High-Rise Heat: A Love Triangle Boss Romance (Heat Series Book 1) by Elle Berlin

High-Rise Heat: A Love Triangle Boss Romance (Heat Series Book 1) by Elle Berlin

Author:Elle Berlin [Berlin, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-03T16:00:00+00:00


6

Ilsa

My four-inch heels pinch the delicate skin below my ankle, rubbing the flesh and threatening to blister. My whole day has felt like that tender strip of skin, wedged into a space that’s too tight, and scraping with each painful step. The tension between Dom and me has felt like that exposed blister, raw and ready to erupt. From breakfast to the cab ride to our associate’s office, to sitting in the stuffy board room where Dom smoothed out his suit and started the negotiation. Every step, every breath, has felt rigid and stiff. That cushion of distance and professionalism that normally sits between us has had an uncanny sharpness all day; as if Dom saw me with my legs wrapped around his friend’s hips and now he wants me to pay for the fact that he can’t shake the image.

I turn down the convention center hallway that leads to the ballroom where our new associates are throwing a merger banquet to announce our deal to their employees. The celebration has already begun. And it is a day to celebrate, a day to fist-pump the air and get drunk in honor of all the hard work we’ve done. Months of work leading up to this point. This is a brilliant career triumph that will result in the promotion I’ve been salivating over for years, and yet that’s not what I’m thinking about. No, instead every muscle in my body is knotted with fear, because something between Dom and me is off. And I can’t shake the dread that pools at the base of my heart.

I don’t know that Dom saw anything last night, but he’s spent the entire day eerily chipper and “on.” Over compensating and acting like the perfect lawyer with his smart suggestions that made it sound like he was giving our new associates everything they wanted while managing to stack the deck in his favor and getting everything he desired. Dom regrets nothing after all and he brilliantly stands his ground. And I was there by his side the whole time, and yet it was the first time I’ve ever felt invisible next to Dom, as if I was a complete afterthought. He hardly acknowledged me all day. He didn’t ask my opinion. He didn’t give me the space to wield part of the negotiation. He cut me off when I started to interject. And because he’s Dom, each shut down was executed like a magician’s sleight of hand, practically imperceptible to our new partners and seemingly unaggressive. Not overtly. Our new partners had no clue it was happening.

A string quartet strikes a powerful chord as I walk into the dazzling ballroom, silk and gold lanterns hanging from the ceiling and casting a red glow over the decorated space. Tables shimmer with crystal sculptures of swirling dragons and koi fish with exotic fins. There are lady dancers twirling on a stage in the corner, adding a bit of pageantry to what feels like an enchanted den of opulence.



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