Chapter 1: The Rule He Never Broke
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.
Dominic Wolfe stepped out like he owned the building, because he did. Towering, cold, dressed in a black tailored suit, he cut through the glass halls like a storm in silence.
The click of his shoes echoed like a countdown.
"Your nine o'clock intern is waiting in the lobby," Ava, his assistant, murmured as she fell into step behind him.
"I don't care."
"But she's—"
"I said I don't care." His tone snapped like a whip. "I don't do interns. Especially not in my division."
He entered his office without another word, standing before the wall of glass that overlooked the city skyline.
Until he heard it.
"Good morning," a soft voice said behind him.
He turned.
She stood in the doorway—raven-black hair, crimson lips, and eyes that dared him to look away first. She wore confidence like armor, not makeup.
Selene Rivera.
Intern. Twenty-two. Uninvited. And suddenly very much his problem.
"You're the intern?" he asked flatly.
"I am."
"You're late."
"I'm early," she corrected. "You're just impatient."
Dominic stared at her. No fear. No stuttering. Just a calm defiance that made something stir deep inside him.
She wasn't like the others.
"Get in my office. Now."
Selene stepped in, heels clicking, spine straight.
He shut the door behind her.
And just like that, the rule he never broke—no interns, no distractions, no entanglements—began to crack.
He didn't know it yet, but the moment she walked in, Dominic Wolfe was already burning.