The Forbidden Line

8. The Crimson Threshold

Being a part of the Valen Group internal audit team meant having access to areas that were never touched by ordinary employees. However, for Valera Dawson, her transfer to a new desk in the corner of Garrick Valentino’s office was a death sentence for her peace of mind. The small, metal-framed desk was placed right near a giant glass window, directly facing the black executive desk belonging to the CEO, forcing Valera to continuously remain under the radar of the man’s supervision for eight hours a day.

The first week progressed with a tension so thin, it felt as though a single minor touch could trigger a massive explosion. Garrick played his role as a ruthless superior completely flawlessly in front of the rest of the audit team. The man did not hesitate to throw back the legal analysis drafts prepared by Valera if even a single point of New York regulation was missed. However, the moment the wall clock indicated five in the evening and the entire staff on the fiftieth floor began clearing their desks, the atmosphere inside the room would instantly transform into a suffocating cage.

Valera tidied up the stack of yellow folders containing the financial reports of the Valen Group subsidiary in Brooklyn. Across the room, Garrick still sat calmly in his leather chair, turning document pages with a rhythmic movement. The tapping of the man’s fingers on the black glass desk sounded constant, competing with the patter of raindrops that had begun to slick the outer window glass of an increasingly darkening Manhattan.

"You may head home after completing the tax liability analysis for the third sector, Ms. Dawson," Garrick said without diverting his gaze from the document in his hand. His heavy voice broke the silence of the soundproofed room.

Valera halted her hand movements, then stared at the digital clock in the corner of her laptop, which already indicated ten minutes past five in the evening.

"I already completed the third sector ten minutes ago, Mr. Valentino. I have uploaded all the files to the internal server."

Garrick slowly closed the folder in front of him, then leaned his firm back against the backrest of his chair. His sharp gray eyes pierced through the dimness of the room, locking Valera’s gaze with an intensity that made the hairs on the girl’s neck stand up.

"In that case, come here. Bring the physical report of what you have uploaded."

Valera exhaled a short breath through her nose, attempting to suppress the nervousness that suddenly assaulted her stomach. She reached for the yellow folder in question, stepped around her desk, and walked toward Garrick’s grand desk. Every single one of her steps felt heavy, as though she were walking toward a sacrificial altar.

The moment Valera placed the folder on top of the cold black glass surface, Garrick’s large hand moved lightning-fast. Instead of reaching for the document, the man’s firm fingers gripped Valera’s wrist, pulling her with one powerful tug until the girl’s slender body lost its balance and was forced to sit down on top of the glass work desk, directly in front of Garrick’s physique, which now straightened as well.

"Mr. Valentino!" Valera shrieked softly, her hands instinctively resting on the shoulders covered in Garrick’s expensive shirt to stabilize her position. "Let go. Someone could easily return to this floor because they left their belongings behind."

"I instructed the security team to lock the executive elevator ten minutes ago, Valera. No one can come up to this floor without biometric authorization from me," Garrick whispered low, ignoring Valera’s protest. He moved his body forward, confining Valera’s freedom of movement between his two firm arms resting on top of the glass desk. "You have intentionally avoided my gaze all day today. Why? Does working inside the same room as me disrupt your legal focus?"

Valera attempted to pull her wrist away, which was still gripped, but Garrick’s strength was far too absolute to fight against.

"I am merely trying to act professionally just as you requested. Didn't you say so yourself that I must maintain my distance in front of the rest of the staff?"

Garrick smiled thinly, a predatory smile fraught with a hidden satisfaction. He lowered his head, burying his face in the crook of Valera’s neck, deeply inhaling the scent of the girl’s body, which always succeeded in triggering the possessive side within him.

"In front of them, yes. But when it is only the two of us in here, you do not possess the right to erect a boundary wall with me, sweetheart."

The touch of Garrick’s warm lips against the skin of her neck made Valera close her eyes tightly. Her logic kept screaming the word danger, yet her body instead provided the exact opposite reaction, betraying the entire determination she had built up since morning. The guilt toward Clarissa once again spun inside her head like a broken cassette tape, squeezing her chest with an extraordinary amount of pain.

"Garrick, please, not now," Valera murmured, for the very first time calling the man by his first name without any office formality attachments, a subtle form of submission that instead further inflamed the CEO’s desire.

Garrick looked up, staring into Valera’s tear-filled pair of eyes with a gaze that softened for a brief moment, before being replaced once again by a dense glint of ownership.

"You call my name so beautifully, Valera. Say it again."

Before Valera had a chance to answer, Garrick scooped up those ripe lips with a deep and demanding kiss. A kiss that was no longer merely demanding obedience, but rather an assertion that Valera’s entire soul and body had been bound inside his golden cage. Valera squeezed the fabric of the shirt on Garrick’s shoulders, drowning herself in the taboo sensation that torched her sanity on top of that cold work desk.

However, in the middle of that scorching kiss that blurred reality, the fingers of Valera’s free left hand accidentally groped toward the back area of the desk, searching for a support to hold her body, which kept being pressed backward by Garrick. Her fingers brushed against a small ridge beneath the executive desk's underbelly, a hidden drawer with sensor technology typically used to store the most crucial documents belonging to the company owner.

The sound of an incredibly subtle mechanical mechanism echoed beneath the desk, followed by the sliding out of a small drawer hidden behind the dark oak paneling. The accidental touch from Valera’s fingers had apparently triggered the opening sensor because Garrick had forgotten to lock its encryption after reviewing files this afternoon.

Garrick, who was far too focused on Valera’s lips, did not notice the subtle sound. However, Valera’s eyes, which happened to open in the intervals of their kiss, instantly caught something unusual inside the slightly opened drawer. Inside there, beneath a stack of documents bearing a red seal logo, lay a crimson leather folder that looked somewhat worn at the edges, contrasting sharply with all the Valen Group documents that always utilized modern white or blue folders.

On top of the slightly dusty surface of the crimson folder, a name was written by hand in a firm, black ink: CLARISSA MOLINA - ADOPTION & BLOODLINE RECORDS (1992).

Valera’s heart instantly stopped beating. The word 'Adoption' written in large print there directly struck her consciousness like an incredibly heavy iron mace. Her breath caught, causing Garrick to finally break the connection of their lips with a furrowed brow, noticing the drastic change in the tension of his prey’s body.

"Valera? What is it?" Garrick asked huskily, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Valera, who was now staring blankly toward the underbelly of the desk with a face that had suddenly turned as white as paper.

Valera did not answer. Her entire body suddenly turned stiff and as cold as the New York winter ice outside. Her mind spun wildly, attempting to process the words she had just read. “Adoption? Bloodline records? Clarissa is not Garrick’s biological child?”

Garrick, who was beginning to feel suspicious, immediately followed the direction of Valera’s gaze. Once he realized his secret drawer was open and the crimson folder was clearly exposed in front of the law student’s eyes, the expression on Garrick’s face changed drastically within a single second. All the warmth of desire that had just blanketed his handsome face evaporated without a trace, replaced by a perfectly hardened jaw and a pair of gray eyes emitting the purest, most intimidating aura of darkness Valera had ever seen in her entire life.

The man slowly released his grip from Valera’s body, then straightened his physical frame until his massive shadow completely covered Valera’s body, which was still trembling on top of the work desk. The atmosphere inside the room instantly dropped to the freezing point, leaving a harrowing silence amidst the pounding sound of the Manhattan rainstorm behind the glass wall.

Garrick looked down, staring at Valera with an incredibly cold gaze, as though he were ready to destroy anyone who dared touch his deepest secret.

"You ... were not supposed to see the contents of that drawer, Valera Dawson," Garrick said in a tone of voice that was incredibly low, cold, and filled with an absolute threat of death awaiting her.