Alina didn’t see him coming.
She was in the elevator, the hum of it climbing toward the executive floor, heart fluttering with the weight of the key he’d given her. The key that said you belong to me now.
Then the lights dimmed. The elevator shuddered to a stop.
And Nicholas stepped in.
His hair was damp from the rain. His tie loose. And his eyes—no longer just commanding—they were feral.
She blinked. “What—”
He slammed the emergency stop button.
The lights flickered to red. Silent.
He turned toward her slowly, removing his coat like he had all the time in the world.
“I warned you,” he said.
Alina’s breath caught. “Warned me?”
“No more pretending. No more rules. You come into my building wearing this—” his fingers hooked the edge of her pencil skirt, dragging it higher— “and exp
