IRON RESOLVE

Looking around at the crowd of rich and powerful elites, Maya Hansen wondered—not for the first time—what the hell she was even doing here.

But no. She knew why she was here.

She was trying to salvage this mess. Trying to keep AIM afloat. Trying to stop her life's work, Extremis, from dying an ignoble death due to lack of funding.

It still didn't make sense. Aldrich killing himself the way he did.

Sure, they had hit a wall with Extremis. Sure, Maya had told him time and time again that she would not move on to human trials until she was absolutely certain the formula was safe. And yes, he had been getting more desperate as time went on.

Aldrich Killian, the man she had worked alongside for eight long years, had always been weak in body, no matter how strong his mind was. His physical deformities had driven him to create AIM—a company that, at its core, was dedicated to fixing him, under the guise of fixing everyone else.

Maya wasn't stupid. She had always known that Killian saw Extremis as his solution, his personal cure. Their relationship had always been transactional in that way, and she hadn't minded. All she had ever wanted was to perfect her work so that it could help people. If Killian happened to be the first person to benefit from Extremis, so be it.

But she had never thought he would commit suicide.

One of their last conversations had been about human trials—about how, if she was too squeamish to experiment on strangers, he would volunteer as the first test subject. Maya had shot the idea down immediately, but she had half-expected him to ignore her, to go behind her back and do it anyway.

Instead, he had taken a nose-dive off a rooftop two weeks ago.

And now?

Now, Maya was left trying to bail water out of AIM's sinking ship, all while fending off the vultures and sharks circling above, hoping to tear apart what remained of the now-leaderless company.

What the hell was she supposed to do?

She was a biologist, for fuck's sake. Not a businesswoman.

Killian had always handled the business side of things while she focused on the science. But now? If she wanted to save Extremis, if she wanted to see it realized, then Maya had to step into his shoes.

She had to find investors. And she had to do it fast, before someone started asking too many questions—before they realized that AIM had been circumventing the United States government's ban on dangerous biotechnological research for years.

That was why she was here.

That was why she had squeezed into this dress, done up her hair, and painted her face to make herself look a decade younger.

Because she had no choice.

She had to—

"Doctor Maya Hansen! Well now, it's been quite some time, hasn't it?"

Maya blinked.

She recognized that voice immediately.

She turned, coming face-to-face with Tony Stark.

For a moment, her mind stalled, struggling to reconcile recognition with reality.

There he was, standing before her with that same cocky, charming grin she remembered so well. He looked effortlessly put together in his suit, as though he hadn't just come from a funeral weeks ago. And beside him…

Pepper Potts.

Everyone knew her—Tony Stark's ever-present assistant and, as of recently, his girlfriend.

The media was still adjusting to that shift, but looking at her now, seeing how effortlessly stunning she was in her dress and makeup, Maya understood it.

She felt like a dim, dying star compared to the radiance of Pepper Potts.

And yet—

Tony only seemed to have eyes for her.

His smile was broad and welcoming, as if they were old friends.

For years, Maya had wondered how another meeting with Tony Stark might go.

The first time they met had been at the turn of the millennium. She had been so young—so naïve. She had captured the attention of Tony Stark himself that night, and, for hours, they had talked about Extremis.

He had actually found it interesting.

Interesting enough to help her solve a particularly difficult equation.

Interesting enough to take her to bed afterward.

And by the time she had woken up the next morning, he was gone.

To him, she had been just another one-night stand.

To her? That night had been the catalyst for the last eight years of her life.

But never—not even in her wildest fantasies—had she imagined that Tony Stark would remember her.

Yet here he was, calling her by name.

Smiling at her just like he had that night in 2000.

Except this time?

He already had a beautiful woman on his arm.

What the hell did he want with her?

Still, Maya plastered a polite smile on her face.

"Dr. Stark," she greeted coolly. "I wouldn't have expected you to remember me."

A little sass felt appropriate.

Tony laughed, completely unbothered.

"Of course I remember you! It's not every day a woman blows up a plant in front of me."

Maya's smile tightened.

If that was all he remembered about Extremis, then she wanted nothing to do with him.

But before she could think of a way to extract herself from this conversation, Tony did what he did best—he bulldozed right through.

"Oh! But where are my manners?" he said smoothly. "This is Pepper. Pepper, this is Maya. Dr. Hansen is quite the genius."

Before Maya could react, Pepper leaned forward, offering her a hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Maya," she said, her voice warm—too warm. "Tony has told me about you. Please… let us get you a drink."

Maya froze.

He's been talking about me?

But why?

Why would Tony Stark be talking about a one-night stand from eight years ago with his girlfriend?

A little bewildered, she found herself swept up in their pace.

Before she knew it, she was at the bar, a drink in her hand, talking shop with Tony Stark as if the last eight years had never happened.

"Sure, you helped me solve one equation," she conceded. "But Extremis is so much more complicated than that. I've been working on it for years. I moved from plants to animals. But even now, it's still not perfect."

Tony smirked.

"Aim for success, not perfection. That's the quote, right?"

Maya huffed.

"In this case, success is perfection," she said. "Can't afford any mistakes, Tony. Extremis is too dangerous otherwise."

Killian would have jumped to human trials years ago if she had let him.

Now, with him gone, she would fight to ensure the formula was flawless before it touched human skin.

"Well," Tony said, taking a sip of his drink. "If Extremis' creator is any indication, perfection can't be too far away."

Maya flushed.

That line would have been bad enough coming from Tony, but—

It hadn't come from Tony.

It had come from Pepper.

The beautiful redhead, who had been listening to them this entire time.

Who had been flirting with her this entire time.

And Tony?

He didn't seem to mind.

Not one bit.

Maya swallowed hard.

She wasn't sure what kind of game they were playing, but…

When Pepper leaned in closer, her voice low and inviting, Maya already knew her answer.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere more private, Dr. Hansen."

And against all logic—

Maya nodded.

"I… I think I'd like that."