The office buzzed with the usual Monday morning chaos, the sharp clatter of keyboards, the low hum of phone calls, and the faint aroma of coffee mixing with the sterile scent of polished floors. Bella moved with purpose, her heels clicking against the marble, her mind preoccupied with the weight of her unfinished reports and the haunting memory of Damien’s icy, unreadable gaze.
She kept her head down, forcing herself to focus, but every step seemed to echo in her mind with a reminder of last night. Damien’s absence had been a relief and a torment simultaneously. She had spent the night replaying their encounters—the heat, the fire, the confusion. She knew she had been reckless with her emotions, with her body, and yet a part of her longed for it again, longed for him.
Lucas appeared sudd
