The office was too quiet for hours even after she left. The heavy oak door clicked shut behind Diana, leaving only the faint echo of her footsteps fading down the hall. Devon remained seated behind his desk, hands steepled, his jaw tight. He didn't move for several long moments, as though motion alone might break the fragile thread of control he was clinging to.

She had come in trembling, yet not weak. Her defiance had glinted in her eyes even when she lowered her voice, even when she tried to mask it with careful words. That look had unsettled him more than her presence, more than her stubborn questions. No one looked him in the eye like that. Not without paying for it.

And yet, he had let her leave.

Devon exhaled slowly, his gaze drifting to the half-empty glass of whiskey on the desk. He reached for it. But when he lifted it, his hand stilled midair. He wasn't thirsty. He wasn't even angry, not in the way he usually was when challenged. This… was something else.

The memory of her lingered like something unwelcome, distracting. The way her lips parted when she hesitated, the tension in her shoulders, the fire that sparked behind her fear. He shouldn't have noticed those things. He shouldn't have cared.

And yet he did.

With a sudden sharp movement, he set the glass down. The crystal rang against the wood.

This was dangerous. She was dangerous.

Devon rose and moved toward the window, hands clasped behind his back as he stared out at the city stretched beneath him. From this height, everything looked small, insignificant. He liked that view the power of it, the detachment. But for the first time in years, the sight gave him no satisfaction. Instead, his mind pulled relentlessly back to the girl who had just left his presence. Diana Graham. The daughter of his business rival, who had been taken down overnight. This had been to his advantage even though he didn't pay much heed to it.

He shouldn't have paid any heed to her. The Graham name shouldn't even be on his mind.

Why her?

He had seen countless faces, dismissed countless women who had tried to catch his eye. He had never given them more than a glance, never allowed even the possibility of weakness. But Diana… When he saw her in that party and how she didn't let the words of others break her, he had intervened before he could stop himself and gave her his private business card too. He had told his assistant he was expecting her and waited till she arrived.

Devon's jaw tightened. He remembered her voice soft but unyielding. The way she had refused to cower entirely, even when she should have. That hint of steel in her spine. She reminded him of something buried deep in his past, something he had fought hard to erase.

He closed his eyes briefly, but the memories came anyway.

A dimly lit room. Another pair of defiant eyes staring at him years ago. The weight of betrayal, of promises broken. He had sworn never again, never to let anyone slip past his armor.

And yet Diana had already slipped through, uninvited.

Devon turned from the window, pacing the length of the office. His movements were restless, contained. He hated the loss of control most of all. Control was everything, his business, his empire, his life depended on it. And here he was, distracted by a woman he should have dismissed without a second thought.

"Fool," he muttered under his breath. His voice was low, edged with self-disgust.

But even as he cursed himself, he knew he wouldn't let this go. Something about her drew him, pulled him in like a tide he couldn't resist. And tides, no matter how strong one fought, were impossible to command.

Devon returned to his desk and lowered himself into the chair again. The leather creaked beneath him. He pulled open a drawer and withdrew a slim folder. Inside were her records, her background, her history, everything he had demanded his people uncover the moment he had left that party.

He had read it before, but now he scanned it again, more slowly this time. Her family, her losses, her resilience. The stubbornness that had carried her here. She was ordinary on paper, unremarkable compared to the women who usually circled men like him. She was the same spoilt brat, who had gotten anything she wanted from her rich father.

But that was the problem. Nothing in the documents explained why she lingered in his mind long after she was gone.

He snapped the folder shut. Paper couldn't tell him what he needed to know.

Only she could.

Devon leaned back, fingers tapping lightly against the desk. His lips curved, not quite a smile, more a shadow of one. If Diana thought she could simply walk out and forget this, she was mistaken. He wouldn't allow it.

He didn't fully understand why, whether it was curiosity, obsession, or something darker but he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

He wasn't finished with her.

The thought settled over him like a vow. He would draw her back in, one way or another. Whether through pressure, through circumstance, or through the inevitable pull that had already begun between them, Diana would not escape his orbit.

And when she came back because she would he would be ready.

Devon rose once more, straightening the cuffs of his shirt, his composure sliding back into place like a well-fitted mask. To the world, he would remain the same cold, untouchable man. But beneath that polished exterior, something had shifted. A fracture, small but undeniable, had formed in the walls he had spent years building.

All because of her.

He turned off the office lights and stepped out into the hall, his expression unreadable. Yet as he walked, one thought followed him like a shadow, persistent and dangerous.

Diana.

"Good afternoon sir" George, his secretary greeted him, he held the car door open for Devon who looked a bit troubled. he was sure it had to with that woman who got him curious. the woman Devon had invited over to his office twice. Devon nodded at him and entered the car. he let out a deep sigh and rested his back, while George walked over to the driver's side to get the cr started.

"Where would you like to have lunch today sir?" George asked, his eyes were on Devon through the rearview mirror. he could see the crease in Devon's brow as he waited for a response.

Devon's eyes slowly fluttered open and was met with George's own through the rearview mirror. George immediately looked away.

"What?" Devon asked.

"where would you like..."

"Not that... what do you want to know" Devon cut him off, and George finally turned to look at Devon.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to meet her" He voiced out his opinion that made Devon raise a brow at him.

"People have been talking and words travel fast. gossip, some people think you have something to do with what happened to Mr Graham and if you keep meeting his daughter what do you think people will say"

Devon' folded his hand across his chest "and when did I care about what people have to say about me"

that was true, George thought. But he had been shocked when Devon asked him to run a background check on her. "She makes me curious" Devon added.

"Your father will be asking questions soon sir. he has people watching your ever move and I'm sure he will have people watching her ever move soon too" George's words made a frown settle on Devon's face. Just the mention of his father was enough to dampen his mood that had already been dampened.

"Drive George"

"to where sir"

Devon was silent for a moment before he responded. "To have lunch"