Nora's steps were quick and focused as she walked toward Damien's office. Her heart thudded in her chest, not with fear, but with urgency. She had to tell him. She had to tell him what she saw last night: Victoria Linn wasn't just an unwanted visitor or his mother's matchmaking project, she was something far more dangerous. A Helix operative.
But just as her hand reached for the doorknob, she froze.
Damien's voice drifted from inside the office, low, sharp, and unmistakably cold.
"She's a liability," he was saying. "Spills tea, can't keep up. Her team is gone, and a bomb was planted under her watch."
Nora's heart dropped.
He was talking about her.
Her hand slipped from the door. She stood frozen for a second, a whirlwind of shock and hurt spiraling inside her. That was what he thought of her? After everything?
The anger came next, hot and fast, rising from her chest like a storm.
Without thinking, she shoved the door open.
Damien looked up, eyebrows raised slightly, clearly surprised. He was still on the call with someone, one of the VPs, she assumed—but the second he saw the fire in her eyes, he ended it without a word.
Nora stepped inside, her voice trembling with rage. "A liability?"
Damien didn't reply, only watched her quietly, his expression unreadable.
"You really think that's what I am?" she continued, stepping closer. "You sit here in your glass office throwing words like that around without knowing half of what's going on. Without even listening."
"Nora…"
"No, let me finish," she snapped. "I came here to tell you something important. Something you needed to know. But now I don't think you deserve it."
He tilted his head, amused. "Is that so?"
She took a breath. "Victoria Linn isn't who you think she is. I saw her last night, on your balcony. She was on the phone with someone, speaking in a language I didn't recognize, flipping through files on her tablet. Files with your blueprints. Vortex projects. Staff profiles. She's a Helix operative."
Damien's amusement faded, his jaw tightening.
"I was going to tell you," Nora said, her voice sharp now. "But apparently, you already made up your mind about me. That I'm unstable. A burden. A mistake."
He stepped around the desk slowly, eyes narrowing as he approached. "Are you finished?"
Nora stood her ground. "No. I deserve respect. I've worked hard, I've kept my head down, and I've done everything asked of me, even when half the company looked at me like I didn't belong."
Damien stopped in front of her. His presence was intense, tall, calm, and maddeningly composed.
He stared down at her, and with a half-smirk, said, "Then earn it."
The silence that followed crackled like static between them.
Nora's eyes narrowed. "You're unbelievable."
"Am I?" he murmured. "Because right now, you're the most interesting person in this company."
Her breath caught in her throat.
"I said what I said," he continued, voice low. "Because when someone's team disappears and there's a bomb planted under their nose, questions are going to be asked. Whether you like it or not."
"But you didn't ask me anything," she shot back.
"No," he said. "Because I was afraid I'd like your answers too much."
That stopped her.
Damien's gaze moved over her face, something flickering behind his eyes. Admiration. Frustration. A kind of reluctant awe.
"You're not like the others," he said quietly.
"Then stop treating me like I am," she replied.
A beat passed.
And for once, Damien Voss didn't have anything smug to say.
But just as the tension between them sharpened into something else, his phone buzzed again.
He looked down.
Another anonymous message.
"Victoria isn't alone. Check your VPs."
He looked up, but Nora was already walking out the door, heels echoing with purpose.
He let out a slow breath.
For the first time since he became CEO, Damien Voss felt something unfamiliar:
Uncertainty.