The city was still dark when Nadia slipped out of bed. She moved carefully, not wanting to wake Tom, though the warmth of his body lingered on her skin. Last night had been… different. They hadn't crossed the final line, but his hand had stayed in hers all night, his breathing steady beside her, and she'd let herself sleep that way. For once, she hadn't felt alone.
Now, as the first hint of dawn spread over the skyline, she made coffee and sat by the window, tablet in hand. Her inbox was already swelling with updates from Verdant's legal team. Blake's smear campaign had slowed, but it hadn't stopped. He'd planted seeds of doubt, and Nadia knew men like him didn't stop until their enemy was uprooted entirely.
Behind her, Tom's voice was gravelly with sleep. "You're up too early again."
She glanced back to see him leaning in the doorway, hair tousled, shirtless. She looked away quickly. "I have to be. Blake won't wait for us to catch up."
He walked to the kitchen, poured himself coffee without asking, and came to stand by her chair. "You can't outwork him if you burn out first."
"I'll rest when Verdant is safe."
Tom crouched so he was at her eye level. "Or," he said quietly, "you could let me share some of that weight."
Nadia's chest tightened. She wanted to argue, but his eyes made it impossible. For the first time, she nodded.
---
By mid-morning, Tom was gone to his hotel board meeting, and Nadia buried herself in Verdant's data again. That was when Sophie rushed in, breathless.
"Ms. Petrova, you need to see this."
On her tablet, the headline glared:
BLAKE ENERGY FILES INJUNCTION AGAINST VERDANT — CLAIMS TRADE SECRET THEFT.
Nadia's stomach dropped. "He's suing us?"
"Not exactly," Sophie said. "He's asking the court to halt your battery project until an investigation clears you. He's claiming Verdant stole elements of the design from his labs."
"That's insane," Nadia snapped. "Our patents are clean. Every line of our R&D is documented—"
"That doesn't matter," Sophie cut in softly. "What matters is that investors see 'trade secret theft' and get spooked. Vogel's office is already calling."
Nadia's hands trembled around the tablet. She had expected Blake to fight dirty, but this was worse: it was official. Legal. Public.
And effective.
---
That evening, she paced the penthouse while Tom listened, jacket discarded, tie loose.
"He's trying to freeze Verdant where it stands," Nadia said. "If the injunction goes through, Vogel backs out. Investors panic. Verdant collapses before it can even prove itself."
Tom's jaw tightened. "He's not just targeting Verdant. He's targeting you. He wants to drag your name through the mud."
Nadia stopped pacing. "And yours. Don't pretend this doesn't hurt Kingsley, too. You staked your reputation on me."
Tom stood, closing the distance between them. "Then we fight it. Together."
She searched his face. "You say that like it's easy."
"It's not," he admitted. "But I didn't marry you to let you go to war alone."
For a moment, the words hovered between them, heavier than they should have been.
---
The days that followed blurred into strategy meetings and late-night planning. Nadia's legal team prepared to challenge the injunction, gathering documentation of Verdant's research timeline. Tom leveraged Kingsley's PR machine, putting pressure on sympathetic media outlets to frame Blake's lawsuit as desperation, not truth.
Still, whispers spread. Blogs speculated that Verdant's "miracle tech" might be smoke and mirrors. Anonymous forums claimed Nadia was using her marriage to shield a crumbling empire.
And through it all, Nadia and Tom found themselves bound closer. Nights in the penthouse grew less formal; she no longer flinched when his shoulder brushed hers, or when his hand lingered at the small of her back after tense calls. Some nights she fell asleep on the couch, laptop on her knees, and woke to find him carrying her to bed.
She told herself not to read into it. But her heart betrayed her.
---
One night, after yet another strategy session, she found herself outside his study door, hesitant. Tom looked up from his desk as she entered, exhaustion in his eyes.
"You should be asleep," he said.
"So should you," she countered softly.
He leaned back, watching her. "What's on your mind?"
She crossed the room slowly. "Do you ever wonder if we made a mistake?"
His brows lifted. "The marriage?"
"The deal," she clarified quickly, though her voice faltered. "Tying Verdant to Kingsley. Giving Blake one more target to hit."
Tom's gaze softened. "No. Because it's the only deal I've made that feels worth the risk."
Her breath caught. He meant it. She could see it in his face.
Before she could stop herself, she asked, "And the marriage?"
Silence stretched. Then he rose, walked around the desk, and stopped just inches away. "That," he said, voice low, "is the one part I don't regret at all."
Her heart hammered. She should step back. She didn't.
When his lips brushed hers, it wasn't calculated. It wasn't part of their performance. It was real.
And that terrified her more than Blake ever could.
---
Across the city, Blake poured himself another drink, reading the latest reports.
Kingsley and Petrova were still standing. Too united. Too strong.
But Blake was patient. He smiled thinly, swirling the amber liquid in his glass.
"Let them hold each other up," he murmured. "When one falls, the other will fall harder."