Beneath Her Ice

Will had never believed in fate.

He believed in grant proposals, in community action, in showing up. Destiny was just a word the rich used to explain the doors already open for them.

So when he walked into the towering glass headquarters of Darcy Innovations, portfolio in hand, and came face to face with her again, he wasn't thinking about fate.

He was thinking about survival.

"Eliza Darcy will see you now," said the assistant, with the kind of practiced smile that made Will wonder if HR had it trademarked.

He nodded, stepping into her office—clean, minimal, monumental. She stood with her back to him, framed by thirty floors of sky and steel.

Of course she wasn't sitting.

Power didn't slouch.

"I was told this pitch was for a potential tech-grant partnership," she said without turning. "I didn't realize it was also a reunion."

Will set the folder down on the table between them. "If you'd known, would you have canceled the meeting?"

She finally turned. Their eyes met. Cold steel met simmering heat.

"No," she said, walking slowly to the table. "I enjoy watching people waste my time."

Will almost laughed. Almost. "Then we'll both enjoy this meeting. Because I don't plan to waste anything."

A beat. Something flickered in her expression—almost approval. Almost.

Eliza hated surprises.Yet there he was. In her office. Wearing that same calm fire in his eyes, like he was more amused than intimidated.

That alone made him dangerous.

She sat, finally, and gestured for him to begin. He explained his nonprofit's mission: tech access for underfunded schools, data infrastructure for community clinics. Smart. Practical. Scalable.

But what struck her more was the way he spoke.

Not trying to impress her. Not performing. Just... believing. In what he built. In people. It was maddening.

And oddly magnetic.

"So," she said when he was done, steepling her fingers, "you want my company's money, our tech, and our name attached. What do I get?"

Will leaned forward slightly. Just enough to shorten the space between them.

"You get to prove you're not just numbers and code," he said. "You get to matter."

The silence stretched.

Then, she smiled—cool, unreadable. "Tell me, Mr. Bennett. Do you always weaponize your ideals?"

"Only when they work," he said smoothly.

The meeting ended in ambiguity. She said she'd think about it. He left without knowing if he'd earned a maybe or a power play.

But the moment he was gone, Eliza didn't move.

Her fingers hovered over his folder. The edges of her thoughts had started to fray—and she didn't like it.

She should've been focused on the quarterly earnings. The AI rollout. The upcoming board review.

Instead, she was wondering what it meant that a man who irritated her also made her... curious.

That night, she didn't sleep.

And neither did Will.