“You don’t know that,” I argued pointlessly, and he was quick to say,
“But I do.”
“Based on what exactly?” I shot back.
“You don’t know anything about me!”
He released another sigh, this one deeper, as if he was silently praying for patience. That or divine guidance on howto deal with human females that push handsome immortal buttons.
“Something we will soon correct, for we will be working closely together, and I have every intention of knowing youvery well,”he replied calmly, although the way he said this last part felt more like some sexual promise. To the point that it sent heat to where it was not welcome, despite my girly parts telling me to fuck off as they shamelessly wanted to wave the ‘we surrender’ flag at him. But then I focused on the more professional part of his sentence.
“For the campaign,” I clarified quickly, folding my arms.
“You mean for the campaign?”
His mouth curved slightly, as if he heard everything I wasn’t saying and could practically see the cartoon version of my vagina fanning itself.
“If that is how you prefer to frame it,” he replied cryptically, and something breathless and stupid flared in my chest.
Okay, so I was not going there because this flirting was nothing but a ruse. That was all it was. It had to be. Bo had made that abundantly clear. Enforcers did not blur lines with mortals. There were laws. Rules. Boundaries.
Which meant, whatever flicker of flirtation had existed between us yesterday had either been my imagination… or something far more dangerous. Just like now.
“Fine,” I said briskly, straightening.
“Then let’s keep it professional,” I stated, sitting a little straighter now, and ignoring the way his gaze sharpened with interest. Ignoring the way his gaze travelled slowly down the length of me, over the fitted navy pencil dress I had selected that morning. Doing so with almost military precision.
Its clean lines and capped sleeves were conservative enough to be respectable yet cut close enough to remind him I was notfragile. I was a woman on a mission, even in smooth fabric that, in my mind, was structured like armor.
“By all means,” he replied with that smirk out in full force now, as if he was already calling my bluff with just a look.
“Then let’s discuss strategy. The campaign needs to pivot. The exclusivity angle is strong, but it lacks narrative tension. We need to create mystique without alienating the demographic that values access. Your diamonds aren’t just reserved for the elite, they’re designed for those who wish to feel like they belong among them. Like the unobtainable has been conquered,” I said, slipping into the tone I used in boardrooms when people underestimated me.
But there was also something else buried under the veil of my words… a hidden meaning. Something even I didn’t fully understand, but as for Oblivion, he seemed to comprehend it all. His eyes widened just a fraction as he watched me, as if I were far more compelling than the strategy I was outlining, and I knew then that the implication beneath my words had not gone unnoticed.
“Interesting approach,” he replied, his tone measured, as though he were the one concealing something now.
“We rework the launch visuals,” I went on, ignoring the way his attention felt like a physical thing.
“Less overt luxury, more curated secrecy. Invitation-based previews. Controlled leaks. You want anticipation, not intimidation.”
“And you believe I intimidate?” he asked lightly, now turning the conversation back to him and less about business, which he claimed to have hired me for. But his question had me laughing in irony.
“Ha, is that even a serious question?” I asked, and he raised a brow in question.
“Well?” he prompted, making me shake my head a little, before admitting,
“I believe you don’t trynotto be intimidating.”
“Yet you never once cowered in my presence,” he was quick to point out, his tone coated in respect, and enough to make me blush at the praise.
“What can I say, my self-preservation clearly isn’t what it should be.”
He laughed once before shaking his head.
“Now who is being evasive?” he countered.
“Perhaps I just figured that if you wanted me dead that night, then you wouldn’t have wasted your time engaging in conversation with me,” I answered honestly, making him nod his head slowly.
