Page 25 of Money Reigns

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I fall into step beside her without invitation.

She doesn’t ask why.

Doesn’tlook at me.

Just walks toward the elevators with that quiet tension in her spine like she’s trying not to spook a predator.

The elevator dings.

We step inside.

She goes to press the button for WesTech.

I catch her hand midair.

Her fingers are smaller than I expected, warm. The skin soft under my palm. For a second I just hold it, the world narrowing to the quiet of the elevator and the steady beat under my thumb.

She freezes.

Gasps quietly, but I hear it.Feel it. She doesn’t realize it yet, but I’ll train her body to make that sound for me.

On command.

Would be delicious to hear having her pressed up against the elevator wall.

I shake the thought and press Beaumont Realty.

Her mouth parts, like she’s about to object, to ask why.

“I need to speak with you,” I say, voice low and final. “In my office.”

The air tightens.

I feel her heartbeat pick up. The tremor she tries to bury.

But she doesn’t argue. Doesn’t move away.

The doors slide shut.

And in the silence that follows, I swear I can hear her pulse pounding.

Loud.

Uneasy.

Beautiful.

“Mr. Beaumont, if this is about Bro—”

“War.”

She blinks. “What?”

“Call me War.”

She falls silent, her breath coming in soft shudders.

“Wa-Warren, if this is about—”

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