Chapter 23 Photos And Crossroads

• Several days after talking with Sarah, Briar Hollis arrived at Thorne International before dawn, long before the sun touched the horizon. The city outside was quiet, but her thoughts were anything but calm. She needed these early hours — not just to catch up on her transcription work, but to steady her nerves and prepare for what she’d decided she was going to do.
• For days, she had been thinking about Damien — her boss, her secret lover, the man who could unravel her with a single look. She knew she was in love with him. She felt it every time he touched her, every time his voice dipped into that low, commanding tone meant only for her. And she was sure, deep down, that he felt something for her too.
• Damien had been… different lately. Ever since that night — the night he’d spanked her, the night that blurred the line between power and passion — something between them had shifted. Their chemistry had always been electric, but now there was more. He praised her, held her afterward, and sometimes kept her in his arms for hours as though he couldn’t bear to let her go.