Cole’s POV

I follow her to the conference table, my eyes tracing the line of her shoulders, the careful precision in the way she carries herself, every movement controlled yet impossibly alive. There is tension in the air, subtle but electric, that refuses to be ignored, and I can feel it radiating off her in short, measured waves, a quiet heartbeat beneath the professionalism she fights so hard to maintain. It is tantalising, infuriating, and I relish every second of it.

Elena settles into ...