unrivaled

chapter 1

The sound of stiletto heels striking the flooring echoed off the walls of the long hallway.

The heavier steps of the man beside her added the bass note to her lighter steps. However, the harmony was drowned out by their raised voices.

"These figures are wrong. This is unacceptable," Kim Song Dae stated, holding the report in her hand.

The man striding next to her did not even spare her a glance as he scoffed and said, "The numbers are not wrong. Should I explain them to you again?"

Kim SeokJin was wickedly smart and sinfully beautiful. It was unfair really. He was the CEO of KimCom Design, an innovative firm that was the ranked first nationally for their services.

The past 7 years had seen his rapid rise from owner's grandson to CEO. He had worked at every level of every division and knew his company like a parent knows a child.

iNovis, SongDae's company, was his choice of partner in the creation of new designs. They were also his largest competitor for government contracts.

They were just leaving a meeting over a potential project that would tick both those boxes, a national contract to create programming software for a classified military project.

Dae was still mentally weighing options and making last minute calculations about the risk of taking on the entire project, cutting Jin's company out completely.

Jin had spent the entire morning running the numbers and trying to determine if his in house staff was skilled enough to assume lead on the project. He was still calculating bids and profit margins to determine if his company should prepare to shut Dae's out.

Neither of them trusted the other in this process, knowing the company bottom line alone would determine if they partnered in this project or prepared an all-out bloodbath to snag it.

Entering the elevator, Jin saw it. He had hit his mark. Her face blushed the slightest tint, her jaw tightened and that tiny frown line appeared between her eyes.

"I appreciate your offer. However, you obviously did not understand this report because 1) it is wrong..." she ticked one finger.

Oh, hell he thought, she's going to list them off.

"2) you did not "explain" it the first time, Hobi did, and 3) it is wrong," she continued.

Hobi, Jung Hoseok, was Dae's chief of staff, in fact, she liked to tease that he was her co-director. He was a bit of a mystery, even after all these years.
He was her first hire when she came on the job. He was her first independent choice as she shaped her team and her vision of how she wanted to run "her" company.

She could not have made a better choice. Behind his perpetual smile Hobi hid a steel resolve and the skills of a general. He was scary smart and Dae always consulted him in making decisions.

He had a way of reading her emotions that often took her off guard. He knew when she needed a laugh, a good scold or a listening ear. He really was invaluable.

Hobi also delighted in putting Jin in his place when he felt he was getting a bit too cocky, like this morning!

The discussion continued throughout the building with the pair stopping at one desk then another to ask questions or compare notes.

They ignored all the looks and whispers as they passed, laser focused on the fate of the project in their hands.

As they reached Jin's office he paused, keeping his eyes on Dae's face he said "Call my car around."