Page 54 of The Billionaire’s Contract Bride

“It makes you angry when it belongs to someone who doesn’t answer to you.”

“You could cost this firm millions.”

“Then teach me enough so I don’t.”

The answer caught him entirely off guard. His chest rose and fell heavily as he searched her face.

Aria reached out, her fingers lightly adjusting the dark silk knot of his tie. “You needed a wife to unlock the trust, but you chose someone you thought you could push around.”

“I did not choose someone weak.”

“No,” she whispered. “You made me desperate and mistook desperation for weakness.”

Damien’s eyes darkened, his hand coming up to settle tightly at her waist. “Be careful.”

“There it is again. Your favorite warning.”

“Because you insist on walking toward dangerous things.”

“I married one.”

His grip tightened, his thumb brushing the silk of her blouse. “And last night?”

Heat flashed across her skin, but her gaze didn’t waver. “Last night changes nothing about how this company will be run.”

“Liar.”

Damien leaned down and kissed her once—hard, possessive, and brief—then stepped back before she could decide whether to slap him or pull him closer.

Without another word, he walked over to his executive safe, entered a combination, and pulled out a heavy black leather binder. He walked back and placed it directly into her arms.

“Five years of internal financial audits,” he said cleanly. “Learn them.”

Aria caught the weight of the binder against her ribs. “All of this?”

“You asked me to teach you.”

“I expected a conversation.”

“I don’t lecture people who know how to read.”

Aria looked at the gold-embossed crest on the leather cover, then turned toward his private exit.

“Aria.”

She paused at the door and looked back.

Damien stood behind his desk, his jacket unbuttoned, watching her with an intensity that looked disturbingly like pride.

“I did not marry a victim,” he said quietly. “I married the only woman in that room capable of destroying me.”

Inside the hallway, sitting precisely in the center of the room, was an unmarked manila envelope. No courier tag. No security clearance stamp.

Aria picked it up and pulled out the single glossy photograph inside.

It showed Damien asleep in his bed, taken from high above.

In a separate photo, Aria stood inside the office, completely visible through the high penthouse window.