Chapter 1
517words
Following that came a bout of nauseating shaking, then complete silence.
The main light above flickered a few times, then died. Only a depressing red emergency light remained, bathing the steel walls in a bloody crimson glow.
47th floor. Perfect.
I looked up, my carefully rehearsed gasp stuck in my throat. In this cramped metal box, Damian Blackwood stood right across from me. My prey. The man I'd tracked for three months, whose digital footprint I knew better than the lines on my own palm. His shadow loomed against the wall like some monstrous beast devouring the space.
The plan had begun.
"Oh my god," I whispered, injecting just the right amount of trembling into my voice. "What happened?"
Dead silence.
He didn't even glance at the control panel. He just stared at me. Not a trace of panic in those eyes—just cold, calculating scanners dissecting me from head to toe. The files said he was extremely paranoid, but they failed to mention how his gaze felt like a physical violation.
Damn it. I'd underestimated his vigilance.
His cologne filled the air—expensive, spicy woody notes mingled with the bitterness of late-night coffee. The smell of power. My heart hammered in my chest, but outwardly, I was just a girl. A trapped, frightened intern. Every breath I took was a precisely calibrated performance.
He finally spoke. His voice was deeper than I'd imagined, colder than the recycled air in our steel cage.
"You. Why are you here?"
His question cut like an ice-tempered scalpel, striking precisely at the weak point in my disguise. Adrenaline screamed through my veins, but I forced it down. I'd need it, but not now.
I lowered my gaze, playing the clueless rookie caught by the big boss himself.
"I… I'm Ilara Nolan, a new intern from R&D," I began, my voice feather-light. "I… I think I took the wrong elevator. I was just trying to go downstairs."
Lies. Every damn word. But lies I'd practiced in front of the mirror hundreds of times, with even the most subtle pauses perfected to flawlessness.
He didn't move.
Silence swelled in the narrow space, nearly squeezing out all the air. I could hear the faint hum of the emergency fan and my own deliberately slowed breathing. His suit—tailored to perfection—gave off a dark luster under the red light, like a second skin of armor. I forced myself to look up and meet his eyes. Show vulnerability, but don't evade. First lesson in taming beasts.
"Miss Nolan," he said slowly, savoring each syllable of my fake name, "an R&D intern wouldn't have clearance for this floor. This is more than just getting on the wrong elevator."
He took a step forward.
The space instantly compressed, his powerful presence nearly suffocating me. Now I could clearly see that cold, probing light in his dark eyes. He wasn't asking. He was stating a fact.
My back pressed against the cold metal wall. Nowhere to retreat.
First round of the game. Checkmate.
"Try again," his voice held no threat, only an unquestionable command. "Who are you?"
