The Holt Tower ballroom glittered like a thousand stars trapped under glass. Golden light over rows of suited titans and perfectly poised socialites. Conversations hummed over the clink of champagne flutes, the kind of sound that said money was in the room and knew it.
Serena Cole adjusted the drape of her emerald gown and tightened her hold on her glass. This night wasn't just about networking.it was proof she belonged here. Aurora Luxe was still small compared to the hotel empires represented tonight, but it had teeth. She'd stolen clients from bigger names, and that had earned her whispers, headlines… and enemies.
One in particular.
Damian Holt.
He stood across the room, surrounded by a knot of executives who laughed like every word he spoke was gospel. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a face sculpted for the cover of a power magazine, Damian exuded the kind of calm menace that made people stand straighter in his presence. And when his pale gray eyes found hers, the corner of his mouth lifted,not in greeting, but in the kind of smile a predator wears when it spots something worth hunting.
"Relax," Harper Lane murmured beside her, sipping her drink. "He can't crush you just by looking at you."
Serena's lips curved in a humorless smile. "You don't know him."
But she did. The last time they'd crossed paths, he'd gone out of his way to make her look small. Tonight, she told herself, she'd simply ignore him.
That resolve lasted exactly fifteen minutes.
Because Damian Holt stepped forward, raised his glass, and addressed the crowd in that deep, measured voice that carried like a command. "Competition," he began, scanning the room before locking on her again, "is essential. It keeps us sharp. But every so often, ambition wanders into delusion. And that… is something to watch."
A rippleof low laughter rolled through the guests.
Serena felt her jaw tighten. It would be easy to shrink, to play invisible. But easy had never built anything worth keeping.
She set down her glass, lifted her chin, and said, "Reality is usually redefined by the ones bold enough to challenge it."
A silence stretched, taut as a wire. Then Damian smiled slowly, as if she'd just confirmed something for him.
"Let's see," he said, "if you can keep up."