The Ceo’s Secret Guard

Dismissed

Steph’s Pov:

The office felt colder that morning and it wasn't even the kind of cold that came from an overzealous air conditioner like the ones in this building, it was the kind that crept under your skin when you were already on edge and today? Trust me, I was on every type of edge you could think of

Damien Pierce had been in the building for only less than ten minutes, and somehow, the atmosphere had shifted already. I noticed how people sat straighter, voices dropped lower, and the click of keyboards became a cautious staccato instead of their usual chaotic rhythm. That was the type of hold Damien Pierce had on people!!!!

I was not immune to him though

From my desk, I could see him through the glass wall of the conference room ,head bent slightly as he scanned through a document, one hand in the pocket of his usual tailored suit, with the other holding a pen like it was an extension of his will.

“ Oh Mr Pierce, one look at him and you can tell he definitely did not belong in this world of cubicles and coffee, he looked like he had stepped right out of a magazine spread for power and precision,actually he always looked like something so unreal” I said, smiling to myself

And then, his gaze flicked up once…directly at me and for a second, I worried he may have managed to hear my thoughts

It wasn’t a long look, it only lasted for a moment, but it was enough to send my stomach into a slow, and yet rapid somersault, a feeling I didn't permit but had somehow managed to get me used to it

“Stephanie,you’re staring,” Nia who always felt the need to call my full name whispered from the desk beside mine without looking up from her computer.

There was this weird tension between myself and Nia, I didn't understand.

“I’m… not,” I lied, pushing my chair closer to my monitor. The spreadsheet in front of me suddenly became the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen as I tried to complete focus on it

But my mind wasn’t on quarterly projections. It was on the memory of his voice from last night’s conversation the one that had come after hours, unexpected, with no real reason except to say, You did well today. Four words and that was all. But they had replayed in my head a 100 times basically stealing my sleep.

God… what was this man even doing to me?

The glass door clicked open as he stepped out. My pulse kicked up as though it knew he was coming in my direction.

“Steph,” he said when he reached my desk, his voice low but steady. “My office. Five minutes.”

Five minutes. As if I had a choice, as if I ever had a choice, as if he didn't pull my right to a choice the moment he literally threatened me into this job

As I walked to his office, I found myself resisting the urge to fix my eyeliner and to make sure my hair was sitting perfectly in the low bun

When I finally entered into his office, he was standing by the window, the skyline of Manhattan sprawling behind him like his personal kingdom. The blinds let in soft slats of light, cutting across his face in shadows and gold.

“Close the door,” he said without turning around.

I obeyed.

He didn’t speak right away. Instead, he kept his eyes on the city, like he was weighing something bigger than both of us. When he finally looked at me, the intensity made me take half a step back.

“You’ve been here three weeks,” he said. “And you’ve done more in that time than people who’ve been here three years. I notice things like that.”

The compliment should have warmed me but It didn’t well at least not with his gaze pinning me like I was both a puzzle and the answer he’d been looking for.

“Thank you,” I managed to say.

He nodded once, but his expression didn’t soften not even in the slightest. “I also notice distractions,Miss Munroe. Be careful with them.”

The words stung more than I expected. “Are you… implying something, Mr Pierce?”

“On the contrary Miss Munroe, I am not implying,” he said. “Advising...See it as an advice”

For a moment, the air between us was a wire pulled tight ready to snap or spark.

I know I should have left then. I should have nodded, said yes, sir, and walked out like the employee I was supposed to be

But instead, I heard myself say, “Maybe distractions aren’t always a bad thing.”

“You have a problem Steph!! Yes youuu” I heard my mind yelling at me in disappointment and self sabotage

His jaw tightened, and for the first time, he stepped closer. Close enough that the scent of his cologne wrapped around me.

“You don’t know what you’re playing with,” he said quietly.

I didn't know what I was doing, I wasn't sure but it felt right at that moment, risky in fact but I couldn't hold myself back

“Maybe I do,” I replied before my courage could think better of it.

His eyes searched mine, and for a moment, I thought he might actually say something reckless. But then he took a step back, the cold Ceo mask sliding into place again as usual

“Meeting in twenty minutes. Don’t be late.”

And just like that I had been dismissed.

I walked out of his office with my pulse still hammering, knowing two things for certain one, I was already in far deeper than I should be, and two, whatever game this was, The almighty Damien Pierce had no intentions of losing.