Chapter 646:

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“You’re a risk,” Cassius snarled, pointing a finger at her. “Your personal history is creating a liability for this company. Get out of my office. And pray the launch this weekend isn’t the disaster it’s shaping up to be, or you’ll be cleaning out your desk on Monday morning.”

The threat was open, brutal, and delivered in front of her direct rival.

Ayla stared at him, her eyes widening with what appeared to be genuine fear and deep hurt. Her chest heaved. She turned sharply and walked stiffly out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Cassius turned his cold gaze to Serena. “You’re dismissed,” he said, his voice flat and exhausted.

Serena nodded eagerly, practically vibrating with satisfaction as she left the room, pulling the door shut behind her. She had won.

The moment the heavy lock clicked into place, the entire atmosphere in the office shifted violently.

The cold, calculated fury on Cassius’s face melted away instantly, replaced by something far more primal, dangerous, and raw: possessive jealousy.

He moved toward the private connecting door on the left side of his office with terrifying speed. He locked the main door, then turned just as Ayla slipped silently back into the room through the secret adjacent passage.

𝖣o𝘄𝗻𝗹oa𝖽а𝖻𝗅e P𝖣F𝗌 𝗼𝗻 𝘨alո𝘰𝗏еl𝘴.c𝗈𝗺

“He touched you,” Cassius said. His voice was no longer a shout but a low, guttural growl. The performance was over. This was real.

“He sat next to me,” Ayla clarified calmly, though her heart began to race at the dark, hungry look in his eyes.

“His hands were on the bar, near yours. He looked at you like you still belonged to him,” Cassius snarled.

He crossed the room in three strides and backed her against the heavy wooden door. His body caged her against the wood, his presence overwhelming, his heat radiating through her clothes. His chest brushed against hers. He was breathing hard.

“Tell me you eviscerated him,” Cassius demanded, his dark eyes burning into hers. “Tell me you made him regret ever breathing your name.”

“I believe my exact words were that he was junk bond status,” Ayla said. A small, genuine smile played on her lips despite the intense, suffocating heat radiating from his body.

The answer pleased him, but it didn’t quell the fire in his blood. “Good,” he breathed. He rested his forehead against hers. “But he still looked at you. He still thought he could have you.”

He captured her face in his large hands, his thumbs stroking fiercely over her cheekbones. “You’re mine, Ayla. Not the board’s. Not the company’s. Mine.”

And then he kissed her.

It was not a gentle kiss. It was desperate, claiming, punishing — fueled by the raw rage of seeing another man covet his most prized possession. His lips devoured hers, demanding absolute surrender.

Ayla melted into him instantly. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she returned the kiss with equal, burning fervor. She understood this part of him. This was not the cold CEO. This was the territorial soldier, reclaiming his ground, needing physical proof that she was safe and his.

When he finally broke away, they were both breathless. Cassius rested his chin on the top of her head, his chest heaving against hers.

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