"I should've walked away," I whispered to the empty room. "But I still remember how he made me feel."
Like I mattered. Like I was worth seeing. Worth knowing.
The irony wasn't lost on me. The man who'd made me feel so seen was the same man who'd left without a word. The same man who now had no idea I existed beyond the role of his assistant.
I placed everything back in the box and slid it under the bed. Four hours until my alarm. Four hours to somehow find sleep before facing Cassian again.
Before continuing the lie that was slowly consuming me.
"Someone had a rough night," Maya said when I dropped Leo off the next morning. Her apartment smelled of coffee and cinnamon, the familiar scents of her morning routine with the children.
"That obvious?" I attempted a smile, adjusting Leo's backpack on his little shoulders.
"Only to someone who knows what sleep deprivation looks like." She took Leo's hand. "Go say hi to Emma and Zach, buddy. They're building with the big blocks."
Leo ran off happily to join the other children in Maya's living room, which she'd converted into a colorful play space. At a little over two, he was already so social, so confident. Another trait he'd inherited from his father.
"Work?" Maya asked, leading me to her kitchen, where a pot of coffee waited.
"Yes." I accepted the mug she offered. "New job, mountains of paperwork."
Maya leaned against the counter, studying me over the rim of her own mug. At forty-two, she radiated the kind of quiet confidence I aspired to. Her dark hair was streaked with silver, her face lined with laugh lines rather than worry.
"You still haven't told me much about this new position," she said. "Just that it pays better than the last one."
I hesitated, watching Leo through the kitchen doorway. He was helping a younger child stack blocks, his little face serious with concentration.
"It's complicated," I finally said.
"Complicated how?"
I lowered my voice, though the children were too engrossed in their play to listen. "Remember that guy I told you about? From Miami?"
Maya's eyes widened. "Leo's father? The one-night stand?"
I nodded, my stomach churning. "I'm working for him."
"Holy shit," Maya whispered. "Does he know?"
"No. He doesn't even recognize me." The admission hurt more than it should have. "We used fake names that night. He called himself Antonio."
"And you're what, his secretary now?"
"Executive assistant." I sipped my coffee, needing the caffeine. "To Cassian Barone."
Maya nearly choked. "Barone? As in Barone Industries? The oil tycoon?"
I nodded.
"Jesus, Isla." She set her mug down with a thunk. "That's not just complicated, that's a fucking powder keg."
"I know." I glanced at Leo again, making sure he was still occupied.
"I knew it was him when I applied." The admission felt like ripping off a bandage. "I researched him after I found out I was pregnant. When I saw the job posting for Barone Industries, I—I thought he should know about Leo, but I needed to see what kind of man Cassian Barone was before making any decisions. I thought I could work there, get to know what kind of man he was, and then decide whether to tell him."
Maya stared at me. "You deliberately walked into that situation?"
"I was desperate. My savings were running out, Leo needed his medical visits covered, and—" I swallowed hard. "And I wanted my son to know his father. Even if it meant risking everything."
