Chapter 176: Back to Work

NOAH

Friday morning arrived with a crisp, professional bite that felt worlds away from the sun-drenched, morphine-hazed luxury of the Wolfe villa.

Standing outside the XUM Corporation headquarters, I took a deep breath of city exhaust and expensive espresso.

I was back.

And I was walking normally… mostly.

There was still a phantom ache in my lower back, a lingering reminder of the way Cassian had thoroughly dismantled me over the course of several nights, but the limp was gone.

I smoothed down the front of my jacket, the charcoal wool feeling like a second skin. It was a custom-tailored piece Cassian had ordered for me while I was still bedbound, the measurements taken by a silent, terrifyingly efficient man who had appeared at the villa on Wednesday.

The suit fit perfectly. It felt like money. It felt like his hands on me, even though he was nowhere near.

I pushed that thought down immediately. The pampered villa era was over. I was an employee again.

Probably.

I couldn’t help but replay the conversation from the night before, the one I’d worked up the courage to have while Cassian was finishing a glass of wine by the fireplace.

“Am I… still employed?” I’d asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Cassian had gone very still, his glass pausing halfway to his lips. He turned to me with a slow, deliberate movement that usually preceded a corporate execution.

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

His expression had shifted into something wounded, his eyes darkening.

“You slept with me to secure your job, Noah? Is that the transaction we’re engaged in?”

The panic had been instantaneous.

“What? No! That’s not—I didn’t—That’s not why I—!” I had spiraled, my hands flying as I defended myself with aggressive, flustered sincerity.

“I would never do that! That’s insulting to both of us! I kissed YOU first, remember? And that had nothing to do with HR or my benefits package, it was because—”

I’d stopped, realizing I was about to say far too much about the state of my internal organs whenever he looked at me.

Cassian’s “wounded” expression had cracked, a flicker of light hitting his eyes before he broke into a rare, genuine laugh. It was a deep, rich sound that made my stomach do a backflip.

“Your job was never in question,” he’d said, his voice dropping into that smooth, terrifyingly calm register. “It never was.”

“You’re horrible,” I’d muttered, my face on fire.

“Your reaction was worth it,” he’d replied, completely unapologetic.

Remembering that now, I exhaled a long breath of relief.

I still had a job.

And judging by the digital to-do list he’d sent to my phone at 6:00 AM, he intended to make me earn every cent of my paycheck.

The list was brutal. Three reports, two scheduling conflicts involving the board of directors, a presentation review, and a mountain of emails… all due by the end of the day.

I thought he’d go easy on me, I grumbled internally as I stepped into the lobby. After everything. After the ’taking care of me’ phase.

Apparently not. Because Cassian Wolfe doesn’t do ’easy.’

I was going to die. Not from a gunshot or a drug overdose, but from a “paperwork death.” Both seemed equally fatal in this building. Curse you, Wolfe.

I was halfway to the elevators when I was hit by a force of nature.

“NOAH!”

Before I could react, I was swept up into a full-body bear hug. I felt my feet leave the marble floor as Mason squeezed the air out of my lungs. My face was pressed unceremoniously into his shoulder.

“Mason—can’t—breathe—” I muffled into his shirt.

He set me down, but kept his large hands on my shoulders, beaming with enough Friday energy to power the entire city grid.

“Where have you been?! Are you okay?! What happened? Why weren’t you answering your texts? Did you eat? You look different! Is that a new suit?!”

“I’m fine—I was sick—yes, it’s new—” I tried to answer, but Mason was a conversational machine gun.

“Sick? With what? You look glowing! Is that a tailored fit? Damn, Bennett, the executive floor is treating you right!” He gave my shoulder a series of enthusiastic slaps that rattled my very bones. This man will be the death of me.

We shuffled into the elevator, Mason still vibrating with questions. I leaned against the back wall, closing my eyes for a second.

I like Mason, I really do, I don’t even remember how we became close but at 9:00 AM on a Friday, after the week I’d had, he was… a lot.

“SEE YOU LATER, NOAH!” Mason shouted as he stepped off at his floor, giving me one last thumbs-up before the doors slid shut.

Silence. Pure, blessed silence. I sagged against the wall, taking a moment to gather my sanity before the elevator reached the top floor.

The doors opened, and I stepped out, only to find my second ambush of the morning. Mrs. Kwon was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, a digital clipboard tucked under her arm. She looked skeptical, her eyes narrowing as they raked over me.

“Bennett,” she said, her voice clipped. “Care to explain your absence?”

I felt a bead of sweat prickle at my hairline. “I, um… I had permission. From the CEO.”

Mrs. Kwon didn’t blink. She looked at me for a long, searching beat, her gaze lingering on the quality of my new suit and the hickeys I desperately tried to hide with the collar of my shirt.

She knew something was off. She couldn’t prove I’d spent the last few days in the boss’s bed, but she could clearly smell the shift in the air.

“Fine,” she said, though she sounded far from convinced. “Report to me as well going forward. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I bowed my head and hurried past her toward my new workspace.

My “office” was actually a glass-walled suite situated like a guardpost right outside Cassian’s main doors.

It was beautiful… dark wood, multiple monitors, and a clear view of everyone who approached the throne. My name was on a glass placard: Noah Bennett – Executive Liaison.

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