Chapter 2: The First Real Test

Sienna arrived at Blackwood Enterprises before sunrise.

She had barely stepped out of the elevator when she was greeted with a stack of folders, a terse email from Adrian’s office already waiting in her inbox.

Seven AM. No excuses.

She smirked to herself. Of course, he’d test me.

Settling into her desk just outside Adrian’s office, she flipped open the top file. High-profile client lists, urgent requests, an upcoming investor meeting—all things she hadn’t been briefed on yet. She recognized the tactic immediately: overwhelm her, see if she cracks.

She wouldn’t.

At exactly seven, Adrian arrived. His presence commanded the room without effort, his sharp black suit tailored to perfection, his expression unreadable. He barely glanced at her as he strode past, but Sienna didn’t miss the way his gaze flickered in her direction—assessing.

“You have fifteen minutes to brief me on today’s schedule,” he said, setting his coffee down on his desk. “I assume you’re prepared?”

Sienna stood, picking up the folder. “Of course.”

She stepped into his office, the tension between them thick as she laid out the details of his day. He listened in silence, his expression giving nothing away. But as she finished, something shifted.

Adrian leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “And what about the last-minute investor call at noon? Surely, you didn’t overlook that?”

Sienna met his gaze without hesitation. “No. I rescheduled it for two. The client in your noon slot is a priority.”

Adrian’s smirk was slow, calculated. “Bold move.”

“I figured you’d appreciate efficiency over redundancy.”

For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he reached for his coffee, taking a slow sip before murmuring, “We’ll see.”

Sienna turned to leave, but before she could step out, he called after her.

“Miss Locke.”

She glanced back.

Adrian watched her with that same unreadable gaze. “Try not to disappoint me.”

Sienna didn’t so much as blink.

“Not an option, Mr. Blackwood.”

As she walked out, she could feel his smirk without even looking.

The game had only just begun.

Sienna barely had a moment to breathe before another email from Adrian landed in her inbox.

My office. Now.

She exhaled slowly, smoothing her blouse before stepping inside. Adrian stood by the window, phone in hand, his sharp profile backlit by the morning sun. He didn’t acknowledge her immediately, but she knew better than to assume he hadn’t noticed her presence.

Finally, he turned. “I need the quarterly financial reports cleaned up and sent to the board in the next hour. The numbers are a mess, and I don’t have time for incompetence.”

Sienna crossed her arms. “I wasn’t aware the finance team’s mistakes were my problem.”

His lips twitched, just slightly. “Everything in this office is your problem, Miss Locke.”

She held his gaze. “Then I’ll fix it.”

Adrian stepped closer, just enough to make the space between them shrink. “See that you do.”

The air grew heavier, charged with something neither of them acknowledged. Adrian wasn’t just testing her competence anymore—he was testing her composure, watching for a reaction.

Sienna refused to give him one.

She turned on her heel and walked out, her heart pounding just a little harder than before.

Behind her, Adrian’s smirk lingered.

Interesting.

Sienna strode back to her desk, her mind already working through the numbers. She had no background in finance, but she didn’t need one. What she did have was an impeccable ability to sort through chaos and find solutions—a skill Adrian Blackwood was about to witness firsthand.

She pulled up the financial reports, immediately noting the discrepancies. It was a mess of conflicting numbers, errors that should have been caught long before reaching Adrian’s desk. No wonder he was irritated.

Still, he could have sent the reports back to finance. But he hadn’t. He’d given them to her. Another test.

Fine. She would pass this one too.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, adjusting figures, cross-referencing data, and making the necessary corrections. The numbers had to be spotless before she sent them to the board. Time ticked by, but Sienna remained focused, shutting out everything except the task in front of her.

When she finally hit send, precisely fifty-two minutes had passed. Eight minutes ahead of schedule.

She exhaled, leaning back slightly, stretching her shoulders. A glance at the clock told her Adrian’s next meeting was about to start. Perfect timing.

Just as she expected, an email followed almost immediately.

My office. Now.

Sienna didn’t rush. She checked her reflection briefly in the glass partition, smoothing down her blouse and pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Then, she grabbed her tablet and walked back into the lion’s den.

Adrian was at his desk this time, sleeves rolled up, forearms resting against the dark wood. He glanced at her but didn’t motion for her to sit.

“Fifty-two minutes,” he murmured.

Sienna raised a brow. “Was that not fast enough?”

Adrian’s lips curled at the edges. “Fast doesn’t always mean efficient.”

He turned his laptop toward her. The reports she had just cleaned up were open, his gaze flicking between the screen and her face. “But in this case, it seems you didn’t just meet expectations.”

A pause. A slow tilt of his head.

“You exceeded them.”

The praise was unexpected, but Sienna didn’t let it show. “I told you I could keep up.”

Adrian leaned back, studying her. “Most people break under pressure.”

“I’m not most people.”

A slow, knowing smirk. “No, you’re not.”

For a moment, the office felt smaller, the air heavier. His gaze held hers, unreadable yet undeniably charged. The silence stretched, not awkward but deliberate, a game neither of them had acknowledged playing but were already too deep into.

Then, Adrian stood.

It was a simple movement, yet the shift in presence was immediate. He walked around the desk, closing the space between them until he stood just a breath away.

“You’ll find, Miss Locke,” he said, voice quieter but no less commanding, “that I don’t make a habit of handing out compliments.”

Sienna lifted her chin slightly. “Noted.”

Another pause. Another silent challenge hanging between them.

Then, just as smoothly, the moment was gone.

Adrian stepped past her, reaching for his suit jacket. “Clear my afternoon after three. I have something to attend to.”

Sienna exhaled through her nose, keeping her expression neutral. “I’ll adjust your schedule accordingly.”

As she turned to leave, his voice stopped her again.

“Oh, and Miss Locke?”

She paused.

“This was just the beginning.”

Sienna walked out without another word, but as she sat back at her desk, a thought pressed at the edges of her mind.

Adrian Blackwood wasn’t just testing her competence.

He was testing her restraint.

And she wasn’t sure who would break first.