“Morning,” I reply, clipped.
April nods politely, eyes forward, the picture of calm competence.
If anyone looks too closely, they’ll see the tension in the way she walks half a step behind me like she always has, except now the space between us is charged with a private life no one else is allowed to witness.
In the elevator, I finally speak low enough that the cameras won’t pick it up. “Today you stay near our offices,” I tell her. “No wandering.”
She sighs, but it’s softer than the car. “Yes, sir.”
I flick my gaze to her. “Sir? That’s new.”
“Trying it out,” she says, and her eyes sparkle with amusement. “I don’t know why you’re worried. We’ve been fucking for months, it’ll be fine.”
“You weren’t pregnant before. Forgive me if I’m a little more protective of you now.”
We step out onto our floor and the air changes—the familiar scent of polished stone, coffee, paper. The day begins to move. We make our way to our joined offices, set down our things, and pretend everything is exactly the same as it was last week.
But the moment I’m in my chair, I call my head of security.
Dom himself appears ten minutes later, a man shaped by professionalism and discretion. He closes the door behind him and sets a tablet on my desk.
“Mr. Voss,” he says, voice careful. “We ran the checks you requested.”
I can feel April’s gaze from across the open door between our offices. “Show me.”
He taps, then slides the screen toward me. Names. Firms. A chain of retained counsel, shell consultancies, and one familiar corporate legal group with a clean reputation and dirty clients.
I scan, cold focusing into place.
There it is.
Aidan Snow’s company counsel is listed as “advisory” on a set of filings Karen’s team is preparing.
My eyes narrow.
“So he’s not just circling,” I say. “He’s in the water.”
Dom nods once. “It’s unusual. But it’s there.”
I lean back, the anger settling into something quieter. More useful. “Good,” I say. “Document everything. I want every contact point. Every visitor log. Every schedule overlap. If Karen so much as breathes near Snow’s people, I want it recorded.”
“Yes, sir.”
When he leaves, I stare at the city through the glass.Interference. Manipulation. Undermining. Coordinated reputational sabotage.It isn’t speculation anymore. It’s structure.
And if Karen wants a war, I’ll give her one—with evidence.
————
By late morning, the office is humming.
April moves through her tasks like she always does—efficient, sharp, mostly perfect. Watching her work has always been a pleasure I keep hidden, but today it feels different. Probably because I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that someone I feel like this about is carrying mykid.
She brings me a briefing folder and sets it down with practiced precision. “Anything else?” she asks, neutral.
My eyes flick to her mouth before I can stop myself. I drag them back up to her eyes. “Not yet.”
She holds my gaze half a beat too long, her cheeks heating, her lips quirking, then turns to go back to her desk.
