CHAPTER 27: Underestimate Her

　　Dominic's POV

　　The door closed behind Victoria Hawthorne, and for the first time in hours, I allowed myself a moment of pause. I leaned back in my chair, the faint hum of the air conditioner filling the silence of the room. My fingers tapped idly against the surface of the table, her name circling in my mind like an echo I couldn't shake.

　　Victoria.....

　　When she had first stepped into the interview room, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It wasn't often that people like her—timid, seemingly fragile women—found themselves sitting across from me in a professional setting. To say I was caught off guard would be an understatement.

　　I had first assumed she was some uncultured woman looking to throw herself at me that evening at my hotel suite; I had been so sure that she had done that deliberately. And then she showed up at the cafe seeming to have absolutely no recollection of our encounter at all.