Chapter 20
2238words
En Route to Sinclair Dominion
Sebastian had returned to duty earlier than anyone expected..
Eli was staying. Permanently.
There was no need for a formal declaration. No group meeting or team vote. Just a quiet conversation on the back terrace the day after Kristina’s birthday—Lucian leaning against the railing, Eli seated across from him, Sebastian’s arms crossed, watching the sun sink into the horizon.
And that was that.
Now, on this cold Monday morning, Sebastian was behind the wheel. Focused, steady. Eli rode shotgun, occasionally adjusting the GPS, even though they’d all taken this route more times than they could count.
Lucian and Kristina sat in the back. The car was quiet, insulated, the low rumble of the road beneath them almost meditative.
Ash and Vex trailed behind in the second car, staying just close enough to intervene if necessary, just far enough to avoid suspicion. As always, precise.
Kristina watched the buildings glide past her window in a blur of motion and light, but her thoughts weren’t on the view.
The past few days had moved like a tide—rising, falling, always returning sharper. Her injury. Her birthday. Quiet mornings. Late nights. Laughter she hadn’t expected.
Especially Lucian.
He hadn’t tried to fix her. Hadn’t treated her like a broken weapon or some fragile legacy that needed to be protected. He just... saw her. The real her. The version that even she was still getting to know.
She wasn’t closed off anymore. Not completely. But she wasn’t open, either. Not the way others might be. She existed somewhere in between.
And that place—shaky and strange—felt more terrifying than any mission she’d ever taken.
Her thoughts circled back to the rooftop.
Lucian’s voice—low, quiet, honest in a way that had both grounded her and left her spinning.
I never wanted a version of you. I wanted you.
She didn’t know if it was a confession or not. There were no titles for what had been said. No declarations. Just silence... and then her response.
A hug. One she gave freely.
She had never hugged anyone in her life. Not even her Papa. Not even when she was a child.
But with Lucian... something had cracked open. Something she didn’t have a name for, and maybe never would. But it was there.
That pull—toward him—had always been there. Ever since she was nine. Ever since she caught a glimpse of him through a crack in her bedroom door. One glance. That was all it took. And for some reason, it had stayed with her like a scar beneath the skin.
Would she ever be able to tell him?
Could she?
She didn’t know.
But part of her hoped she’d find out.
Lucian sat still, one arm braced on the edge of the door, the other resting loosely in his lap. The city blurred by outside his window, but his attention wasn’t there.
Not really.
His thoughts kept replaying the same moment.
That laugh.
Her voice, soft with surprise and something almost close to peace.
He hadn’t expected her to stay that night. Not after what he said. Honestly, he hadn’t expected to say any of it. But when he looked at her, saw the pendant catching the light just beneath her collar, it all came rushing out. The truth. The years of quiet wondering. The ache of not knowing.
And then she hugged him.
It wasn’t careful. It wasn’t guarded. It was real.
And it had completely undone him.
He didn’t know if she understood what he meant—if she saw it for what it was.
Confession or not, it didn’t matter. She stayed.
But the way she looked at him after... the way she stood beside him...
God, he hoped.
He had spent so many years asking Maxim about her—about the girl who didn’t speak, who disappeared for months at a time, who lived under names that weren’t hers. And he hadn’t even known that she was the same person who had saved his life. More than once.
Now that she was beside him, really beside him—quiet, watching, always alert—he couldn’t help but think: this was the version of Kristina she had never been allowed to be.
And he was lucky enough to see it.
Did she feel the same?
Was that hug a beginning... or just a moment?
He didn’t know.
But for the first time in a long time, Lucian Sinclair—strategist, leader, guarded to the bone—let himself hope.
Sinclair Dominion HQ | Top Floor Conference Room
The private elevator awaited them, humming quietly as it prepared to ascend to the executive floor. Its polished metal doors reflected the morning light, casting a faint shimmer across the marble walls.
Lucian stepped in first—composed and silent, his hands tucked loosely in his coat pockets, his gaze already distant in thought. Eli followed, falling into place with practiced ease.
Kristina entered next, her movements calm, deliberate. She took her usual position just in front of Lucian, her back straight, her presence quiet but unmistakable. Beside her, Sebastian stepped in, taking the spot to her left with the kind of ease that suggested he had never left. Ash and Vex flanked the front, both casual on the surface but already scanning their surroundings in that subtle, trained way they always did.
The elevator could hold twenty, but just then, it felt smaller—compressed by silence and glances no one voiced.
As the lift rose, Kristina’s hair shifted with the movement, brushing lightly just below Lucian’s nose. The scent reached him before he could stop it—clean, soft, and quietly familiar now. He closed his eyes for a second. Not to savor the moment. Not intentionally. Just to steady the part of him that still hadn’t figured out how to navigate this—her—whatever this was.
Eli caught it.
His head turned slightly, catching the moment out of the corner of his eye. His expression shifted from neutral to wide-eyed, lips twitching in disbelief. He looked at Lucian, incredulous.
Lucian opened one eye, met Eli’s stare, and mouthed a flat, wordless: What?
Kristina, for her part, didn’t turn around. She didn’t need to. She had felt the stillness behind her. The pause. The air shift. Her hair had done more than just move—it had betrayed her, just a little. She was grateful it was down. At least it hid the goosebumps rising across her neck.
When the elevator doors opened, they stepped out in sequence, the rhythm instinctive. Inside the conference room, Kristina moved to her usual place—standing just behind Lucian’s chair, hands loosely at her sides. Eli remained to Lucian’s right, ever watchful. Sebastian stationed himself at the door, arms crossed. Ash and Vex stayed outside, monitoring from the hallway.
Then the doors opened again.
Savannah Miller walked in.
She moved with elegance and precision, every step measured, every glance calculated. A pale silk blouse tucked into a tailored skirt. A minimalist clutch in one hand. She looked like a woman born into power and raised to wield it without apology.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
Daughter of one of Sinclair Dominion’s senior investors, she had been in and out of the corporate world over the years, but this—her presence today—was a surprise. She now held shares herself, Lucian recalled. The kind that earned you a seat at the table, whether invited or not.
Lucian stood when she entered—reflex more than necessity. A nod of recognition. Polite. Distant. Nothing more.
Savannah’s eyes swept across the room before landing on Kristina. Her smile held a hint of amusement—polished, pleasant, and steeped in subtle condescension.
“You’ve got a new secretary, I see,” she said lightly, as if commenting on the weather.
Kristina’s face didn’t flinch. Her expression remained unreadable. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought—Secretary? In these clothes? Not that she cared. Not really. But the misjudgment was... amusing, if nothing else.
Eli, caught mid-sip from a bottle of water, choked. Subtly, but enough to draw a glance from Lucian.
At the door, Sebastian raised a brow, reached for the comm on his collar, and muttered quietly, “A woman just called Kristina the new secretary.”
Ash and Vex, on the other end of the line, barely suppressed a laugh. A soft, muffled snort fizzled through the comms.
“She doesn’t realize the new secretary could probably take out this entire floor with a broken pen,” Ash quipped.
Kristina turned her head ever so slightly, her gaze slicing across the room like a quiet blade. It landed on Sebastian.
“Comms. Off,” she said, cold and crisp.
Sebastian immediately straightened, clearing his throat. “Copy.”
Lucian, seated now, glanced up at her. Just for a second. Then his gaze slid back to Savannah without a word.
“She’s not a secretary,” he said, voice even but firm. “She’s my bodyguard.”
Savannah blinked, caught off guard for a fraction of a second. “Oh. My bad.”
Then she smiled again—this time more forced—and gave Kristina another look. Curious. Measured. Faintly threatened.
Just then, the last of the expected investors walked in, and the meeting officially began.
Lucian stood, his tone shifting instantly into business. “Let’s get to it,” he said. “You’ve all reviewed the last quarter’s performance. Today, we’re outlining updates to the southern expansion initiative, revised security protocols, and new investor alignments—some of which involve shifts in cross-holdings.”
As he said this, his eyes flicked toward Savannah—not with meaning, just acknowledgment.
The meeting moved quickly, fluidly. Numbers, projections, legalities. Kristina stayed quiet behind Lucian, reading the room more than the reports. It was smooth. Efficient. No disruptions.
Until the final signatures were added and most of the attendees filtered out, leaving only Savannah lingering behind.
She approached Lucian with the kind of smile that tried to walk the line between friendly and familiar.
He turned slightly, nodding toward the woman behind him with the same steadiness he used when introducing key executives. "Kristina Alonzo."
He didn’t introduce bodyguards. Ever. That wasn’t how things worked—not in boardrooms, not in business.
But this was Kristina.
And whether Savannah understood it or not, she wasn’t just anyone.
No title. No pretense. Just her name. As if that was all that needed saying.
Savannah stared at him for a beat, then flicked her gaze to Kristina. He introduced her? She hadn't asked. No one ever introduced their bodyguards. Why would they? They were meant to blend in. Be silent. Invisible. Replaceable. And yet Lucian had said her name like it mattered. Like she mattered.
Kristina extended a hand, polite but unreadable.
Savannah looked at it—and didn’t take it.
Out in the hallway, the comms clicked on again. Sebastian, Ash, and Vex were already mid-conversation.
“Who is this woman?” Vex asked.
Eli’s voice came through with a sigh. “Savannah Miller. She had a thing for Lucian. Way back. Before even Sebastian joined the rotation. Not sure if she ever let it go.”
Back inside, Savannah stepped closer. “It’s nearly noon. Have lunch with me?”
Lucian didn’t answer right away. He looked at Kristina.
Savannah saw it.
“Actually,” she said, her voice lighter than before, but sharpened with edge, “I meant just us. We don’t need your... bodyguard.”
Kristina didn’t move. Didn’t blink. But the air in the room thickened instantly.
Lucian opened his mouth, but Kristina beat him to it.
“He doesn’t go anywhere without me,” she said, calmly.
Savannah’s eyebrows rose. “Well, he’s the boss. He can decide for himself, can’t he?”
Kristina’s voice remained steady. “He’s the boss. But I call the shots when it comes to his life.”
Savannah’s next words were meant to sting. “Do you go with him in bed too?”
Kristina didn’t blink. Her voice was low, even—but every word hit like a blade unsheathed.
“I will if I have to.”
Not a joke. Not a threat. A fact.
There was no hesitation in her stance, no apology in her tone. Just certainty.
It wasn’t about rivalry. It wasn’t about pride.
It was about Lucian and keeping him alive.
And for the first time, she didn’t care who knew just how far she’d go.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Lucian blinked.
Eli’s jaw dropped.
Ash whispered, “Damn.”
Vex muttered, “That’s going in the highlight reel.”
Sebastian just stared.
Savannah tried to recover. “I was just—”
Kristina took a step forward. “Are you going to lunch or not? We’ve got twenty-seven minutes before the next meeting.”
Savannah looked at Lucian, searching his face for softness, for the familiarity she once took for granted. But there was nothing. Not this time. She wasn’t used to being cut out—especially not by him. And certainly not in favor of someone like her. Not someone silent, unreadable, whose presence said more than Savannah’s words ever could.
Savannah’s expression cracked. She clutched her bag and left, heels clicking angrily down the corridor.
As the doors shut behind her, the air finally shifted back to normal.
Lucian cleared his throat and headed for the exit. Kristina followed silently.
They passed the guys by the door. Ash and Vex raised their hands for a high five, wide grins on their faces.
She didn’t let it show. Not with strangers still in the building. Whatever softness she was learning to hold—she kept it hidden. For now.
Ash’s hand dropped. “Aaaand... she’s back.”
Sebastian chuckled softly. “God help anyone who thinks she’s just a secretary.”
He didn’t plan on needing her. But now, he couldn’t imagine being without her.
—To be continued.
