Chapter 3
1029 Words
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The door clicked shut behind me. I knew something had to begin. My thinning patience was at the limit with my client. But it had to be done.
That man 'Ash' faded into silence, but his presence clung to me like the scent of his cologne—rich, warm, impossible to forget. I pressed a hand to my chest, willing my heartbeat to slow. I needed air. Logic. Space to breathe without remembering how close he had leaned across that table, how his voice had dragged over my skin like velvet tied with steel.
I crossed the marble hallway of the De Luca building, heels ticking like a countdown beneath me. I wanted to pretend I hadn’t looked back at him. I wanted to pretend I wasn’t curious. But the truth pulsed in my chest with every step I took away from him.
Ash De Luca was attractive. There, I said it loud and clear. But I shouldn't meddle with this topic any longer.
That wasn’t the dangerous part. The danger was that I agreed with him when he said I wasn’t pretending not to care. I hated that he saw it. Hated more that he wasn’t wrong.
Outside, the city exhaled in smoke and horns and neon. The wind brushed my hair into my face, snapping me out of my trance. I took a sharp breath, then another, grounding myself in the noise. The world still spun. He wasn’t everything.
He couldn’t be.
My phone buzzed.
Leina: Wanna hang? You look like you saw a ghost. Or worse. A hot one.
I typed back with a smirk.
Me: Worse.
Ten minutes later, I was sliding into our usual booth across from her at a café near our apartment. She handed me a steaming cup and raised an eyebrow without a word.
“So?” she finally asked, voice low and conspiratorial. “On a scale from mildly charming to ‘strip-me-with-your-eyes,’ how bad was it?”
I blew into my coffee and sighed. “He’s… maddening.”
Leina’s eyes lit up. “Hot-maddening or soul-crushing-maddening?”
“Both. Which is why this is a problem.”
She leaned forward like a cat about to pounce. “Let me guess. He looked at you like he already had you figured out. Said something cryptic that felt like a riddle made just for your sanity to decipher.”
I groaned, letting my forehead rest against the table. “He said I wasn’t pretending I didn’t care.”
Leina whistled. “Oof. He’s good. That’s psychological warfare dressed up in designer suits.” She had wits and tack for everything it wasn't meddling just idle chitchat like always. Also, I love her phrasing it out. It kicks out the humour of everything.
I peeked at her. “I’m not falling for him.” I wasn't bluffing, or I'm I just underestimating myself
“Of course not,” she said with a smirk. “You’re just daydreaming about him shirtless in your office, filing paperwork. Totally healthy.”
I laughed despite myself. “This is strictly business. I need to stay focused.”
Leina grew serious, tapping her nails on the table. “Then remember who he is, Cel. Men like Ash De Luca don’t flirt. They manipulate. That kind of power doesn’t come without blood.” God, she sure is good at putting him in the lime light. This hot seat is hotter than ever. I can't believe coffee isn't enough to make me hyped up my motive for today. Or is it just the weather. Or both geez, what a day.
The words echoed long after we parted.
That night, I lay in bed staring at the cracks in my ceiling. It was quiet, too quiet, and my thoughts weren’t helping. I hated how I noticed the way his mouth curled when he smirked. The way he listened—really listened. The way he made me feel like the smartest person in the room and the most unprotected, all in one breath.
He was a contradiction I couldn’t afford to unravel. I am not going to dream about him I hope and pray that I don't. Oh, dear Lord give me rest for today and the next.
The next morning, I walked into the firm’s elevator and immediately felt tension coil around me. Eli stepped in just before the doors closed. His jaw was tight. His eyes, darker than usual.
“You met with De Luca again, didn’t you?”
I exhaled slowly. “This is work, Eli.”
“He’s dangerous, Celeste. And you’re walking straight into it.” He said like it's still his business when we were not even together anymore. At least after I caught him cheating again behind my back. Typical.
I turned to face him. “Why do you care?”
His mouth parted, but he hesitated. “Because you don’t know what that family’s capable of. I do.”
“You’re not my boyfriend anymore, Eli,” I said, voice calm. “You don’t get to protect me out of guilt.”
The elevator dinged. I stepped out, leaving him in silence.
Back at my desk, I tried to lose myself in work. Documents, case files, client records—it all blurred together, none of it strong enough to blot out Ash from my mind.
When I finally packed up that evening, the clock blinked 10:37 p.m. The city was quieter now, bathed in gold from street lamps and reflections from office windows. I walked to the curb, adjusting my scarf as wind swept through the empty sidewalk.
That’s when I saw it.
A black car, idling just across the street. The windows were tinted. No driver visible. No motion. License plate with repeated numbers. They're rich-rich.
I paused. My heartbeat ticked up. Was it one of theirs?
I crossed without looking back, choosing to walk the long way home, telling myself I was imagining things.
But as I turned the corner, a chill slid down my spine.
I wasn’t just walking away from Ash anymore.
I was walking into something deeper.
And some part of me… wanted to go back.
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- Writer
