Elena's POV
We broke apart so fast my chair nearly tipped backward.
Damian was on his feet before the elevator doors had even finished opening, putting a careful, deliberate distance between us that hadn't existed thirty seconds earlier, and by the time the night security guard stepped out to do his rounds, we looked like exactly what we were supposed to be… a boss and his assistant, working late, nothing more.
"Everything alright up here?" the guard called, barely glancing our way before continuing down the hall.
"Fine," Damian said, voice steady in a way that impressed me given how unsteady his hands had looked a moment ago. "Just finishing up."
The guard disappeared toward the far stairwell, and the silence that followed felt entirely different from the silence before, charged now
