POV — Catriona
8:00 a.m.
Not 8:01.
Not 7:59.
Exactly eight.
I knock once.
"Come in."
His voice is calm. Unhurried. As if he has already anticipated this moment and accounted for every possible variable.
Including me.
Shawn Reid's office looks different in the morning light. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretch behind him, the skyline washed in pale gold. The city looks small from up here.
Contained.
He doesn't stand when I enter.
He watches.
"You're punctual," he says.
"I was instructed to be."
A faint flicker in his eyes. Approval? Amusement? Hard to tell.
"Sit."
I take the chair across from his desk, spine straight, binder resting neatly on my lap.
He doesn't speak immediately.
Instead, he studies me the way he studies financial projections — searching for weaknesses, inconsistencies, leverage.
"Do you know why I called you here?" he asks.
"Opportunity," I reply.
His mouth tilts slightly. "Ambiguous answers are dangerous."
"So are vague invitations."
That does it.
His attention sharpens.
"You're comfortable challenging me."
"I'm comfortable defending my reasoning."
A pause.
Then:
"Good."
The word lands like a verdict.
He stands, walking slowly around the desk. Not predatory. Not rushed. Just controlled.
He stops near the window, hands loosely clasped behind his back.
"Most people in this building," he says, staring out at the skyline, "want proximity to power."
"I want proximity to knowledge."
Silence.
Then he turns.
"That's a better answer."
He walks closer — not invading, not touching — but close enough that the air shifts.
"You corrected my proposal publicly," he says.
"It wasn't public."
"It reached my executive team within an hour."
So he knew.
Of course he knew.
"And yet," he continues, "you're still here."
"Yes."
"Do you know why?"
Because you're curious.
Because you don't ignore disruption.
Because I intrigued you.
But I say, "Because I was right."
His gaze holds mine.
"You were," he admits.
The acknowledgment feels heavier than praise.
"I don't reward flattery," he continues. "I reward competence."
"And what does competence earn?" I ask.
His eyes darken slightly — not with desire, but with calculation.
"Access."
The word lands between us.
"You'll work directly under me for the next quarter," he says. "Confidential acquisitions. Legal structuring. No margin for error."
That's not mentorship.
That's elevation.
"Why?" I ask.
His head tilts slightly.
"Because you don't intimidate easily."
"I am intimidated," I correct. "I just don't collapse."
A slow breath leaves him.
"That distinction matters."
He steps closer now. Still no contact. But the space feels charged.
"There will be rules," he says.
"I assumed."
"You will not discuss internal strategy with anyone outside this office."
"Understood."
"You will not allow personal distractions to affect performance."
I hold his gaze.
"I don't."
His eyes search my face as if testing that statement.
"And," he continues evenly, "you will remember that proximity to power does not equal possession of it."
There it is.
The boundary.
The warning.
"I don't want your power," I say quietly.
"What do you want?"
The question is softer than the others.
Honest.
"I want mine."
Something shifts.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
He studies me for a long moment — recalibrating.
"Good," he says finally. "Because I don't build protégés. I build competitors."
The words send a slow pulse through my chest.
Competitors.
Not assistants.
Not admirers.
Competitors.
"Report to me at six tomorrow," he adds.
"Six?"
"If you want to operate at this level, you operate on my schedule."
This is a test.
Of endurance.
Of commitment.
Of boundaries.
"I'll be here," I reply.
His gaze lingers a fraction too long before he steps back, restoring distance.
"Dismissed."
I stand, collecting my binder, steady despite the adrenaline humming under my skin.
As I reach the door, his voice stops me.
"Catriona."
I turn.
"If at any point you feel this arrangement compromises your academic goals," he says evenly, "you walk away. No penalty."
That wasn't strategic.
That was… careful.
"Noted," I say.
Then I leave.
The hallway feels cooler.
Quieter.
But my pulse hasn't settled.
Because this isn't seduction.
It isn't affection.
It isn't even mentorship.
It's something far more dangerous.
It's alignment.
And when two ambitious people decide to test each other—
Someone eventually yields.
The only question is…
Who?