I nodded once.
“You will also disclose everything to her,” she continued. “Your knowledge. The timing. The choice you made not to tell her. If she will let you.”
My chest tightened. She had wanted nothing to do with me. Would that change? Would she even be at work on Monday? “And if I do?”
“Then this remains contained here,” Vivienne said. “Handled privately. With boundaries enforced.”
“And if I don’t?”
She met my gaze, steady and unblinking. “Then I will. And you will not like how that version unfolds.”
Vivienne stood, signaling the end. “This is your choice, Sebastian. Do the right thing now and absorb the fallout. Or protect yourself and lose control of how this ends.”
She walked around the desk and opened the door.
“Decide who you are,” she said without looking back, “before someone else does it for you.”
I stepped into the hall, already having decided what I was going to do.
After tonight, I would have tucked her master away, courted her properly, waited until we were far enough into something real to have that conversation.
Now I just needed to see if she’d even talk to me.
Make her talk to me. What if she wouldn’t? I’d already decided I wanted her in my life, but what I hadn’t planned on was finding someone who fit me just as well in the boardroom as she did in the dungeon.
Chapter 31
Mira
Rolling over, I came face to face with Micah’s wide, cheerful grin as he held out a cup of coffee with a heavy hint of vanilla. “Wakey, wakey, Sunshine.”
“Told you, I already emailed, last night.” I pulled the comforter over my head. The next thing I knew, the comforter was gone.
“Okay, you’ve moped around all weekend. I have to go to work. And if you’re not there in an hour, I’ll be back.”
“No.”
“Mira, either suck it up, pull on your big girl panties, or tell me what happened.”
I sighed and sat up, taking the coffee from him despite myself. He’d hadn’t left me alone since he’d pulled me out of the car Saturday.
I cradled the mug between my hands. This wasn’t something from my cabinet.
“That’s not fair,” I muttered.
Micah leaned back against the dresser, arms crossed. He was waiting for me to get up before he left, if I didn’t, he’d be late, and Stan would have a field day.
He glanced at his watch, then back at me. “Tell me you’ll be there.”
I didn’t want to lie to him, so I forced myself off the bed. Heading to the bathroom, I stopped and kissed him on the cheek. “Have a good day.”
He kissed my cheek and headed out as I stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door. Before I could let myself go crawl back into bed, I turned on the water. A few moments later, I stepped under the hot water, hoping that it would wash away all of my racing thoughts.
The water beat down on my shoulders, steam curling around me, filling the small space until everything else blurred. I pressed my forehead against the cool tile and breathed.
It didn’t help.
The last few weeks, the voices had been quieter, I’d almost convinced myself they were gone. I’d almost convinced myself they were gone for good. Now they were back at full volume, overlapping, relentless.
