Vespera''s sleepiness vanished in an instant.

    Honestly, she would''ve noticed the sounds before walking in if she hadn''t been so mentally rxed and half-dead with exhaustion.

    Dominic and Nancy were standing on opposite sides of the bed.

    Dominic''s expression was ice cold, like he was ready to kill someone. Nancy

    looked like she''d just been deeply humiliated.

    She was wearing nothing but a little tank top, and the scent in the air was familiar. Way too familiar...

    Wasn''t that her perfume from this morning?

    The sound of the door swinging open made both of them turn toward her.

    "Vera..." Dominic started toward her.

    Vespera instinctively stepped back into the office.

    Realizing he was about to exin, she cut him off first. "Gerard asked me to wake

    you up, but clearly Ms. Acosta had the same idea. Since you''re already awake,

    that''s all that matters."

    Dominic said nothing.

    Vespera gave an awkward little tug at the corner of her mouth, then nced toward the lounge. "Well... I''ll head out, then."

    She turned and walked away.

    She couldn''t help butugh to herself. Of course. Dominic''s ex came back, and the full dramatic soap opera started rolling in.

    Dominic didn''t stop her, but he did follow her back into her office.

    Vespera heard him behind her and felt instantly annoyed, but what could she do? Being annoyed wouldn''t fix anything.

    She turned to face him. "Maybe we can talk after work? What I should remind you of now is that in 25 minutes, a few senior executives will be in your office for the meeting.

    "You might want to ask Ms. Acosta to put her jacket back on. Otherwise, they''ll get the wrong idea. It''s not a good look."

    "Are you always this calm?" Dominic asked, his chest tight at how unfazed she seemed.

    Vespera pressed her lips together.

    She looked down at her toes. "I think... calm is the only thing I can be right now. Don''t give me too much credit. And besides, this is your "

    She didn''t finish the sentence. He pulled her into his arms.

    He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.

    "I''m sorry. I didn''t handle that mess well. She came in so suddenly, and I wasn''t prepared. But nothing happened, Vera. You have to believe me."

    "I do," Vespera said, gently stroking his back to calm him down.

    He never needed to lie about who he wanted, he wasn''t that kind of man. And from the looks of it, whatever had just happened wasn''t anything physical.

    She wasn''t stupid. She just... hated drama like this. Even when it was pointless and sloppy, it still got under her skin.

    It turned out this wasn''t just a useless situation. It was a shitty one.

    Dominic straightened up. "I''ll deal with it tonight. I told you, if she pulls another stunt, I''ll make sure she leaves Halewick."

    Vespera wanted to say, "Come on. Your parents protect her, and she''s not your employee. You can''t just tell her to leave and expect her to vanish. And even if Nancy did leave... that wouldn''t fix anything. She wasn''t the real problem."

    But whatever. Let him do whatever he wanted.

    "Okay. So, want me to go talk to her out of the lounge? And maybe you change out of your pajamas? You don''Dwant to end up the center of office gossip, right?"

    Dominic let out a dryugh. "Go ahead."

    Vespera sighed and headed toward his dressing room, but Nancy was already gone.

    Thank God.

    She returned and called Dominic into his office, handed him his suit jacket, then tidied up the lounge a bit.

    The lingering perfume in the air made her frown... She was never wearing that scent again. It was bad luck.

    But then a thought struck her. Dominic always slept like the dead. Anyone could shout at him, and he wouldn''t budge.

    Could he have been... assaulted?

    Was that why he''d looked so pissed? Did she kiss him? Touch him? Kiss and touch him?

    Oh, hell no.

    He was still her personal male siren, thank you very much.

    Dominic was adjusting his tie when he noticed the way she was looking at him, like she wanted to kill someone.

    She''d been so calm earlier. Now she looked like she was plotting murder?