The heavy iron doors of the warehouse groaned shut behind me, leaving the scent of copper and cold concrete in the air. Mykle was no longer a threat, but he was just a symptom. The cancer was in my own boardroom.
Keifer's POV
I climbed into the SUV, my hands still steady despite the adrenaline. "Get me a secure line to London," I told the driver.
"And pull the internal logs for Clyde and Keizer. Every email, every offshore transfer, every 'casual' lunch they've had in the last six months."
If they thought they could use Jay as a pawn to weaken my position, they had fundamentally miscalculated. They didn't just target a "liability"; they targeted my soul.
I stared at the JJM folder on my tablet.
Jay was the CEO—a secret she kept even from her brothers. If I couldn't approach her as the man who brought violence into her life, I would approach her as a titan of industry. I would force our worlds to collide where I could protect her legally, financially, and physically.
I sent a high-priority meeting request to JJM's executive office. Subject: Watson Group / JJM Strategic Merger - Emergency Board Review.
"If I can't be your protector, Jay," I whispered, watching the London skyline flicker on my screen, "I'll be your partner. I'll make you so powerful they'll be too afraid to even speak your name."
Jay's POV
"Ms. Mariano? The Watson Group has moved the board meeting forward. Keifer Watson is personally overseeing the London leak investigation."
Alex's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I was wrapped in a silk robe, my bandages hidden beneath the sleeves, but the ache in my bones was still there. I looked at the mirror. The "weapon" was still tucked away, but the CEO was front and center.
"Jay? Where are you going?" Angelo asked, leaning against my bedroom doorframe, his eyes full of worry.
"Business, Angelo," I said, my voice professional and cool. "The Mariano Group has some urgent matters in London. I need to handle it personally."
"You're injured," he protested.
"I'm alive," I countered, echoing my words from the video call. "And I don't stay down."
Some hours later, my private jet touched the tarmac at Heathrow. By the time I walked into the Watson Group's skyscraper, I was armored in a bespoke charcoal power suit, my hair slicked back, heels clicking like a countdown on the marble floor.
When the boardroom doors swung open, I saw him.
Keifer was standing by the window, the London rain blurring the world behind him. He looked... devastating. The sharp line of his jaw, the way his suit hugged his shoulders, the sheer gravity he pulled into the room—it made my heart skip a beat I didn't want to give him.
I found myself staring, tracing the familiar lines of his face, momentarily forgetting the "business" part of the meeting.
Keifer turned, his eyes locking onto mine. A smirk, faint and dangerous, tugged at his lips.
"If you keep watching me with those eyes, Jay," he purred, his voice vibrating through the mahogany table, "I might start thinking you're having improper thoughts about me."
I felt the heat rush to my cheeks, my professional mask slipping for a fraction of a second. I cleared my throat, taking my seat at the head of the table. "Don't flatter yourself, Watson. I'm just looking for a Target."
The meeting was a bloodbath—the professional kind.I answered the argument raised sharply so that they were escorted out in conversation . Keifer also joined wherever needed.We were a symphony of logic and power.
Someone whispered," they are true power couple in a room full of pretenders". I ignored it.
As the room cleared, leaving only the two of us, the silence returned.
"Jay," Keifer said, stepping closer. He reached out, his hand hovering near mine. "Talk to me. Let me in."
I looked at his hand, then up at his eyes. "When a glass breaks, Keifer, it never heals. It's just sharp edges and memories."
He didn't flinch. He stepped into my space, his scent—sandalwood and steel—enveloping me. "You're right. It never heals back to what it was. But it can be melted down and forged into something even more beautiful. Something stronger."
I looked into his eyes for a long second, searching for the lie. I didn't find one. But I wasn't ready to be "forged" yet. I pulled my hand away, and walked toward the door.
Keifer's POV
I watched her walk away, the silhouette of the JJM CEO replacing the girl I'd seen in bandages. She was magnificent. She was terrifying.
I had seen Jay in many forms—vulnerable, laughing, and recently, broken—but seeing her as the CEO of JJM was a different kind of torture.
She moved with a lethal grace, her mind outstripping every man in that room. The way the light hit the sharp line of her blazer, the way she commanded the space without raising her voice... she was a masterpiece of power.
But as I watched the other board members—men who thought they were her equal—stealing glances at her, a low, primal growl started in the back of my throat. They looked at her with admiration, with greed, with curiosity.
Every nerve in my body screamed in protest.
I leaned back against the mahogany table, my knuckles white as I gripped the edge. I really want to gouge out the eyes of everyone looking at you, I thought, the darkness of possessivness bleeding into my personal thoughts.
They didn't deserve to witness her. They didn't understand the fire that lived beneath that professional exterior.
I wanted to bridge the distance she had just created. I wanted to haul her over my shoulder, walk out of this glass tower, and take her home—somewhere no one else could find her. I wanted to lock the doors, strip away the business attire, and mark her so thoroughly that the world would know exactly who she belonged to.
I wanted the "glass" she spoke of to be forged in my fire.
She thought she was a weapon? Fine. But I was the only one who knew how to handle her without getting cut.
"Sir?" my assistant whispered, entering the room. "The car is ready for the hotel."
"Change of plans," I said, my voice sounding like gravel. "I'm going to the same hotel as Ms. Mariano. And tell security if anyone so much as breathes in the direction of her suite, they won't live to see the sunrise."
Jay might want to be a CEO tonight, but she was still my queen. And I wasn't finished proving it.