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His gaze flicks from the notebook crushed against my chest to my face. “That looked promising.”

I close my eyes. “Please let me keep a little dignity.”

“I saved your dignity.”

“You watched the whole thing.”

“I had no choice. It unfolded directly in front of me.”

A laugh escapes before I can stop it.

Bane smiles, and my pulse decides to become unhelpful.

The annoying part is how familiar he feels. My pulse kicks harder. I hate that.

His head tilts slightly as he studies me, and I get the distinct impression he’s noticed my thoughts have drifted somewhere else entirely. “Emma?”

I blink.

Right, I’ve drifted away again. “Sorry.”

The smile that appears on his face settles somewhere beneath my ribs. “Long day?”

“You have no idea.”

Looking at him should feel a lot more complicated than it does.

He’s the CEO, my boss. Every practical thought in my head knows exactly why that matters.

Yet standing here, all I can see is the man who sat beside me years ago when I was falling apart and stayed until I could breathe again.

Someone calls his name from farther down the hall.

Bane glances over his shoulder before looking back at me. “I should probably answer that before they organize a search party.”

I smile. “That seems wise.”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “Welcome to Wolf Shield, Emma.”

I watch him disappear around the corner, aware of my pulse racing for reasons I’d rather not examine too closely.

And as I start walking again, I realize the knot that’s been sitting in my chest ever since Spencer left has eased enough that I can finally imagine a future where it stays gone.

CHAPTER FOUR

Bane

MARCH 12TH

“The implementation schedule’s already been updated,” Emma says across the boardroom as she leans over a tablet beside one of the development leads. “If we push testing forward by three days, we can still make the client deadline without everyone wanting to quit.”

A ripple of laughter moves around the table while people glance at the revised timeline.

I don’t join in.

Instead, I watch her explain the changes, answering questions before they’re fully asked, somehow getting two department heads who usually treat compromise like a communicable disease to nod along without a fight.

Since hiring Emma, meetings have stopped dragging through endless arguments. Clients answer faster, deadlines stop slipping, and departments that used to spend half their energy defending territory actually work together.