Too Late, Mr. CEO: Watch Me Shine

tive corridor of ApexAlgo, her fingers tightening a

d the company's CEO. Tonight's industry gala at the Met was crucial for their upcoming

door to the CEO suite, her Louboutin pumps

lifted

drifted through the inch-wide gap

froze three inc

British lilt, the practiced breathiness that som

rd doctorate. The woman Brennon had hired eight weeks

velin purred from inside. "Are

ngs stoppe

e her presence, do anything but stand here

palm flat against the wal

inside the room. The sound cut thr

ar rumble that had whispered promises

ound was careles

he IPO, nothing more. The board wan

g into the wall's

, her voice dropping to an intimate mu

ence st

owing itself against bone. Her free hand clamped around the

rse he loved her, they were getting married in four months, they

s tone made her stomach clench. "She's comfortable. Res

d the wet sound of

d ambition. You challenge me. Y

er chest like

ght that drove the air from her lungs and se

against hardwood. Evelin's footsteps m

day in Oxford," Evelin br

her chai

lgent, the sound she used to

hroat. She swallowed it do

down at her

the cream-colored wall. She had shown this ring to her mother in the hospital three days ago. He

n ye

t on the stained futon in the corner. She had written the core code that became ApexAlgo's foundation, back when "the company" was just a shared Dropbox f

had made him

g her performanc

didn

er eyes, freezing the tears before they could

her hand from

er movement as she stepped backward, h

tu

framed magazine covers celebrating Brennon's genius. Inc. Forbes. TechCru

ward the priv

mechanical. Then faster. Then

down button w

ace. Dark circles under eyes that had stopped blinking. A s

evator

osing doors, and watched her reflection f

oved without con

num band scraped over her knuckle, catch

n't loo

her Celine tote bag, hearing it clink aga

vator d