It was subtle, almost too subtle, but she saw it. Felt it.
Something had changed.
Maybe Penny was right.
Maybe Gideon Blackwell was truly turning over a new leaf.
Or maybe he was finally letting them see the man he’d always been underneath the steel and polish.
Either way… it suited him.
With a quiet huff that might’ve been a laugh, she grabbed a mimosa and slid into an empty seat, the hum of easy conversation settling around her.
Whatever had prompted this shift, she wasn’t about to overthink it.
Not when it meant seeing her team like this: relaxed, happy, whole.
Not when the tension had loosened its grip on the room.
And not when, across the room, Gideon Blackwell finally looked like a man, not a fortress.
The fact that he looked even better this way?
That alone was worth savoring.
And if it also meant catching glimpses of a different side of Gideon?
Well.
That was just a bonus.
An especially attractive bonus.
?
As she walked, Arden couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t only a moment.
It wasn’t just Gideon letting his guard down.
Something had shifted.
Not in him.
In her understanding of him.
He wasn’t just her boss.
Wasn’t the calculating man behind The Blackwell Room’s empire.
He was a man trying to be better.
Trying to be worthy of something more than power or legacy.
And that made him more dangerous than ever.
Penny was going to have a field day.
She let out a breath, already bracing for the teasing.
