Page 162 of One of Those Amnesia Stories

The word came from both of them simultaneously, equally horrified.

I laughed harder.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. I pressed the heel of my hand to my eye, trying to compose myself. And then I noticed the room had gone quiet.

I looked up.

Cassian was staring at me.

His eyes were soft, almost awed, drinking in every detail of my face—the lingering smile, the tear tracks, the flush of laughter still warming my cheeks.

His expression was open, unguarded, full of something I couldn’t name but could definitely feel.

I blinked.

The last traces of humor faded, replaced by a sudden, acute awareness of being seen.

Liam cleared his throat loudly, seizing the opportunity to break the sudden, heavy silence.

“So, Alessia. What brings you to our humble corporate fortress?”

“We’re going to lunch,” Cassian answered, his eyes still holding mine.

Liam’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline.

A slow, delighted smile spread across his face.

“Oh.”

Cassian didn’t respond. He didn’t even glance at him. He just kept looking at me as though Liam had ceased to exist.

I broke first.

I tore my gaze away and let it wander around the office, searching for something—anything—else to focus on. It landed on his desk chair.

Then I did a double take.

“What… is that?”

The chair was sleek. Modern. It also looked aggressively uncomfortable—all sharp angles and minimal padding, the kind of thing designed to look good in a magazine and destroy your spine in real life. Cassian followed my gaze, and his face lit up with pride.

“Hartley sat in my chair last time he was here. In my seat. So I replaced it.”

He gestured toward the ergonomic nightmare.

“This one is specifically bad for your back. Just in case he decides to visit again.”

I nodded slowly, processing the logic.

“Right. Or… you could’ve just told security not to let him into the building.”

Cassian blinked. He looked down at the chair. Then at me.

Then back at the chair.

His brow furrowed in genuine contemplation, as though I’d just introduced him to a revolutionary concept.

“I… didn’t think of that,” he muttered, mostly to himself. “Huh.”