"Mr. Vale, do you have feelings for me? Hahaha." Isla burst into forced laughter, going for a smug, self-assured tone to smooth over the tension.
Asking outright is the fastest way to get an answer. She hadn't forgotten what he'd said back in that office that whole "be mine" business. But those kinds of arrangements never meant anything real. They just meant convenient.
Besides, he already knew she was married. If she gave him any real opening now, she'd end up buried under enemies on every side.
Her flippant, overconfident question was, in reality, a very calculated move.
There's no way to make a man like him back down directly.
"You don't qualify," Grayson said, flat and cold.
"Oh, great." Isla's shoulders relaxed instantly, the tension bleeding out of her voice. She nodded rapidly
