She woke up alone. The sheets were rumpled, but the space on the bed beside her was still warm. Which meant Dane had only gotten up recently.

“Hey.”

His voice made her pull the sheets tighter around her before she turned to look at him. He stood in the doorway, dressed in nothing but boxer briefs. Blond hair all tousled, his hand scratching the stubble that had started to grow. It was hard not to stare at him. From his broad shoulders to the hard muscles of his biceps, he was absolutely perfect.

“Hey,” she said softly.

He gave her a lopsided grin. “I made pancakes.”

“You did?”

“Don’t get too excited,” he said. “I made them from a mix.”

That made her laugh.

Breakfast was delicious. He let her wear his shirt. The shirt practically swallowed her up it was so big, but it felt good to wear something that was his. It smelled like him. Crisp and masculine.

It was very domestic. Easy. Like the beginning of something real. Something that might last longer than the fly-by-night relationships she’d had for years. A lot of guys she had dated didn’t seem to know what they wanted. Dane did. There was no mistaking that.

But that didn’t stop her insides from knotting up when he climbed out her living room window to exit through the fire escape. When it was just them, she felt so at peace. So safe. But Monday was work. Which meant all eyes would be on them. The pressure from Katherine and his parents would only get worse. Not to mention the unfinished business with her sister, Monica.

He kissed her goodbye and she watched him disappear. Her apartment felt lonely without him all weekend. When he called her a few times, she was so happy to hear his voice it made her giddy.

Monday rolled around. She came into work bright and early so she could prepare for the meeting with Prescott Global’s board members, executives, and managers.

Dane showed up shortly after she did. “You look wonderful this morning,” he said as he walked by her desk towards his office. From the way he was looking at her so hungrily, she knew it wasn’t just a run of the mill compliment from her boss. This was Dane being her boyfriend.

She did her best to glare at him. “Behave yourself, Mr. Prescott.”

“I’m always on my best behavior.” There was a glint in his eye when he said it.

“You and I both know that’s not true,” she said with a giggle as he disappeared into his office.

When it was time for the meeting, they walked into the conference room together. He sat at the head of the conference table while she took her place beside him as staff started to enter the room. The meeting was meant to celebrate the merger and welcome some of the new British staff that had previous worked at Handel and Company. But some of the expressions were downright glum.

Allyson sighed. Scandal had a way of ruining morale. Not to mention, sitting right next to Dane only served as a reminder of what they had done.

“Good morning, everyone.” Dane’s mother breezed into the conference room with her husband Alfred, Katherine, and a man Allyson had only ever glimpsed once. Nicholas Handel, Katherine’s older brother.

As Dane’s parents and the Handels took their seats at the table, Allyson studied the older Handel sibling. At 33, Nicky was the same age as Dane. Nicky was also just as privileged and just as good-looking. But that was where their similarities ended. Nicky wasn’t muscular like Dane, but he was lean and exceptionally tall. He had dark brown hair slicked back with pomade and cheekbones that could cut glass. Truth be told, he was more pretty than handsome.

Nicky caught her looking at him and something wicked flashed in his dark brown eyes. A sly smile played on his lips. Startled, Allyson tore her eyes away from him and stared down at her laptop, pretending to look busy. Why had he smiled at her? Was he smiling at her misfortune with the scandal? Did he know about Katherine’s plans?

The meeting was called to order with Dane at the helm. He warmly welcomed the new staff members.

Nicky leaned back in his chair. “Thank you for the welcome, Dane. My father sends his regards. He would have been here, but he had to fly back to England to oversee things at the London office.”

She knew about Nicky Handel’s reputation from the British tabloids. He hadn’t earned his place as Handel and Company’s president because his father retired the way Dane had gotten to be CEO of Prescott. Nicky had stabbed his own father in the back to get the position. Allowing John to be the vice president had been a victor’s gesture after taking the spoils. If Nicky was ruthless enough to destroy his own father, he was ruthless enough to do anything. Where Dane was open, charming, and relatively down-to-earth for a billionaire, Nicky was sly and did things in the shadows. As he sat in the conference room regarding everyone with cold fascination, he reminded her of a fox.

“Let’s start by introducing everyone,” Dane suggested.

“Yes, let’s.” Nicky leaned forward, his dark brown eyes falling on her. “We could start with your assistant. Allyson, is it?”

Allyson froze at the sound of her name. Usually the only person who focused on her at these meetings was Dane. And that suited her perfectly. Especially since everyone in the conference room was now staring at her.

Her face flushed with heat. “Yes. It’s Allyson. Allyson Smith.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Nicky said in his clipped, upper-class British accent. “I’ve heard your boss’ mum thinks I ought to steal you away from him.”

Dane narrowed his eyes. “You’ve heard wrong.”

The tension in the room was so unbearable Allyson wanted to sink under the table.

“Have I, old man?” Nicky was staring at her again. Appraising her like she was the choice meal on the menu. If she was unattached she might have been flattered, but being put on the spot like this in front of Dane was especially uncomfortable. “Surely not. And here I thought I’d be able to swoop in and take your capable assistant off your hands.”

“You thought wrong, too,” Dane practically snarled. He clenched his jaw, anger radiating from him. “Allyson—Ms. Smith—stays with me.”

“You don’t have to keep pretending for our sake.” Nicky’s comments elicited nervous chuckles around the room. “You can let her go. She’ll be well taken care of.”

Embarrassment seized her. She had hoped they might escape any mention of the scandal, but now the entire senior staff found it amusing.

Dane glowered, his face taking on a very dark and dangerous expression. “This inane discussion over trivialities is over.” And from his tone, Allyson knew it was. Nobody argued with Dane when he spoke like that.

With that, the meeting went on as if nothing had happened. Allyson was relieved to go back to her duties.

After the meeting ended, the staff filed out of the conference room. Only Dane remained sitting in the leather chair at the head of the conference table while she quickly finished typing up notes for the meeting.

“I want Katherine and Nicholas Handel gone.”

With a gasp, she looked up from her laptop. “Gone? You mean like sent back to England?”

“I don’t care where they go,” he said sharply. “I just want them the hell out of my company.”

She swallowed hard. “They’re the reason we’ll have a smooth transition with the merger. Besides, you can’t fire Nicholas on your own. You need the entire board to agree to something like that.”

“In the beginning, I really didn’t want this merger,” he said. “I worried about what it might do to our staff. I worried it might change the culture. But we can’t call ourselves Prescott Global if we aren’t a global company. The things I’ve done...the lies I’ve told to secure this deal...”

“I’ve told those lies, too,” she murmured. “This is hard for me, too.”

“It’s because of you I want them gone.”

“Because of me?” she scoffed. “Please don’t try to flip this on me. You want them gone because you’re territorial. You don’t like sharing.”

“No, I damn well don’t,” he shot back. “Not my company. Not my assistant. Not my girlfriend.”

Annoyance laced through her. “You won’t have to share me with anyone—”

“Did you see the way he looked at you?” Dane demanded. “I’ve always known Nicholas was a little unorthodox, but the stunt he pulled at the meeting is unacceptable. Plus, he’s probably gearing up to ask you out right now.”

“Well, I’ll just have to tell him I’m unavailable,” she said.

“How? Nobody knows we’re together. For all he knows, you’re single.”

She rolled her eyes. “Single doesn’t mean available. Why do you men always think that a single woman is automatically available to you? I’m not interested in him. From what I know about him, he’s a professional who hasn’t had any real scandal—”

“Unlike me?”

Allyson surged to her feet. “We’re not doing this.” She was fuming. The nerve of Dane to make this all about him. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have felt humiliated in that meeting? Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to watch you two get into an argument over me? Dane, we’re supposed to be keeping a low profile. That meeting probably made the gossip worse.”

Silence. All he did was look at her, stone-faced.

Her eyes stung. She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. How had a wedge been put between them so quickly? It was as if, no matter what they did, the world always threatened to drive them further away from each other.

Part of her wanted to give in. Wanted to suggest she move to another department. Work for Nicholas. But the other part of her knew that Dane would never accept it. He didn’t concede things to his enemies. And right now, his enemies were his own family. His own mother. Suggesting she stop working for him would only make things worse. He’d likely only agree to it if it was what she genuinely wanted. If he suspected she was giving in to pressure, he’d never agree. She knew him well enough by now.

With a sob, she reached for her laptop and turned to leave. She headed for the door but two strong arms wrapped around her, holding her. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t move. Allyson sank against Dane’s chest. The sound of his heartbeat echoed in her ear. Soothed her.

“You don’t have to worry about Nicholas,” she said. “You did a background check on him, remember? He might be cutthroat, but he’s not the type to try unwanted advances with an employee.”

He sighed. “I probably have no right to be pissed off. Not when I’m dating an employee myself.”

“Yes, but none of this is unwanted,” she whispered.

“Well, I made certain that your renewed contract keeps you safe no matter what happens between us,” he said. “Legally, I can’t fire you and neither can my parents. It would take the entire board to fire you, and the process for that is a long one.”

“You can still transfer me, though,” she pointed out. If two of the three senior executives—namely Dane, his mother, and father—wanted her transferred and she signed off on it, she could be moved somewhere else. If she was transferred, she’d be guaranteed the same salary and benefits. She’d no longer be working for Dane, but at least the pressure on him would be gone.

“I’m not letting you go,” he said.

“But if I change departments we’ll still be in the same building,” she said. “I won’t see you as often, but—”

“We’ll still get to be together in secret? Still have to hide?” He let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want our relationship to just be us sneaking around.”

“If I work for someone else, we won’t have to watch ourselves at work so much,” she pointed out.

His hold on her tightened. “If you work for someone else, that’s us admitting defeat. If we can’t stand our ground on this, what’s to stop them from coming up with a way to break us up for real?”

That was why he was so against his mother’s demands. It wasn’t just that he was being stubborn, hot- headed, and territorial. To Dane, letting her go work for someone else was like letting her go for real. Her heart bloomed. He was too stubborn to admit it, but he feared losing her. “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him.

He pulled away to look down at her. Dane was so tall that, even in heels, she had to crane her neck to look up at him and meet his gaze. “Allyson, I agreed to keep us a secret for now,” he said. “But I won’t let my mother dictate our lives.”

“Do you think she put Nicky up to this?”

He frowned. “Where else would he get the idea that you should go work for him?”

“I figured he was trying to get me out of the way to help Katherine. Seems more likely he’d be loyal to her.” Allyson paused. “Unless they’re all working together or something.”

“Are we paranoid?”

“My sister helped Katherine,” she reminded him. “Maybe we’re not paranoid enough.”

A sense of unease washed over her. This was getting so out of control. It felt like the walls were closing in, with her sister’s jealousy on one side and power-hungry aristocrats on the other. Katherine wanted Dane. And it was obvious his own mother supported that match. Katherine had the type of pedigree not even money could buy. Her status was the kind that took generations to create. No doubt Nicholas had his own reasons for wanting to get Allyson out of the way so that his sister could get her claws into Dane again.

As for Monica...she hadn’t contacted her sister yet. There was still too much to process. Not to mention the fact that confronting Monica would inevitably bring the rest of her family into the conflict. She could just imagine her sister trying to make their family choose sides. Most of them would pick Monica’s side. Like they almost always did.

Dane placed his large hand on her cheek, his thumb tracing over her lips. She shivered under his touch. Her pulse quickened. They were at work, but she wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms and let him do whatever he wanted to her. One touch from him and she was already that tempted. 

“Look, if you want to go work in another department because that’s what you want, you’ll have my blessing,” he said gruffly. “But don’t decide things just because it’s what my mother wants.”

“It’s not what I want,” she breathed. “Part of the reason I love my job is because I get to work with you.”  

He leaned forward, his lips pressing against hers. Her eyes closed, the warmth of his demanding mouth already making her surrender to him.

A movement behind her made her eyes snap back open. Someone had opened the conference room door.