"Leo," Tao said, his voice like gravel. "We need to discuss the data leak."
Luna started to rise.
"Stay," Leo said, his eyes never leaving his grandfather. "She's part of this now." He gestured to the chairs. "Please."
The men sat. The air in the room thickened with unspoken tensions.
"Our internal communications were compromised yesterday," Li Xiānyǔ said, his gaze flicking to Luna before settling on Leo. "Files about the Jade Consortium were accessed."
"The same someone who sent those photos to your wife, perhaps?" Li Mòyǔ suggested, his tone deceptively mild.
Under the desk, Luna's hands clenched.
"We're tracking it," Leo said, his voice tight.
"Track faster," Tao said. "This is embarrassing."
The conversation continued—technical, dry, filled with veiled accusations. Luna tried to focus, but she was acutely aware of the power dynamics in the room. Her father, trying to assert authority. Jett's father, probing for weakness. Tao, a mountain of silent judgment.
And then… she felt a hand on her knee.
Leo's hand.
He was still looking at the patriarchs, his expression neutral, but his hand rested on her knee under the desk. A warning? A reassurance?
His thumb moved, a slow circle on her inner thigh.
Luna froze. She glanced at him, but he gave no indication anything was happening. His face was a mask of concentration.
The touch wasn't sexual. It was… possessive. A claim. She's mine. You're in my territory.
Li Mòyǔ was speaking. "—need better encryption on the shared servers. If the Yèshòus get wind of this—"
Leo's hand moved higher, his fingers squeezing gently. Luna's breath hitched.
"Are you alright, Leo?" her father asked, frowning. "You look… uncomfortable."
"Fine," Leo said, his voice slightly strained. "Just a cramp."
Then, Luna did something reckless. She moved her own hand under the desk, finding his. She didn't push him away. She laced her fingers through his.
He stiffened. His gaze cut to her for a fraction of a second—surprise, then something hotter.
She leaned forward slightly, as if listening intently to Li Mòyǔ, and pressed a soft kiss to the inside of Leo's wrist, hidden by the desk.
He made a soft, choked sound.
"Leo?" Tao's eyes narrowed.
"Clumsy," Leo muttered, and with his free hand, he knocked his pen off the desk. It clattered to the floor.
"I'll get it," he said, but he didn't move.
Because Luna had retrieved it. And now she was looking up at him from between his knees, the pen in her hand, her eyes dark with mischief.
She smiled slowly. Then she leaned in and kissed him—not on the wrist this time, but properly, deeply, while he was trapped in his chair with four patriarchs watching.
He jerked back, hitting his head on the underside of the desk with a solid thunk.
"Everything alright?" Tao asked, his voice dangerously calm.
"Fine!" Leo said too quickly, his ears turning red. "Everything's fine. Perhaps we should continue this later. You seem to have everything… under control."
He stood abruptly, ushering the confused patriarchs out with hurried excuses. The door closed. He locked it.
Then he turned.
Luna was still under the desk, grinning up at him.
"Luna Xiānyǔ Wǎngshā," he said, his voice low. "You are in so much trouble."