CHAPTER-7

LENA

"I want everything done by the end of the day." Gina's voice was laced with frustration.

One of the employees had been caught embezzling money from the company, leading to Alarik's wrath on everyone and quite a few people being fired. This caused the law department to work overtime. All this happened during my first week of working for Alarik.

Gina gave me a heated look before turning on her heels and walking out. I responded with my signature smile. As the new member of the law department, I should have been listening and following her orders. Unfortunately for her, I was directly hired by Alarik, who gave clear instructions that I was to answer only to him. This made Gina think that Alarik had hired me to replace James as head of the department, and she saw me as her direct competitor for the position. Her contempt for me was palpable. Other members of the department were fine, but they avoided contact with me because of Gina, making them exclude me from any outside activities like a high school bully. In her early thirties, Gina was relentless.

I gathered my things and made my way out. The elevator doors slid open, and I was greeted by a man in a black suit whose gray eyes met my green ones. This was the employees' elevator, so the chance of meeting Alarik here was slim to none. For the past week, I had avoided him at the manor and office.

"Are you not going to enter, Ms. Mathews?" His cold voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I entered the elevator. It was just the two of us, sharing the cramped space. His imposing presence, standing at six feet four inches, made me feel like a hamster in comparison to my five-foot-four-inch height. I tried to put as much distance between us as possible, practically gluing myself to the wall of the elevator.

Eight, seven, six... It didn't help that my department was on the tenth floor. The ping of an incoming message broke the silence. The message read that my cab was canceled due to heavy traffic in the area.

Damn it, I have to catch a train or bus, but his manor is in a high security area, so I would have to walk some distance to get there since he had taken my car. It's not feasible for me to operate a vehicle that bears bullet marks.

The elevator doors opened, and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Alarik stepped out, and so did I. None of us said anything as we broke our synchronized path. The bus station was closer to the office, and there were fifteen minutes until the bus arrived. I considered getting some food, but then the chances of missing the bus were higher. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so low energy didn't help with standing for the bus. Maybe I could go to the next bus station and grab something between the distances.

A heavy, cold gust of wind blew my hair from my face. Tonight's air was the coldest of the season, which didn't help with my walking. A black car with tinted windows slowed down beside me. Anxiety grew in the pit of my stomach. I took the shortcut, which was an empty street. I quickened my pace. The car honked to attract my attention, but I didn't glance. I kept walking.

Stupid, idiot. I should have stayed at the bus station. The car came to a stop a few feet ahead of me. My breath hitched. Calm down, Lena. I have a Taser in my bag. Though there's a higher chance they would have a gun, fear coiled its tendrils around me.

"LENA!"

My head jerked with force. I blinked away the fogginess of my mind. Grey eyes looked at me with concern and something I couldn't identify. The warmth from his hands on my shoulders grounded me in my surroundings.

"Take a deep breath. In, out. In, out." I did what the velvety voice instructed.

The clarity of the situation washed over me as I glanced at the black car, its driver-side door open. Then I looked at Alarik. "I underestimated the impact. I didn't consider how the previous situation might affect you mentally. I'm sorry."

A gust blew past us, but only his apology echoed in my mind. "I'm sorry." Alarik Andressano was apologizing to me.

I released his suit jacket, not realizing I had been gripping it. Stepping back, I felt his touch slip from my shoulders. My legs gave way, and I stumbled backward, bracing for the impact of a fall that never came.

If I had been close to Alarik before, I was closer now. His arm snaked around my waist, holding me steady. He pulled me to him, my chest colliding with his, leaving no space between us. His musky cologne enveloped me like a cocoon. His lips hovered over mine.

"Let go," I murmured, my lips brushing against his. Heat spread under my skin from the barely their touch. Alarik's eyes dilated, his gray iris turning almost black. It feels like eternity passes by us, but none of us moves. His eyes glance at my lips, and I feel like waiting. Why am I waiting? Slowly, I let go of his shoulder again and he of my waist. Thankfully, my anxiety is gone, and I can stand steadily.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Andressano?" This time with a higher pitch of my voice.

"I saw you walking toward the bus stop and thought to give you a ride since we live under the same roof. I was nearing you, but you kept increasing your speed."

A frown appeared on my face. "No woman on an empty road will stop for tinted windows and a black car at night, sir." He must have heard my teeth grinding together. Irritation shot into his eyes.

"Well, I was calling your name, but you did not seem to be in your senses. And why are you walking at all? Doesn't the manor have enough cars and chauffeurs?" It was hard enough to break the wall with it.

"My car is in your custody, which you told me not to drive. The cab canceled on me tonight, so I was going to take the bus. I live in your home. Things in the home are yours. There is nothing mine," considering we are married and you bastard fucking don't have knowledge about it. I swallowed that statement down: "You have already done me enough favors, Mr. Andresano. I don't want to impose on you—first living rent-free and then increase salaried job." And I want to get far away from you; marrying you was the regret I would never move on from. I am glad it was not a ceremonial wedding, or I would have regretted my dream wedding on this asshole.

Alarik tilted his face to analyze me for something. He rubbed his thumb over his mouth as he kept staring at me.

"Get in the car, Ms. Mathews." He orders.

"We don't have all the time, Ms. Mathews." I blink; he is already sitting in the car.

"I can take a..."

"Get in, Lena." I got in. I just don't feel safe enough to take the bus now. Not from how my name rolled off his tongue. I am the tastiest dessert he wants to eat.

We rode in silence, almost as if he were not listening to political news. Fifteen minutes into the ride, grumbles surrounded the atmosphere of the car. Blush crept on my face. Oh god, I hope that he didn't listen to the sound of an anchor.

I turned my face to look out the window, hoping the redness on my face would go away before he noticed. Reflection on his window, however, told a different story: is he smiling? The sides of his face had lips that curved upward.

"I had no time to eat anything today after breakfast." I tried to reason without looking at him.

"You mean a single piece of toast and coffee?" His statuesque face with the essence of a smile makes him beyond people living on earth.

"I slept in today."

"You sleep in daily." I avoided your breakfast timing because you wanted to hear.

I ignored him for the rest of the ride until he parked the car at the Epicurean Hotel. A high-end, luxurious hotel in the city. Before I got to question it, he was already at my side of the door. He opened it like we were on a date.

"Come out. I am not going to stand here all night."

"I did not ask you to," I said, sliding out of the car. He passed the keys to Valet, and we made our way into the hotel.

Everyone welcomed him, and it took them less than three minutes to find the table for us. The dining area was crowded with customers waiting in line, and I am sure this hotel requires three to six months of waiting.

"Why are we here?"

"For dinner," nonchalantly.

"I can see that. I am asking why I am here with you, Mr. Andressano." I met his eyes, hoping for some clarity. His gaze, a striking shade of gray, held a beauty beyond words, but it was shadowed by an inescapable darkness. He wore it like a second skin, an aura of danger that he seemed to embrace.

"You are hungry, Ms. Mathews, and I am starving." His voice lingered on the word "starving," giving it a meaning far removed from food. It was a hunger that transcended the physical—something deeper, more primal.

The waiter arrived with our order, breaking the tense silence between us. Neither of us spoke, and I found myself relieved. I despised small talk, and from the way Mr. Andressano remained silent, I guessed he did too. The silence between us was thick, charged with unspoken thoughts and unasked questions.

As we began to eat, I could feel his eyes on me; their weight was heavy and penetrating. Each glance felt like a touch, a silent communication that I struggled to decipher. Was it curiosity? Appraisal? Something else entirely?

The food was excellent, though I barely tasted it. My mind was too occupied with the man sitting across from me. Alarik was an enigma, a puzzle I wasn't sure I wanted to solve. His presence was overwhelming, and his silence was more telling than any words could be.

As I sipped my wine, I stole a glance at him. He was watching me intently, his expression unreadable. His gray eyes seemed to see right through me, to the very core of my being. It was both unsettling and, oddly, exhilarating.

"When do you think it is safer for me to move out?" I finally asked, needing to break the silence, to get some answers.

He leaned back in his chair and said, "I did not find who was behind that attack, Ms. Mathews. I am looking for something and have yet to find it. Neither do I think it is mentally fit for you to live alone right now, considering what happened just a few minutes ago."

His words struck a chord within me. He was right, but I am searching for a new place to shift, not knowing how safe it will be for me. I wasn't entirely sure.

"And you? Don't you find that incident affecting you?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving mine. "I am used to it," he said simply. The intensity of his words took my breath away. They were so unexpected and so raw. I felt a shiver run down my spine.

"You are used to people coming after your life?" I admitted that my voice was shaky.

He nodded, as if he had expected my answer. "Perhaps not. But it becomes a normal occurrence after sometimes it happens. I know a therapist who can help you."

His words hung in the air like a vulture above prey with no escape. I didn't know what to say or how to respond. The plain truth was that I felt as drawn to him as he appeared interested in me. A shrink? No way! When my mother passed away, I had one. Over time, I discovered he was telling my father everything about our sessions. That doctor of his would never betray him, not even for millions of dollars.

We finished our meal in silence, each lost in our thoughts. The weight of his gaze was constant—a silent pressure I couldn't ignore. Despite my reservations, I couldn't deny the pull I felt toward him. There was something in his eyes—not just darkness, but a spark of life, a glimmer of hope—that made me pause.

"I hope you consider it," he said softly, his voice breaking the silence.

I looked into his eyes, searching for answers. There was more to him than the danger he exuded—something that made me want to believe in him and take a chance despite my past.

"I hope so too," I replied, my voice barely a whisper but filled with a tentative hope.

We stepped out of the restaurant into the cool night air. I felt it on my skin as I walked next to Alarik. A weird excitement bubbled up inside me. Whatever was happening between us had just started. I couldn't wait to see where things would go from here.