My jaw tightens slightly at the thought.
Because it did.
And that’s exactly the problem.
I sit in my office, going over reports I’ve already read twice.
Numbers. Shipments. Movement across territories.
Everything is running as it should.
Everything is under control.
Except….
Her.
My pen stills against the paper as her face pushes into my mind again.
Uninvited.
Persistent.
Annoying.
How one woman managed to walk into my life and disrupt everything in less than two weeks—
I don’t understand it.
I don’t like it.
And I want it handled.
Finished.
My grip tightens slightly around the pen.
Anton is the problem.
He’s the variable that turned a clean arrangement into something complicated.
End him. And everything goes back to how it should be.
Valeria goes her way.
I go mine.
This…partnership ends.
The thought should sit well with me.
It should feel like relief.
Instead, there’s something else.
Something I don’t bother trying to name.
A sharp knock sounds at the door before I can think too deeply about it.
