Chapter 3 - My CEO Kissed Me to Keep a Killer From Recognizing Me, and Suddenly Our Fake Alliance Became Too RealThe next morning, the shooting was officially called an attempted burglary.
Nobody believed that.
Not Diana.
Not me.
Not the security chief.
And certainly not the board.
But the company needed calm.
So Diana held a press conference.
She walked into the room wearing another white suit.
I stood backstage.
She looked at me before stepping toward the microphones.
Then she smiled.
No one would have guessed she'd barely slept.
No one would have guessed someone had fired a gun through her office window.
She talked about quarterly earnings.
Employee growth.
Expansion.
Everything normal.
Everything false.
When she finished, she returned backstage.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“That's your favorite lie.”
She smiled.
“You've noticed.”
I had.
More than I should have.
After the press conference, she asked me to meet her in the private garage.
A black sedan waited.
“Where are we going?”
“To my uncle's house.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“He invited me.”
“That sounds suspicious.”
“It is.”
I got into the car.
Diana sat beside me.
“Why bring me?”
“Because someone is watching me.”
“I'm not exactly subtle.”
“You're good with numbers.”
“That doesn't make me a bodyguard.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It makes you useful.”
I smiled.
“That's romantic.”
She laughed.
The tension eased.
Then her hand found mine.
I looked down.
“What are you doing?”
“Trusting you.”
“That seems reckless.”
“It is.”
Her thumb moved slowly across my knuckles.
My breath caught.
“Diana.”
She released me.
“Sorry.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Don't be.”
Her eyes met mine.
Neither of us spoke.
The car stopped.
Gabriel Vance lived in a mansion overlooking the Hudson.
He greeted us with a smile.
“Owen.”
I froze.
He knew my name.
“I've heard a lot about you.”
Diana's expression sharpened.
“You have?”
“Of course.”
Gabriel smiled.
“He's been useful to the company for years.”
I glanced at Diana.
She didn't react.
Dinner became a chess match.
Gabriel asked questions.
My mother.
My father's work.
My finances.
My history.
Too personal.
Too precise.
At one point he leaned forward.
“Your father trusted the Vance family.”
I stared.
“He worked for your company?”
“For my brother.”
Diana interrupted.
“My father didn't employ mechanics.”
Gabriel smiled.
“He employed everyone.”
The sentence felt like a warning.
Then he looked at me.
“Your father left something behind.”
I felt my pulse spike.
“I don't know anything about that.”
“Interesting.”
Diana stood.
“We're leaving.”
Gabriel laughed.
“Already?”
“Yes.”
She took my arm.
We walked out.
The moment the doors closed, she whispered,
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That your father kept the original trust documents.”
I looked at her.
“I don't have them.”
“I know.”
We reached the car.
Before I could open the door, a black SUV sped around the corner.
Diana pushed me back.
The SUV stopped.
Three men stepped out.
Weapons.
I froze.
Diana grabbed my coat.
“Behind me.”
Gunfire.
Security returned fire.
We ran through the side entrance.
Inside the building, Diana pulled me into a dark service hallway.
Our bodies collided.
She pressed a finger to her lips.
Footsteps approached.
Someone was searching the hall.
Diana looked at me.
Her face was inches from mine.
Then she kissed me.
I froze.
Not because I didn't want it.
Because I wanted it too much.
Her lips touched mine for only a second.
Then she pulled away.
The footsteps stopped.
A man appeared at the corner.
He glanced at us.
Diana laughed softly.
“Sorry.”
She looked at me.
“I forgot we had an audience.”
The man turned away.
We waited.
When he disappeared, I whispered,
“What was that?”
“Improvisation.”
“That was your definition of improvisation?”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
“You kissed your employee.”
“I did.”
“Your analyst.”
“Yes.”
“For cover.”
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“You're enjoying this.”
“Maybe.”
Our faces moved closer.
Then her expression changed.
“No.”
“What?”
“I can't.”
She stepped away.
“Why?”
“Because I am your boss.”
“You're also a woman.”
She looked at me.
“And you're my employee.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“It answers all of them.”
She walked away.
I followed.
“You don't kiss people like that unless you mean something.”
She stopped.
Then whispered:
“That is exactly why I shouldn't have kissed you.”
The next morning, she transferred me to a private project team.
No more shared meetings.
No more late nights.
No more accidental touches.
It should have been easier.
It wasn't.
Because that afternoon, I discovered a hidden account.
The account had been opened eighteen years earlier.
Its beneficiary was Diana.
The co-beneficiary was my father.
And the trustee was Gabriel Vance.
I stared at the screen.
My father's name next to hers.
There was no explanation.
Then a new file appeared.
A birth certificate.
I opened it.
The mother was listed as unknown.
The father was listed as—
I stopped breathing.
Edward Vance.
Diana's father.
I looked at the document again.
Then at the date.
It was one year before Diana was born.
That wasn't possible.
Unless Diana had an older sister.
Someone who had never been mentioned.
I printed the document.
And when I turned around, Liam Mercer was standing behind me.
He looked at the paper.
Then at me.
May you like
His face had lost all color.
“You weren't supposed to find that.”
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