For the first time that morning, the corner of his mouth moved.
The almost-smile disappeared quickly.
“I should have warned you sooner,” he said.
“You thought Marco was using me?”
“I knew someone had accessed your files.
I didn’t know whether you were involved until you brought the report.”
The honesty stung, but I preferred it to a comforting lie.
“So when I fell into your lap, you still suspected me.”
“For approximately three seconds.”
“What changed?”
“You looked at the folder before you looked at the door.
Guilty people watch exits.
You watched evidence.”
I absorbed that.
“And then you held me there.”
His expression became unreadable.
“The cameras outside were compromised.
Marco wanted you removed.
I needed you visible until I knew who else was involved.”
“You could have explained.”
“Not without warning him.”
“You could have asked me to stay instead of commanding me.”
Dominic went still.
The most feared man in the building looked as though no one had corrected him in years.
“You’re right,” he said.
No defense.
No reminder of his power.
Just two words.
I let out a breath I had been holding for six months.
“Why did you approve my payroll advance?” I asked.
“Because you earned it.”
“You didn’t know what it was for?”
“I read every request that crosses my desk.”
“So you knew about my mother.”
“Yes.”
“But you never said anything.”
“It wasn’t mine to discuss.”
That answer changed something inside me.
Marco had treated my private hardship as leverage.
Dominic had known the same truth and left it untouched.
Power was not proven by what a man could take.
Sometimes it was proven by what he refused to use.
Dominic rose and poured water from an untouched bottle into a glass.
“You won’t return to the secretary’s desk.”
My heart dropped.
“I’m fired?”
“No.”
He placed the water in front of me.
“You found a fraud trail that escaped two internal reviews.
You documented it, preserved the original data, and walked into a room full of men who frightened you because you believed the truth mattered more than your fear.”
“I also destroyed a carafe.”
“We’ll deduct it from Marco’s frozen account.”
That time, I saw the smile.
Small.
Dangerous.
Real.
