The Invisible Queen

Chapter 3 ( By Chance)

It was one of those mornings when the entire floor of the House Committee on the Energy and Commerce seemed to move at twice it’s normal pace.

Phones rang constantly. Staff members hurried from one office to another, carrying folders and briefing papers. Conversations overlapped in the hallway, while the occasional sound of a printer added to the steady rhythm of the busy floor.

She barely noticed any of it.

As the executive assistant to Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher, she had learned that busy mornings were simply part of the job.

And today was no exception.

She stood beside the congresswoman’s desk, going over a stack of documents that needed her attention before the next meeting.

“These figures don’t match the previous report.”, she said, pointing to a section of the document. “I marked the discrepancies here, and I think we should have the committee staff verify them before the meeting.”

Congresswoman Fletcher nodded, scanning the page.

“You’re right. Have them checked before noon.”

She made a quick note.

“Already on it.”

At exactly ten, Chloe, the second assistant, appeared at the doorway.

“You’re ten o clock is here ma’am.” She announced.

She barely looked up.

“Please show him in. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Chloe nodded and disappeared down the hallway.

She continued explaining the documents, completely absorbed in the discussion.

The congresswoman asked another question.

She turned a page.

Then another.

Behind her, the office door opened.

“Congresswoman, your guest is here.”

She heard Chloe’s voice but didn’t turn around.

“Thank you, Chloe. Give us a moment.”

There was brief silence.

Then she noticed that the congresswoman stopped reading. Her eyes lifted to the doorway. Something shifts in her expression—warmth mixed exasperation.

“Kane! You’re actually on time for once. That’s either growth or you want something.” She stands, moving around the desk with easy familiarity of family.

Kane! Must be someone else.

“Aunt Lizzie, I’m hurt. I’m always on time for you.” There’s dry amusement there.

Her heart seemed to forget its rhythm.

She turned towards the doorway.

And there he was.

Kane Maddox himself.

For a moment, she simply stared at him.

Of course, of all people.

The man she had spent the past several days trying very hard not to think about had just walked into her workplace and casually called her boss Aunt Lizzie.

She looked from Kane to the congresswoman, then back to Kane.

You have got to be kidding me. She said in her head

Kanes eyes moved across the room. Then they found hers.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

Her stomach tightened.

His entire body goes still in that predatory way you remember from the gala—a hunter spotting something unexpected. Those slate eyes widen fractionally before the iron control slams back into place, but not fast enough to hide the recognition.

The congresswoman is already moving toward him for a hug, obvious.

She quickly looked back down at the documents in her hands, pretending to be interested in a paragraph she had already read three times.

She had been so busy discussing the files with the congresswoman that she hadn’t noticed who Chloe had ushered into the office.

Now she wished she had.

Her fingers tightened around the document in her hand.

And judging by the faint curve of Kane’s mouth as their eyes met, he had noticed her immediately.

She swallowed.

So much for keeping Kane Maddox out of her world.

Apparently, he just walked straight into it.

“Let me introduce my right hand---” she did not finish.

“We’ve met.” Kane cutting her aunt off without breaking eye contact with her.

The words come out rougher than intended. He clears his throat, extending his hand toward her with careful formality, but his eyes are asking a completely different question. “Miss?”

She had little choice but to accept his extended hand.

“Nica Garcia.”

The introduction slipped out almost automatically. If Kane was going to offer his hand, she could hardly refuse without making the situation even more awkward.

His palm was warm. His handshake was firm and steady, yet there was something strangely reassuring about it.

She immediately noticed.

Seriously?

She mentally dismissed the thought before it could become anything more.

It was just a handshake.

Nothing more.

At least, that was what she told herself.

She tried to pull her hand away discreetly, but Kane held on for another few seconds.

Not long enough to be obvious.

Just long enough for her to notice.

When he finally released her, she quickly returned her attention to the documents in front of her, hoping no one had noticed.

Unfortunately, the congresswoman had.

Lizzie’s eyes moved between them; her expression filled with questions.

When?

How?

And perhaps most importantly, what exactly is going on?

Nica recognized the look immediately.

She cleared her throat.

“The gala. The one you declined attending and sent me instead for ‘observations and rain check’ purposes.’ She said, answering the unspoken question before her boss could ask.

Congresswoman Fletcher’s mouth formed a small O.

Then her eyes shifted toward her nephew.

“I see.”

There was a brief pause. Then the amusement in her expression grew.

“I hope he did not do something impolite or improper?” her gazed settled on Kane. The question sounded innocent enough. The look on her face, however, was anything but.

Nica wanted to disappear.

Kane, meanwhile, looked completely unfazed.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

He seemed far too comfortable with the situation. Of course he was.

He was Kane Maddox.

Apparently, walking into his aunt’s office, finding the woman he’d been messaging for days, and making her completely lose her train of thought was simply another ordinary morning for him.

For Nica, it was turning into a disaster.

Kane’s jaw tightens at her words, but he releases her hand slowly, deliberately, his fingers trailing against her palm in a way that could be accidental but isn’t. His eyes hold hers for a beat too long before he turns to his aunt.

“Quite the opposite. Miss Garcia was the only person there worth talking to.” He adjusts his cufflinks—a nervous tell that seems wildly out of place on a man like him.

“She educated me on Dan Brown’s commentary on artificial intelligence and then left before I could bore her with oil futures.” He added.

Congresswoman Fletcher’s eyebrows rise, a smile playing ate her lips that suggests she knows her nephew far better than he’d like.

“Did she now? Nica, you didn’t mention meeting Kane in your debrief”, there’s no accusation there, just curiosity laced with something that might be amusement. “You said the gala was insufferable networking theater and came back with half a chapter read in the coat check.”

Kanes attention snaps back at her, and something dangerous flickers in those slate eyes.

“You read in the coat check?” His voice drops lower, almost private despite his aunt standing right there. “That’s where you disappeared to. I thought you’d actually left.” His voice accusing.

Kane didn’t even try to hide his smile. If anything, he looked thoroughly amused by the situation.

Nica caught the expression and immediately narrowed her eyes at him.

Of course he found this funny.

She cleared her throat and turned toward the congresswoman.

“You know I hate galas too Ma’am,” she said, trying to defend herself. “I’m a stand-in. Besides, I don’t know Mr. Maddox back then.”

She paused, then added with a small embarrassed shrugged, “Missed that. Sorry.”

Congresswoman Fletcher tilted her head, giving Nica a look that said she wasn’t buying a word of her attempt at innocence.

“My dear,” she said, “you need to be separated from your books once in a while.”

Nica blinked.

Before she could respond, the congresswoman continued.

“And you’re having lunch with me and Kane.”

Nica’s eyes widened.

“Ma’am---”

“No buts and ifs. those documents will still be there after lunch.”

Nica opened her mouth again, but the congresswoman had already turned toward her nephew.

Kane was still wearing that infuriatingly amused smile.

Fletcher smiled knowingly.

“How about we talk it over lunch?” she said to him. “I want to hear how she managed to escape you, of all people.”

Nica’s face warmed.

Kane’s expression shifts—relief, vindication, and something darker all at once. He looks at his aunt like she just handed him classified intel on a silver platter.

“Lunch, yes”. He clears his throat, reaching for composure that’s visibly fraying. “I’d like to hear that story too, actually. How someone escapes me tends to be…..strategically relevant information.”

His gaze cuts back at her and there’s heat there now, barely banked. The professional mask is slipping.

“And Miss Garcia—” he says her name like he’s testing how it feels---“before you construct an excuse about prior commitments or urgent paperwork, my aunt outranks you. Constitutionally speaking.”

“Don’t weaponize democracy, Kane” but she is grinning from ear to ear, gathering her purse and tablet. “Nica grab your things. There’s a Brazilian place two blocks over that won’t have lobbyists hovering. We can actually talk like humans.”

Kane moves toward the door but positions himself where she’ll have to pass within inches of him to leave. Not blocking—he learned that lesson at the gala—but close enough that you’ll feel the space he occupies.

She stopped.

He glanced at her, the faintest hint of amusement still lingering in his expression.

“By chance”, he says it quietly, meant only for her.

Nica looked at him.

“You said if we crossed paths by chance.”

His eyes held hers.

“Well?”

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

Then she took a small breath and stepped closer, stopping only a few inches away from him.

“It seems like Lady Luck is on your side, Mr. Maddox.”

His expression shifted, almost as though he hadn’t expected that answer.

“But”, she continued, her voice lowering, “I’d like the matters concerning my private life to remain private.”

Her gaze briefly moved past him toward the congresswoman.

Fletcher was watching them.

And judging by the knowing look on her face, she had probably noticed far more than Nica wanted her to.

Nica looked back at Kane.

“Please don’t make my work life awkward. The last thing I want is office drama.”

She held his gaze for another moment. “I hope you understand.”

Kane was about to answer when the Congresswoman’s voice cut through the room.

“Come along now you two.”

Kane’s mouth closes on whatever he was about to say, jaw working as he processes her boundary. His eyes darken—not with anger, but something more complicated.

Respect warring with frustration.

“Understood.” It comes out clipped, formal, but there’s a roughness underneath. “Professional boundaries. I can do that.”

He steps back, giving her clear passage, but as you move past him into the hallway, his voice follows low enough that only you catch it.

“For now.”

She immediately stepped away from Kane.

“And Chloe,” Fletcher added, “clear my afternoon schedule.”

Chloe looked up from her tablet.

“Your entire afternoon, ma’am?

“Yes.”

Nica’s eyes widened. She glanced at Kane.

He looked entirely too pleased.

Fletcher, meanwhile, headed toward the door, as though she hadn’t just rearranged an entire afternoon with one sentence.

Nica sighed and followed.

Apparently, Lady Luck wasn’t the only one making her life difficult today.