The silence of the sixty-fourth floor was heavy, broken only by the rhythmic click-clack of Elena's heels against the polished marble. Most people thought the life of an executive assistant to Caleb Sterling was glamorous. They saw the private jets and the five-star galas. They didn't see the 1:00 AM spreadsheets or the soul-crushing coldness of the man behind the desk.
Elena pushed open the heavy oak doors to the corner office.
Caleb didn't look up. He sat bathed in the blue light of his monitors, his white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar, sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms corded with muscle. He looked like a predator even when he was just reading a legal brief.
"The Henderson merger is ready for your signature," Elena said, her voice sounding thinner than she liked.
"Leave it," he muttered, his voice a deep baritone that sent a familiar, traitorous shiver down her spine. "And call my florist. Send a bouquet of white lilies to Lydia's apartment. Make sure the note says 'See you at the rehearsal dinner.'"
Lydia. His fiancé. The woman who fit his "brand" perfectly.
Elena's hand instinctively went to her stomach. Underneath the fabric of her pencil skirt, a secret was growing—one that would shatter Caleb's carefully curated world. Two months ago, on a rainy night very much like this one, the lines between boss and employee had blurred. It had been a "mistake" he'd spent every day since then ignoring.
"I won't be making that call, Mr. Sterling," Elena said.
Caleb's fingers paused over the keyboard. He slowly raised his head, his slate-grey eyes narrowing. "Excuse me?"
Elena took a breath, the scent of his expensive sandalwood cologne filling her senses one last time. She placed a small, cream-colored envelope on top of the merger papers.
"My resignation. It's effective immediately."
Caleb stood up. He was six-foot-three of pure intimidation, and as he moved toward her, the air in the room seemed to vanish. He stopped just inches away, his heat radiating off him in waves.
"You're quitting?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. "Two weeks before the biggest merger in the company's history? Is this about a raise, Elena? If it's about the money—"
"It's not about the money," she snapped, finally finding her fire. "It's about the fact that I am a person, Caleb. Not an 'asset.' Not a ghost in your office. I'm done."
He reached out, his fingers brushing her chin, forcing her to look up at him. For a split second, the icy CEO was gone, replaced by the man who had whispered her name in the dark eight weeks ago.
"I don't give you permission to leave," he whispered.
"You don't own me," Elena whispered back, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She turned and walked out before she could lose her nerve, leaving the most powerful man in Manhattan standing in the wreckage of his own silence. She didn't stop until she reached the elevator. Only then did she let out the breath she'd been holding.
She reached into her purse and pulled out the ultrasound photo. Two tiny circles. Two heartbeats.
"It's just us now," she whispered to the empty elevator. "Just us."