er Th

ls were sleek, sterile-made of Italian marble and silence. Arianna Moretti

g like a guilty conscience. The polished floors were unf

tarting. And Dante Romano

at her son's school charity event. Since he pull

k: Two n

ous. "You volunteer. You clean

inch. "Because I have to. Not ev

. "That sounds l

surv

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clinging to the air. But beneath the janitorial cart, nestled

ist

a t

d: STAFF REPLA

dropped her mop. Her name w

e level floors. Consider t

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found my opi

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inked.

had the courage

just a janitor, Arianna. I wa

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b too?" he asked, his voice

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smell of leftover lentils. Arianna fed Leo, tucked him in,

ld, distant, calculating-

he saw s

wasn'

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now that. But

t terri

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she walked taller. She w

From the glass conference room. From the

speak. H

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elevator and found he

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t him. "Pret

That you don't see e

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yself," he

olted to a hal

y were

itor and the

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, 11:

tor wasn'

tti stood stiffly, her back flush against the metallic wall, heart thundering in her ch

t ended-less chance of running into a smug billionaire CEO. But tonight had been different. He

in a box with the last man

, the other holding his phone. No signal. He lowered it

g the silence. "Stuck in a met

a brow.

re we

aught the twitch at the co

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fort always comes se

ne subtle and maddening. "Yo

u don't understand what it's like to worry if th

e. Not like this. Vulnerability was a luxury she couldn't a

asm to shield your p

lways use power to m

his back to her, staring at the

and stripped down all at once. It was easier when he was just crue

lence morphed into tension-like a string pulled too tight between

sat cross-legged on the flo

ng back against the wall. Their shoulders weren't touching,

me," he said a

you

gala. I didn't think

eeds medication. He has asthma. I'm not here

st sat there, absorbing the trut

ventually. "Survive. Day by day. My father had the

s voice had gone flat, em

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y," she w

"I hated her weakness. Then I

ere a

s no e

ndow into who Dante Romano used to be-befor

n and pulled out a granola bar. "Peace

t it like it

son you," she added. "

took it. Tore the

," he said

hed. "To

kicked in. The e

instinctively shot out, shielding her. When the do

didn'

still across her ches

y. But he did

ss for weakness, Mr. Rom

" he replied,

t. He followed. Two

he next

urvived the elevator incident and re

got called

ai

leek chair in HR. Chic, sharp-eyed

is mind," sh

d. "What does

ses them. Manipulates them. Destro

l add that t

around him. He gets what he wants.

urned. "What are yo

m asking you

led out

a new c

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new po

sistant to

hands went

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t n

ered his

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the doorframe

don't ge

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erst

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nod

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hook

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ir si

had jus

ai

the CEO's office slid open. Staff

Arianna didn't

eek ponytail, and the stride of s

ed up from

," he said w

she replied smoothl

from him, organizing his

tting too close to him. B