The Intern Who Knew Too Much
Nadia Rahman was twenty-four, and she hadn't planned on kissing a man against a filing cabinet on her third night at Calloway Finance.
The elevator had stalled at 9:40 p.m., and when the doors finally opened, Rafael Ortiz was standing there with his tie loosened and his jaw tight. He was a compliance analyst, hired the same month she was, and for three weeks they'd traded glances across the fourteenth floor that lasted a beat too long.
"You're still here," he said.
"So are you."
Neither of them moved. The air felt thick, the way it does before a storm. His eyes dropped to her mouth, then came back up, slow and deliberate. She felt it in her stomach, a warm, low pull.
"This is a terrible idea," he murmured.
"Probably." She stepped closer. "Say it again when you mean it."
He didn't. His hand slid to her waist and she was pressed against the cabinet, his mouth on hers, hungry and unhurried at the same time. Her fingers curled into his shirt. His breath caught against her neck, and she forgot the stalled elevator, the empty floor, and every sensible rule she'd made for herself.
They ended up in the dark of the supply room. Buttons came loose, hands wandered, and neither of them said a word they'd have to take back. It was reckless and electric, and afterward they sat on the floor laughing, breathless, her head on his shoulder.
And that's when she noticed the folder.
It had slid off the shelf during the chaos, spilling open under the glow of her phone. A client ledger. She'd have ignored it, except she'd spent all week reconciling the same account, and the numbers on the page didn't match what she'd entered.
"Raf," she said slowly. "Look at this."