CHAPTER TWENTY SIXTHE START OF SOMETHING COMPLICATED
1108 Words
The Monday morning air inside Ashe & Locke felt deceptively calm, but Arielle knew better. After the emotional storm she weathered over the weekend, stepping back into the corporate machine felt like wading into a riptide.
She sipped her coffee at her desk, trying to focus on her notes for the upcoming campaign meeting, but her thoughts kept drifting. Her mother's words echoed like venomous whispers in her mind: "After everything I sacrificed for you ungrateful brats." Arielle clenched her jaw.
"So, are you gonna tell me why you look like you wrestled with a hurricane this weekend and lost?" Nina's voice came from her side, dragging Arielle from her thoughts.
Arielle blinked. "You’re being dramatic."
Nina raised a brow and sat on the edge of Arielle’s desk. "Girl, your aura is straight-up smoke and wreckage. Spill."
With a quiet sigh, Arielle set her coffee down. "My mother showed up at our doorstep. Again."
Nina’s eyes widened. "Seriously? What the hell did she want this time?"
"Control. Guilt. Leverage. Pick one," Arielle muttered. "She wants to come back into our lives like she didn’t abandon us over and over. And when I told her no—when I told her she didn’t get to play house after years of being a nightmare—she turned it around on me. Said she sacrificed everything for us. For me."
Nina folded her arms, her voice low. "You okay?"
"I will be," Arielle said. "But I told her if she tries anything—anything at all—I’ll file for custody of my siblings. And she knows I’ll win."
Nina stared at her friend for a long beat, then nodded. "Damn right you will. But just in case she tries to pull anything shady, you know I got your back."
"Thanks," Arielle said softly, reaching for her notes again.
"By the way, did you see the Locke siblings in the lobby last week? All that elegance and tension in one place? You could cut the air with a diamond."
Arielle gave a small laugh. "Yeah. But there’s something strange there. Between them. Especially Damien. He never really talks about them, but... it’s obvious there’s history. Pain."
Nina leaned closer. "Family like that? Rich, powerful, beautiful? Always comes with secrets."
Arielle didn’t respond, but the thought lingered.
---
By late morning, the official launch meeting between Ashe & Locke and Ventra Tech was underway. The conference room buzzed with anticipation and restrained ambition. Ezra Delacroix stood at the head of the table, composed and magnetic as ever, while Damien took a seat two spots away, posture like stone.
Arielle sat beside Nina, trying to focus on her tablet but feeling the pull from both men in the room. Ezra’s occasional glances. Damien’s controlled silence. A silent battle neither had acknowledged.
Ezra smiled at the room. "We’re thrilled to be partnering with Ashe & Locke on this campaign. I’ve already been impressed with the ideas floating around your team. I’m particularly looking forward to working with Arielle on the branding vision."
Damien didn’t flinch, but his eyes darkened for the briefest second. Nina caught it. So did Arielle.
"We’re excited to begin," Damien said, his tone sharp with edge and diplomacy.
As the meeting unfolded, ideas flowed, timelines were set, and responsibilities were distributed. Ezra took every opportunity to pull Arielle into the spotlight, praising her insights, looping her into his side of the coordination.
When the meeting ended, Arielle stood, gathering her notes. Ezra waited a moment, then approached.
"Do you have a moment, Arielle?" he asked, voice low.
Damien remained in his seat, but his ears sharpened.
Arielle nodded. "Sure."
They stepped out into the hallway. Ezra walked slowly, hands in his pockets.
"I know work’s just started on the campaign," he said, "but I wanted to ask you something not entirely work-related."
Arielle tilted her head. "Okay."
"Have dinner with me. Tonight. No business. Just… two people who happen to work together on occasion."
Arielle hesitated. Nina’s voice echoed in her mind: You need to start living for yourself too. Let someone treat you well. Maybe let yourself enjoy the attention.
"You don’t have to decide right now," Ezra said gently. "But I meant what I said before. I think you’re brilliant. And I’d like to know more about you. Outside of these four walls."
She looked at him for a long second. "Okay."
"Okay?" he repeated, surprised.
She smiled faintly. "Yes. Dinner."
Across the hallway, unseen to them, Damien stood by the glass wall of the adjacent conference room, watching. He hadn’t moved since they’d left. His fingers flexed into fists at his side.
When Arielle walked back to her desk, Nina’s face lit up. "That was a long chat."
Arielle rolled her eyes but smiled. "We’re having dinner tonight."
Nina gasped. "You said yes?"
"Don’t sound so shocked."
"Oh honey, I’m not shocked. I’m proud. Finally letting someone show you off."
Arielle’s smile faded slightly. "It’s not that simple."
"No, it’s not," Nina said gently. "But it’s a step."
---
Later that afternoon, Damien sat at his desk, staring at the report on his screen but not reading a word. His thoughts churned.
Dinner. Ezra. Arielle.
He hadn’t even known about it until he overheard Nina’s exclamation. And now, it looped in his head like an echo chamber.
He thought of her lips on his under the stars. Of the way her eyes flickered with heat and confusion. Of the quiet strength in her voice when she stood her ground, in meetings, in life. And now she was slipping through his fingers.
He pushed away from the desk, standing abruptly.
Anastasia, walking past his door, arched an eyebrow. "You okay?"
"Peachy," Damien replied.
Anastasia studied her brother, and decided to ask the question she most certainly knew she already knew she had the answer.
“Was Miss Devereux the woman you danced with at your retreat gala?” she finally decided to ask.
Damien looked at her almost immediately, as if you ask how she figured it out, but he said nothing, and almost looked away immediately.
Anastasia smiled. She already got her answer. And from the look of things, she realized her brother has feelings for his employee.
So when he said he was okay, she didn’t believe him. "Heard about your newest competitor. Ezra’s not bad looking."
"Anastasia—"
"Relax," she said. "But maybe it’s time you ask yourself what you actually want before someone else takes it."
He didn’t respond. Because the truth was…
He didn’t know how to.
But one thing he did know—
The following days were going to be hell.
- Writer
