Once Isabella was gone, the soft click of the door sealing him off from her, Damien's entire demeanor shifted. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by a glacial cold that could freeze hell over. He stood up from his chair, his movements sharp and deliberate as he walked towards Conny, his face a mask of thunderous displeasure.
"First of all, nobody enters my office uninvited," he said, his tone cold and sharp, each word a shard of ice. "I thought that was considered common sense, Ms. Bailey."
Conny visibly flinched, her professional composure cracking under the weight of his glare. "Yes, sir, but I couldn't find Isabella outside, so..." she stuttered, her usual confident air replaced by a nervous flutter.
"You wait, or you knock. Is that clear, Ms. Bailey?" he said, leaving no fucking room for argument. He leaned against his large mahogany desk, crossing his arms over his chest, a clear, intimidating barrier.
"Crystal clear, sir," she replied, her voice a little too high.
"Good. Now, you have five minutes. Make it count," he said, his eyes narrowing. "What is so important it couldn't wait?"
Conny took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders, trying to regain some semblance of control. "Sir, I know the normal approach would be to go to the HR manager, but that's precisely why I'm here. We have a policy about relationships in our workplace. I know they're allowed, except in cases where there's a direct manager-subordinate dynamic. You can't date the one that signs your appraisal, correct?" she asked, her voice laced with a false sweetness that was sickening.
Mental note: cancel that fucking rule first chance I get, Damien thought, his expression remaining unreadable.
"Yes, I believe the internal regulations state we can't," he responded, his voice a monotone of boredom.
"Well, there wasn't much dating in the archive room just now," she said, a smug little smile playing on her lips. "Cole Estrada was kissing his manager, Laura Chambers, in the archive room, and with her being the head of HR and the person to report this kind of incident to, I thought it was only normal to come to you," she said, her eyes gleaming with malice.
"Okay, is that all, Ms. Bailey?" Damien asked, his voice dangerously low.
"Yeah, but... won't you do anything? I mean..." she was saying, when he cut her off.
"Ms. Bailey, enough," he said, his voice a sharp crack of a whip. "I will conduct an investigation, and the results will be public. Now, will you excuse me?" he said, his tone a clear dismissal.
"Of course, Mr. Lancaster," she said, but she lingered for a moment. "But you can ask for statements from..." she was saying when he cut her off again.
"I know what to do, Ms. Bailey. Thank you," he said, his voice cold enough to cut glass.
She walked out, disappointed, the click of the door echoing in the sudden, heavy silence of his office. Damien just stood there for a moment, his jaw tight. Fucking Conny. Always sniffing around where she wasn't wanted.
__________________________________________________________________________
*Isabella's POV*
Damien filled me in on what Conny had told him, his voice low and tight with a controlled anger I knew was masking something deeper. He explained about Cole and Laura, about Conny's little tattle-tale mission.
"Did you know about this?" he asked, his eyes searching mine.
I let out a long sigh, leaning against his desk. "I... kinda did. They were meeting at his place. That's why I needed to move out. I guess she wasn't comfortable with me there," I admitted. It felt weird, saying it out loud, like I was betraying a confidence, but it was too late for that now.
"I need to do something about this," he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, the frustration rolling off him in waves.
"I know," I said, my voice quiet.
"I know he's your friend." he sighed looking at me apologetically.
"Yeah, well, we are kinda doing the same thing, Damien," I countered, my voice gaining a little bit of its usual fire. "If you're gonna punish them, it wouldn't be..."
"Fair at all, I know," he finished my thought, his gaze intense. "I will solve this, and then I'll abolish the rule. I hate to know we are doing something wrong when nothing felt more right ever."
My heart did a stupid little flip-flop at that, but I pushed it down. "Damien. You can abolish any rule, it's still going to be wrong. You're my boss and I'm your assistant. It's common sense."
"So I guess no PDA then," he sighed, a dramatic, an exasperated sound.
"Hell no," I retorted, my frustration boiling over. "You've already kissed me in a public restaurant. Do you want to kiss me under the mistletoe at the company Christmas party now?" I countered, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
He moved closer, his finger gently forcing my chin up so I had to meet his intense gaze. "I can't wait to do that with you," he said, his voice a low, husky promise that sent a shiver straight down my spine. He leaned in and kissed me, a deep, possessive kiss that tasted of a promise and a whole lot of trouble.
When we pulled apart, I was breathless. "Damien, under no circumstances are we making this official," I said, my voice a shaky whisper. "I don't need office drama and people talking about me."
A slow, arrogant smirk spread across his face. "Screw them," he said, moving closer until he was right in my personal space.
"Easy for you to say," I shot back, not backing down an inch. "You have your position secured for life."
"And you believe I don't?" he asked, infuriatingly calm, his eyes boring into mine.
"Damien," I said, cutting him off before I said something I'd regret. "Let's just stop this conversation here. Call Laura and fix this." I turned and walked out of his office, needing to escape the suffocating mix of his possessiveness and my own fucking frustration.