This was not going to work.
Having Noah Reed in the same building same floor, same goddamn oxygen was a live grenade with the pin half-pulled. One more loaded stare, one more "accidental" brush of his body against hers, and she would either slap him across his smug face or climb him like a tree and ride him until they both forgot their own names.
Neither option ended well for her career.
She needed him gone.
She needed Victoria to see reason *now*.
Mia marched into the executive suite heels striking the carpet like rapid-fire warnings. Victoria's assistant glanced up, registered the storm on Mia's face, and waved her through without a word. Everyone already knew the new VP was trouble.
Victoria was at her desk, coffee steaming, scrolling through a tablet of overnight reports. She looked up when Mia entered, one perfectly arched brow lifting at the thundercloud expression.
Mia everything alright. You look like you're about to commit a felony."
Mia closed the door. Locked it. Didn't sit.
"I need to talk about Reed. Now."
Victoria set the tablet down with deliberate slowness, leaned back in her chair, and steepled her fingers.
"Sit."
"I'd rather stand."
"Suit yourself." Victoria gestured to the chair anyway. "Talk."
Mia paced once, twice heels sinking into the thick rug then stopped in front of the desk, palms flat on the cool glass surface.
"He's a problem."
Victoria waited. Patient. Amused.
Mia exhaled sharply. "He undermines every idea in front of the team. He questions every decision like he's the only one with a brain. He's disruptive to morale, to focus, to actual productivity."
"Mm." Victoria tilted her head. "And personally?"
Mia's jaw locked. "That's irrelevant."
"Is it?" Victoria's voice stayed calm, almost gentle. "Because the temperature in that boardroom could have melted the glass walls. And the way he looks at you like he's already stripped you naked, bent you over the conference table, and fucked you senseless in front of everyone it's not exactly subtle."
Heat crawled up Mia's neck, vicious and unwanted.
"That's exactly why he needs to go," she said through gritted teeth. "Or I do. Pick one."
Victoria laughed low, soft, the sound of someone who'd seen this dance a hundred times.
"You think running from a challenge is going to land you the CMO seat?"
"I'm not running. I'm protecting the team."
"No." Victoria rose slowly, rounded the desk, and stopped just close enough that Mia had to meet her eyes. "You're protecting yourself from wanting him."
Mia's breath caught sharp, audible.
Victoria continued, voice dropping to that quiet, cutting register she reserved for moments when she wanted the truth to hurt.
"Let me ask you something, Mia. And I want an honest answer. Why does Noah Reed being in this building make you so desperate to have him removed before the pitch even starts?"
Mia opened her mouth. Closed it.
Victoria stepped closer, voice almost a whisper now.
"Is it because he challenges your ideas? Or because he challenges *you*? Because every time he looks at you like he wants to eat you alive, your body answers before your brain can stop it?"
Mia's hands curled into fists at her sides.
"Is it because you're afraid that if he stays, you'll end up on your knees in the supply closet with his cock down your throat, moaning like a whore while you hate every second of how good it feels?"
The words landed like slaps each one precise, brutal, true.
Mia's face burned. Her thighs pressed together instinctively, trying to quell the fresh ache blooming between them.
Victoria didn't blink.
"Or is it because you already know you're going to fuck him? And you're terrified that once you do, you won't be able to stop?"
Silence stretched thick, electric.
Mia's voice came out hoarse. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know exactly what I'm talking about." Victoria reached out, straightened the thin gold chain at Mia's throat with casual authority. "I've watched you destroy every rival who's ever stepped foot in this building. You eat them alive. You don't run from them. You devour them."
She stepped back, smile cool again.
"So here's the deal, darling: Noah Reed is exactly what this firm needs sharp, ruthless, brilliant. And he's exactly what *you* need. Someone who doesn't flinch when you bare your teeth. Someone who bites back harder. Someone who might finally make you lose control in the best possible way."
Victoria nodded toward the door.
"You want him gone? Earn it. Beat him on this pitch. Make him irrelevant. Or my personal favorite make him yours. Either way, you don't get to quit before the game begins."
She glanced at her watch.
"You've got a briefing with him. Alone. In the corner office. Door locks from the inside. Don't be late."
Mia stared at her chest rising and falling, pulse roaring in her ears.
Victoria's eyebrow lifted.
"Problem?"
Mia exhaled through her nose, turned on her heel, and walked out.
The corridor blurred.
Her heels echoed like gunshots down the hall.
She stopped at the elevator, stared at the button, remembered last night's filthy promise still echoing in her head.
Her hand hovered.
Then she pressed it.
The doors opened.
Empty.
She stepped inside.
Hit the button for their floor.
And whispered to her own reflection in the mirrored wall:
"This is going to end in disaster."
The elevator rose.
And somewhere above her, Noah Reed was already waiting.
Smirking.
Hard.
Ready.
And she was walking straight into the trap.
With her thighs still trembling, her nipples tight against the silk lining of her dress, and the humiliating certainty that Victoria was right.
She wanted him.
She hated that she wanted him.
And she was going to have to face him in ten minutes alone, locked in, no escape.
Fuck.
---