he'd been thinking about for weeks and finally couldn't resist.

Sephora froze for half a second, then kissed him back. It was careful and real and felt like the first honest thing that had happened between them.

When they broke apart, Daniel rested his forehead against hers. 'That was—'

'A bad idea,' Sephora finished, but she didn't step away. 'So bad.'

'Terrible.'

'The worst.'

But neither of them apologized, and neither of them said it wouldn't happen again.

That night, the media was full of headlines about Mallik Empire's bold move. 'Mallik Merger Could Reshape Luxury Hospitality Industry.' 'Investors Love Daniel Mallik's Vision.' The business world was watching, and watching carefully.

It wasn't enough for the investors to approve. They also wanted stability. They wanted a CEO who was grounded, who had a life outside the business, who seemed like a safe bet for the long term.

On his way out of the office, Daniel's phone buzzed with a text from his mother: 'Saw the news. You're impressive. We should talk about the charity gala. You need a date.'

He looked at Sephora, gathering her things at her desk. She felt his gaze and looked up, meeting his eyes with a question in hers.

Daniel knew, in that moment, that he was about to do something complicated. Something that would either be the best decision he'd ever made or the worst.

He was going to blur the lines between business and personal. And he was going to drag her into it.