His Cruel Little Rule

Tess Halloran had one rule for this job: keep her head down. Kieran Marlowe has eleven rules for her, and he wrote them before she was hired. Rule eleven says no romantic relationships with management. Rule twelve says don't ask about rule eleven. Tess is the third assistant assigned to the department Kieran gutted. She isn't the first to break rule eleven. That was his fiancée, and there's a sealed file with her name on it and a ring in the supply closet that Kieran takes back without saying a word. He promotes her anyway. He kisses her on the roof in the rain and tells her never to mention it. She mentions it. What follows is a rulebook of their own: no promises, no labels, no days off. Until the board opens an inquiry, and Tess is subpoenaed as the complainant he never had. She won't testify against him. She testifies with him. And when the verdict comes in, they burn the rulebook together. Except one.