The door had barely closed before Durnik came after her.

He moved around the desk with the impatience of a man who had already waited too long and now saw no reason to wait any longer. His eyes were greedy, fixed on her like she might disappear if he gave her room to breathe. One hand reached for her waist at once, open and shameless.

Gracie turned just enough for his fingers to cut through empty air.

She used the movement to set her bag down on the side of the desk, neat and unhurried, then kept the furniture between them as if she had only been getting comfortable in the room.

"Papi..." she said sweetly, almost breathless. "I still can’t believe I’m here."

The soft way she said it made his face tighten with even more hunger.

"Then stop playing," Durnik said, coming around from the other side. His gaze dropped hard over her chest, then lower, catching on the fitted line of her hips. "You’re finally in my office. Do you know how long I’ve waited to put my hands on you?"

Gracie gave a small laugh and took one clean step back. Not far. Just far enough.

"I know, papi. I know. I’ve been thinking about it too. Working here every day... staying close to you... I can’t wait."

She made it sound sincere.

Her feet kept ruining the message.

Every time Durnik closed in, she shifted with perfect timing. When he reached for her wrist, she turned to inspect a random document on the desk.

When he tried to catch her waist, she moved toward the window like the city view had suddenly become important. She never openly rejected him. She never looked disgusted. She just never stayed where his hands expected her to be.

"I’ll be working here forever if you want," she continued, voice sticky-sweet. "In this company. Under you. You’ll see me every day. You won’t have to miss me on a screen again."

Durnik’s breathing grew heavier.

"Then why," he muttered, frustrated now, "are you still moving away?"

He lunged again, less careful than before, this time bold enough to reach straight for her ass.

Gracie twisted out of range so neatly it almost looked accidental. She ended up facing the window, one hand lightly touching the glass, as if that had been her intention the whole time.

"Because if you start now, papi, we won’t get any work done," she said over her shoulder, smiling softly. "And I came here to be useful for you."

"You can be useful right here," Durnik growled.

Whatever patience he still had left was gone. In his head the scene was already finished. He could already see her bent forward against the desk, that suit pulled out of place, that thick ass under his hands. The image was so strong it made him clumsy.

He reached again.

And missed again.

The empty grab was so obvious that for a brief second even the air in the office felt embarrassing.

Gracie softened it immediately with her voice, still gentle, still sweet, still feeding him exactly what he wanted to hear while giving him nothing solid to hold.

"Papi... don’t be impatient. I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll have me in this building every day."

Durnik looked one second away from abandoning dignity completely and just cornering her against the wall.

Then a firm knock hit the door.

He froze, jaw locked, eyes still burning.

"What?" he barked.

The door opened and the renovation supervisor stepped in with the timing of a man who had no idea what kind of disaster he had just interrupted.

He gave a short professional nod, clipboard under one arm, completely blind to the hunger and frustration choking the room.

"Chairman, we’re done with the office downstairs. Everything has been cleared and arranged as instructed."

Durnik stared at him like he had personally ruined a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Before he could order the man out, Gracie moved.

"Really?" she said at once, turning toward the supervisor with perfect brightness. "Papi, that means my office is ready? Let me see it."

She was already walking.

"Please, show me," she told the supervisor, using the repair team as a walking barrier before Durnik could get his hands anywhere near her again.

His mouth opened.

No useful words came out.

She was gone from the center of the room before he recovered.

As Gracie stepped into the corridor after the workers, Durnik’s eyes dropped straight to her ass. The suit did nothing to hide it. Every step made that heavy, soft shape move with a slow, maddening weight that punched clean through what little composure he had left.

He stood there for half a second, empty-handed, breathing hard.

"Fuck..." he muttered under his breath. "Damn."

Then he pushed away from the desk and followed that ass out of the office like a man no longer pretending he had any self-control left.

Meanwhile, Lucas sat with his phone on the table and waited.

Gracie should have texted by now. A simple update. Anything to confirm she had entered cleanly and the plan was moving. He had already told himself not to overthink it, but the silence still left a thin edge of impatience under his calm.

Then his phone started going off for a different reason.

First a text.

Then another.

Then a full wave of messages from the basketball group chat.

Where are you?

Coach is asking.

Bro don’t do this today.

Finals, man. Finals.

Before he could finish reading, the coach’s call came in.

Lucas answered.

"Where are you?" the coach said at once, voice tight with stress. "The match is today. You should already be here."

"I have something important to handle," Lucas replied.

"Important?" The coach almost laughed from frustration. "This is the finals. Get here."

Lucas was about to refuse again when the call got noisier on the other end. Someone had clearly taken the phone or leaned in close enough to shout over it.

"Come on, bro, act well!"

"You can’t disappear today!"

"Just come through and yank them like last time!"

"This is the finals, brooo!"

More voices piled on behind the first one, all of them talking over each other, half begging and half demanding. The team did not sound like they wanted a motivational speech. They sounded like men who already believed the easiest route to winning was Lucas showing up and tearing the other side apart.

Lucas leaned back in his chair and let the noise continue for a second.

On one side was Gracie, walking into Durnik’s company with no update yet.

On the other side was a finals match, a desperate team, and a public stage he had not planned to stand on today.

He tapped his fingers once against the table.

For the first time that morning, he seriously started considering whether to go.

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