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* * *
The elevator ride upfeels like ascending to my execution.
The closer I get to the top floor, the more convinced I am that my life is about to end.
Maybe my mistake with the slide was bigger than I thought. Maybe I somehow emailed the entire company a meme instead of the report.
By the time I step into his office, I am already halfway to a nervous breakdown.
And then I see him.
And holy cow.
It’s him.
The man from the elevator.
The one with steel-gray eyes and a presence that takes up way too much space. The one who looked at me like he saw right through me.
I barely hear what he says. Something about the corrupted file. Something aboutfix it.
But my brain is too busy screaming,Oh my God, the CEO is hot.
Like, ridiculously hot.
Like, who let billionaires look like that? Hot.
I somehow manage to mutter an apology, nod like a total corporate drone, and escape before I do something humiliating, like accidentally call himsirin a tone that is not work appropriate.
By the time I stumble back into my department, I am visibly shaken.
And everyone knows it.
A crowd has gathered around my desk. Ryan, Tara, James, and—of course—Brittany, front and center.
She steps forward, looking concerned. “What happened, Sasha? What did he want?”
“What did the boss say?” Ryan asks.
James whistles. “Can’t believe you met the actual CEO.”
I swallow, still trying to process my life choices.
The actual CEO.
His name is Damien Zaitsev. I saw it outside his office.
“Okay, okay.” I lift my hands, trying to shake off the weird, lingering effect of being in his presence. “It wasn’t that serious.”
Ryan snorts. “Not that serious? You got called to the CEO’s office. Do you know how rare that is?”
Brittany tilts her head, her smirk sharp. “Yeah. What did he say?”
I shift in my chair, still replaying the interaction in my head. The way he looked at me, the air charged with something I don’t quite understand.
I shouldn’t have noticed how attractive he is. I shouldn’t be thinking about his voice, low and controlled, or the way his cold gray eyes made my stomach flip.
I shake my head, snapping myself out of it. “It was about the slides. The file was corrupted.”