bjin09036:La Noche Antes de Conocerlo

MainCharacters

Female lead: June Pearl Alexander. June is bold, impulsive, and mouthy when she feels safe, but she also has real ambition and pride. She fought hard to earn her Apex internship, lives with friends (Kayla and Leila), and doesn’t want one reckless night to destroy her future. After discovering the CEO is her one-night stand, she tries to act professional while dealing with shame, anger, and lingering desire. She interacts most with her roommates, David Scott (strategy lead), and Paul (the CEO’s right-hand assistant).

Male lead: Hermes Grande. Hermes is the new CEO of Apex, controlled and intimidating on the surface, but internally unstable with hypersexual compulsions and an obsessive mind. He hates mistakes, fires staff quickly, and uses cold rules to keep distance—yet he cannot stop fixating on June. His background includes inheriting a “rotten empire” tied to the legacy of Lucien, plus therapy for his condition. He interacts most with Paul, executives, the press, and June.

Relationship development: They start with anonymous, intense sex and no emotional closure. When they meet at work, Hermes acts like she’s nothing, then tightens control with harsh “professional” rules while his jealousy shows in small cracks. June resists being shamed, fights to keep her job, and learns his moods and triggers. Their arc builds through forced proximity, punishment disguised as professionalism, and attraction that neither can fully shut off.

Main Themes

The story explores how desire and power collide when personal choices spill into professional life. Through June’s determination to protect her career and Hermes’s struggle with control, the novel focuses on consent, boundaries, and the cost of obsession. It also highlights class and status imbalance—an intern versus a CEO—and asks whether two people can rebuild trust after starting in secrecy, anonymity, and emotional avoidance. Beneath the heat, it’s about self-respect: June refusing to be reduced to a mistake, and Hermes confronting the damage his compulsions and need for control can cause.

Hot Chapters

Chapter 1 — The Dare

“Ask for one night instead.”

June’s tequila courage turns into real danger when the older man at the bar doesn’t flirt—he commands. She answers, “One night,” and follows him to a hotel where the chemistry is immediate, rough, and intoxicating. He refuses to give his name, refuses to kiss her, and leaves only a note: “Thanks for tonight. Don’t look for me. —H.”

Chapter 2 — Promoted to Secretary

June arrives at Apex for her dream internship, only to be reassigned on the spot: “You’re promoted. For the week.” When she walks into the top-floor office, she recognizes the rolled sleeves, the posture, and then the eyes—cold gray metal. The nameplate confirms it: Hermes Grande. Her internal panic lands on one brutal line: “Did I sleep with my boss???”

Chapter 3 — Obsessed

Hermes fires his secretary over one mistake, but he can’t stop thinking about the girl from the bar. He admits the ugly truth: with hypersexuality, “it’s not just hunger—it’s obsession.” Then the perfume hits, and June walks into his office as the new temp. In one instant, the fantasy becomes a daily trap: “She is my secretary and my current obsession.”

Chapter 4 — Be Professional

Hermes sets rules like weapons: “You don’t speak unless spoken to… and most of all, you don’t look me in the eyes unless I allow it.” June realizes he isn’t forgetting the night—he’s punishing it. When she sits at her desk, he snaps, “What are you doing? You’re sitting. You should be following me.” Professionalism becomes control, and control becomes the new battlefield.

Chapter 5 — I Can Handle It

June swears she won’t quit: she fought too hard to be here. But Hermes humiliates her over coffee, forces her to chase perfection, and then shows a flicker of jealousy when she speaks to Tyler. He orders her inside with a sharp “In.” June can’t read what he wants anymore—except that he wants control, and he hates anyone else getting her attention.