Grace heels clicked crisply against the marble as she made her way toward the outdoor terrace. The air inside had turned suffocating , too many smiles with teeth, too many hands eager to shake hers for the governor's sake. She needed oxygen. And distance.
The evening air was cooler outside. The governor's mansion grounds stretched wide beneath the stars, manicured and still, as if nothing messy ever happened here.
She was halfway through a calming breath when she heard the door open behind her.
"Running already?"
She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
Liam Vale.
Of course.
She kept her gaze fixed on the horizon. "I prefer not to suffocate indoors."
His footsteps were unhurried as he approached, hands in his pockets like he owned every inch of the space between them "And here I was thinking you thrived in hostile environments."
"I do," she said. "But I pick my battles. This isn't one of them."
"Oh?" He came to stand beside her. "Then what do you call what just happened in there?"
She turned slightly, her profile sharp in the low light. "That? That was foreplay."
He chuckled, a quiet sound that didn't quite match the man's ruthless reputation. "You really don't pull punches, do you?"
"No," she said, meeting his gaze fully. "And I don't play nice with people who try to buy their version of the future."
Liam studied her. Not the way men looked when they were trying to charm her but the way someone reads a coded document, knowing there's more beneath the surface. It was annoyingly perceptive.
"You think that's what I'm doing with Eon Heights? Buying the future?"
"I think you're wrapping greed in green buzzwords and hoping no one notices."
His jaw tightened slightly. "You've read the press releases. Maybe even the white paper. But you haven't seen the full vision."
"I've seen enough to know it's not what you claim," she shot back. "It's a luxury enclave for tech billionaires masquerading as progress. And you're trampling over working-class neighborhoods to build it."
Liam didn't flinch. "And what if I told you it doesn't have to be that way?"
She blinked. "Meaning?"
He took a step closer. "You say the project is flawed. Fine. Prove it. Show me how to fix it."
She narrowed her eyes. "You want me to help you redesign your billion-dollar smart city?"
"Not redesign" he said smoothly. "Reimagine"
Grace gave a dry laugh. "Why would I help you? What's in it for me besides the privilege of legitimizing your PR stunt?"
He leaned in slightly, voice lower. "Because you care about the communities we're talking about. Because you want influence where it counts. And because whether you like it or not, Vale Systems is already breaking ground. You can fight from the outside or change it from the inside "
The words hit harder than she expected. Because beneath her armor of cynicism, there was a flicker of something dangerous 'possibility'
She crossed her arms"If I agreed which I haven't ,I'd need full transparency. Creative control. A seat at the executive table."
"You'd have it."
"And your board won't balk at you letting a political legacy with a chip on her shoulder make demands?"
He gave her that maddening half-smile again. "They'll fall in line. They always do."
Elena hated how steady his voice was. How certain. Like the world bent when he told it to.
"I don't trust you," she said.
"Good," he replied. "Trust is earned. Not inherited."
That stopped her.
For a moment, they stood there ,two power players circling, sparks catching in the quiet.
"I'll think about it," she finally said.
Liam nodded once. "I'll be having a press conference set up for tomorrow "
"And if I decide not to show?"
"Then I'll assume you prefer to criticize from the sidelines instead of creating something real."
He walked away before she could respond, leaving only the faint scent of expensive cologne and challenge in his wake.
Grace turned back toward the night, heart beating faster than she'd admit.
He was arrogant. Ruthless. Infuriating.
But he wasn't wrong.
And that made him dangerous.