"girl,Tell me you didn't sleep with him again."
Mia's voice crackled through her AirPods as Aurora tried to look like she was not having a mental breakdown while pretending to focus on the files spread across her desk.
"I didn't," Aurora whispered, eyes locked on the glass office door across the hall where River Damon currently sat — tie undone, shirt half-open, sleeves rolled. Probably committing sin with a pen.
Yet again, the universe had thrown her under a sexy, dangerous, mafia-owned bus.
Mia sighed. "Good. Because I did a deep dive on Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Probably-a-Felon."
Aurora winced. "Oh no."
"Oh yes. Girl, his name pops up in three different offshore account leaks. Rumors say he's part owner of a private security firm, which is a fancy way of saying 'I sell weapons in silk shirts.' And there's literally a Reddit thread titled: 'Did River Damon have that nightclub owner killed or nah?'"
Aurora groaned. "Why are all the hot ones murdery?"
"Because Satan hires models now."
She slumped back in her chair, chewing her pen cap nervously. "I mean, I thought I could handle it. It was supposed to be a one-night stand."
"Right. That's what every woman says before she ends up handcuffed in a castle in Monaco."
"Mia!"
"Don't 'Mia' me! Look, I know your vagina has amnesia, but your brain better remember that he is a danger with dimples. Stay away."
Aurora peeked back toward River's office.
Big mistake.
He was leaning against the doorframe now, talking to Jessica from HR, who was laughing like she'd just been told she was getting promoted straight into his bed. Two more interns hovered nearby, flipping their hair and twirling their pens like they were auditioning for Mafia Bachelor.
Aurora's eye twitched.
Mia heard the silence and groaned. "Ugh. What is he doing now?"
"Existing," Aurora gritted out. "Shirt slightly unbuttoned. Laughing like a sexy villain. Women are circling him like he's the last vibrator on Earth."
"Well, duh. He's got money, mystery, tattoos, and daddy issues. That's catnip for 99% of the female population."
"And he knows it," Aurora muttered.
Because River Damon didn't just walk — he sauntered. He wore wealth like armor, seduction like a weapon. He was the kind of man who could ruin your life and have you begging him to do it again.
And worse?
He knew exactly how to play the game.
A few minutes later, Aurora was in the elevator, flipping through her project notes when the doors slid open on the next floor — and in walked Satan himself.
River.
She looked up. He smirked.
"Miss me?"
"I see you've already corrupted half the office."
He leaned against the wall beside her, brushing an invisible speck off his expensive blazer.
"Jealous?"
"Of what? Your cult following of desperate interns?"
He stepped closer.
"No. Of them touching what you've already had."
Aurora's breath caught.
The elevator dinged.
She walked out — fast, flustered, furious.
And River? He just chuckled.
Like he knew exactly how far he was from being out of her system.