Zachary's POV
Two weeks in and Nora had started to relax around him.
It was killing him.
She would laugh at jokes. Actually laugh, not that nervous laugh she'd had in the first days. She'd started wearing her hair up in efficient ponytails that made her look professional and made him want to take them down. She'd stopped flinching every time he came near her.
The distance he'd promised himself was impossible. Every day he broke his own rules. Every day he found new reasons to stand too close.
Today he was going to break them completely.
Zachary called her into his office and watched her walk in with that careful expression she always wore. Like she was bracing for impact.
"I need to talk to you about a change," he said without preamble.
Her face went pale. "Am I being fired?"
"No." He almost smiled. "You're being promoted. Effective immediately."
Nora stared at him like he'd spoken a language she didn't understand.
"Promoted to what?" she asked carefully.
"Executive Liaison. You'll work directly with our clients on high-level accounts. More responsibility. More visibility. More salary." He slid papers across his desk. "Double your current pay, plus benefits."
She looked at the numbers and her hand trembled slightly.
"I can't accept this," she said.
"You can and you will."
"Zachary, I've barely been here two weeks. I'm still learning the assistant role. This is too much too fast. I'm not qualified for this."
He stood and moved around his desk, cutting off her protests by simply closing the distance. She went quiet immediately. Always did when he was close.
"You're smart," he said, his voice low and steady. "You're capable. You learn faster than anyone I've hired. And you're wasted doing administrative work when you should be in meetings. Making decisions. Representing my company."
"I don't have the experience."
"Then you'll gain it." He cut off another protest before she could make it. "This is not a negotiation, Nora. This is what's happening. The promotion is effective today."
She swallowed hard. Nodded because arguing further would be pointless.
"There's something else," he said, and pulled a black credit card from his desk drawer. He extended it toward her.
She stared at it like it might bite her.
"Company account," he explained. "For professional purposes. Your new position requires client interaction. You'll need appropriate clothing. Designer pieces. Things that make you look powerful."
"I can't use this." She didn't even reach for it.
"You can. You will."
Most people would grab at money. Would see the limitless credit and their eyes would go hungry. Nora looked terrified.
"It's for work clothes only," he continued, pushing the card closer. "Professional wardrobe. Nothing else."
She took it slowly like it was going to burn her hand.
"How much can I spend?" she whispered.
"What do you need?"
"I don't know. Thousands?"
"Then spend thousands. I don't care about the amount. I care about you looking like you belong in those client meetings. Like you're not some barista they hired as a joke."
She flinched at that. Like he'd said something cruel. He hadn't meant it that way. He meant she was too good for anything less. That she needed to see herself the way he saw her.
"I don't know what's appropriate," she said quietly, still holding the card like it was foreign currency.
Zachary stepped closer.
He didn't think about it. Didn't debate with himself. Just moved until she had to tilt her head back to look at him. Until the space between them was almost nothing.
"What's appropriate?" he repeated softly, and reached up to touch her chin. His thumb tilted it up slightly so she had to meet his eyes. "Anything that makes you feel powerful."
For a moment they just stood like that. Connected by that single point of contact. His thumb on her chin. Her eyes wide and startled.
He wanted to kiss her.
The wanting was so intense it felt like drowning. He could lean down. Could close that small distance. Could taste her mouth and finally understand why she'd been driving him insane for two weeks.
But if he did, there would be no going back.
The line between professional and reckless would be crossed completely. The line between control and surrender would evaporate. And when she found out the truth about why he'd hired her, that moment would become the weapon that destroyed them both.
So instead, Zachary stepped back.
He dropped his hand.
"Go," he said, his voice rough. "Go shopping. Buy whatever you need. I'll expect to see results by Monday."
Nora stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, staring at where his hand had been. Like she could still feel it even though he'd moved away.
"Zachary," she started.
"That's all, Miss Chen."
The professional title landed between them like a slap.
She left without another word, the credit card clutched in her hand.
Zachary sat back at his desk and waited until his body stopped betraying his control. Until his hands stopped shaking. Until he could breathe without tasting her.
He'd crossed another line. Had given her a reason to stay even closer. Had put resources in her hand that would bind her to him financially and professionally. Had created another layer of dependence that would make her betrayal even more complete when it came.
But he'd also kept himself from kissing her.
Barely.
The next time he stepped that close, he wasn't going to have the strength to pull away. And then everything would burn.
His phone buzzed. A message from his investigator. Gerald Moss had made contact with Nora's email address. Had sent her a message requesting an urgent meeting about her family inheritance.
Zachary's stomach dropped.
It was starting. The unraveling. The moment when his careful control would crumble and she would learn the truth.
He had maybe days before she knew everything.
Before she understood that every promotion, every touch, every moment of intimacy had been calculated. That he'd been using her the entire time.
Before she hated him completely.
Zachary looked at the papers she'd left behind. Her promotion documentation. Her new salary. Her access to resources that would have made her life easier if they weren't all part of some elaborate trap.
He'd told himself this was business.
He'd lied.
And now the lie was catching up with him in the form of a barista who was going to destroy him as soon as she figured out who he really was.