CHAPTER 3: THE COLLISION
675 Words
The file on Sienna’s desk was thinner than she’d expected—three pages. Allegations, all vague and frustrating.
Kade Ashford: suspected of corporate manipulation, witness intimidation, illegal acquisitions. Suspected. Never proven. Never investigated.
She’d spent two days digging. Every door led to a wall. Records vanished. Witnesses recanted. Evidence evaporated.
Someone was protecting him. Or everyone feared him. Probably both.
“You’re actually going through with this.”
Sienna looked up. Rachel Martinez stood in the doorway, two coffees in hand, concern etched across her face.
“Of course I am.”
Rachel set one cup down and sank into the chair. “Do you have a death wish?”
“I have a law degree and a perfect conviction record.”
“Sienna.” Rachel leaned forward. “Kade Ashford isn’t like the others. He doesn’t have power—he *is* power. The mayor takes his calls. Judges retire when he suggests it. The last person who investigated him transferred to Alaska.”
“Then maybe it’s time someone didn’t back down.”
“Or someone used common sense.” Rachel sighed. “This isn’t about justice. It’s survival. And Kade Ashford doesn’t let people survive if they threaten him.”
Sienna’s phone buzzed. Unknown number: *Meeting requested. Today, 6 PM. Ashford Tower, 60th floor. Come alone.*
She showed Rachel.
“Don’t go,” Rachel said. “This is a trap.”
“Or an opportunity.”
“To get killed!”
But Sienna was already standing, gathering files. She’d never backed down. Not now.
---
Ashford Tower was glass, steel, and arrogance, piercing the sky like a middle finger to humility. Her heels clicked across marble as she approached the private elevator.
The ride to sixty was silent. Too fast.
The doors opened into an office carved from shadows and ambition. At the window, back turned, stood Kade Ashford.
Photos didn’t do him justice.
He turned, and Sienna’s breath caught.
Kade was beautiful the way predators were—lethal grace, barely contained violence. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair, darker eyes that saw through her. A black suit worth more than her car. Confidence born from never hearing no.
“Ms. Reeves,” he said, voice deep as aged whiskey. “Thank you for coming.”
“I don’t recall having much choice.”
His lips curved. “You always have a choice. You chose to come—just like you chose to open a case against me.”
“You’re not above the law.”
“Kade,” he corrected, stepping closer. “I don’t claim to be above it. I simply exist in a different relationship with it.”
He was close. Too close. Heat radiated from him—cedar, smoke, danger.
She waited for the influence. For alpha dominance to crash over her.
Nothing.
Kade’s eyes narrowed. “Fascinating. They said you were immune. I had to see.”
“Disappointed?”
“Intrigued.” He circled her slowly. “Do you know what it’s like to have everyone bend? To never meet resistance?”
“Sounds boring.”
He laughed—rich, genuine, more dangerous than silence. “It is. Until now.”
“I’m not here to entertain you. I’m investigating—”
“Allegations that go nowhere,” he interrupted smoothly. “Because there’s no evidence.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, I’m not worried.” He stopped before her. “I’m fascinated. You walk into my territory, immune, determined to bring me down. Brave or foolish.”
“Maybe both.”
Something flashed in his eyes—approval, hunger.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said softly. “This game between us.”
“This isn’t a game.”
“Everything is a game, Sienna. And I always win.”
She should have felt afraid. Instead, she felt something electric.
She lifted her chin.
“There’s a first time for everything, Kade.”
The air crackled.
Kade smiled, slow and predatory. “Yes,” he agreed. “There is.”
- Writer
