CHAPTER FOUR
1267 Words
“Her Name, My Undoing”
CAIUS'S POV
She was still on my lips.
Not physically. God, I wasn’t that foolish, but Kaiya Everhart had a way of embedding herself into the recesses of your thoughts, like the taste of something forbidden that lingered long after the feast.
Her scent had clung to my shirt last night even after she left the penthouse last night, violet and fire, an assault I hadn’t prepared for.
I wasn't prepared for the way my focus kept slipping from the reports in front of me to the memory of her lips on mine.
I stood by the window of my penthouse office, the city sprawled beneath me, slick with rain and lit like temptation. Everything I built pulsed below, my empire of glass, steel, and secrets. But none of it stirred me the way she did.
What the hell had she done to me?
I don’t get addicted. I acquired, consumed, discarded.
But Kaiya Everhart made me feel like I was the one being studied. As if I were the story and she the author.
And God help me, I badly wanted to be rewritten by her.
My hand curled slowly around my whiskey glass as I replayed her laugh, the defiant one she let slip after she slapped me with her facts and forced my mouth into admitting I was intrigued. That sound had no business being that addictive.
I walked back to my desk.
Now, standing behind my desk, I found myself staring at the file folder I’d handed her. The one I expected her to tear into like a wolf. She was smart. Sharp. But she’d only scratched the surface.
She hadn’t noticed the name.
Sage Reed.
A knock interrupted the echo of her name in my head.
"Come in," I said, permitting whoever was at the door to come in.
The door swung open, and Sage stepped into the room like she owned it, the silhouette heels she wore clicking on the marble floor with each stride she took, the red blazer, was tailored with precision and definitely matched her personality.
Her hair was coiled to perfection as usual. Professional. Polished. Always two steps behind Kaiya, though she'd never admit it out loud.
“Mr. Virelli,” she greeted, lips poised in a courteous smile.
“Sage.” I gestured to the seat across from me without looking up again. “You said it was urgent.”
“I did.” She sat, legs crossed, tablet in hand. “It’s about the Everhart situation.”
The name cut straight through me. Sage watched me closely, reading my silence.
“Specifically, the media fire she's stirring,” she continued. “And what your next step might be.”
I raised a brow. “You’re her best friend. Strange hill to die on.”
“I’m a strategist,” she replied coolly. “I separate work from sentiment.”
I leaned back, fingers steepled. “Pity she doesn’t.”
Her eyes narrowed a fraction. “She has her... causes.”
“You mean her war against me?”
“I mean her desire for truth,” Sage said crisply, though the corner of her mouth twitched like the words had tasted bitter.
I smirked. “Truth is subjective, Ms. Reed. Your friend just hasn’t realized that yet.”
There was a flicker in her eyes was it annoyance or jealousy, I couldn’t quite tell but she masked it quickly.
“I brought you some supplemental reports,” she said, tapping on her tablet. “Damage control options. PR maneuvering. Controlled leaks.”
I nodded once. “Leave them on the table.”
She did as told, then lingered by the glass wall, staring out at the skyline like she had something else to say.
"Anything else?" I asked.
“You kissed her.” Her voice was neutral. Detached, but heavy.
I didn’t answer.
She turned around, arms folded. “I know Kaiya. She doesn't flinch easily. She came home shaken. Whatever happened…..”
“Is none of your business,” I said sharply, cutting her off.
A tense silence settled between us.
Then Sage softened her tone. “You could have anyone, Caius. You’re the most powerful man in the city. Why her?”
Her voice was laced with something almost wistful. I recognized the game. I’d seen it before. An invitation dressed as concern.
“Power is only interesting when someone dares to challenge it,” I said. “And Kaiya challenges everything.”
Her expression hardened.
“Sounds exhausting,” she said dryly. “But I suppose that’s what excites you.”
She took a step closer. “If you wanted something... less complicated,” she added, her voice low, “I could be that.”
I looked at her. Fully.
She was beautiful. Smart. Calculated. But I’d seen her calculus. She’d never do anything that didn’t serve herself.
“I don’t do repeats,” I said. “And I never do convenience.”
She flushed, but didn’t break. “Not even for someone who’s been loyal to you longer than she’s known your name?”
“That’s precisely why.” I returned to my paperwork. “Loyalty from you always comes at a cost.”
She didn’t move for a moment, and I could feel the rage simmering beneath her glossy surface.
“You’re making a mistake with her,” Sage said quietly. “You think she’s fire, but she’s poison. You’ll see.”
“Careful, Ms. Reed,” I murmured. “That almost sounded personal.”
She turned, just slightly, and something in her gaze flickered cold.
“She doesn’t know who you are. But I do.”
Her heel tapped once, sharp against the floor, before she walked back to the table and picked up one of the folders I’d intentionally left half open on purpose.
I saw the pause. The brief stutter in her breath when she saw the document bearing her name. An old, obscure legal link to a shell company we’d shut down months ago.
She glanced at me, then slipped the paper into her own folder like it was part of her task.
If I hadn't feigned ignorance for what she did.
She must've felt that the move she pulled was smooth.
And of a truth if I hadn’t been looking for it, I might’ve missed it.
I said nothing.
Let her take it.
Let her think she was clever.
She left a moment later, all elegance and carefully calculated strides. The door shut behind her with a muted thud.
I waited ten seconds, then reached under my desk and tapped the intercom.
“Log the time Sage Reed exited my office,” I said. “And flag the footage. I want to know what else she touched.”
“Yes, sir.”
I leaned back, watching the skyline as dusk began to descend like spilled ink across the glass.
Kaiya’s face surfaced behind my eyes again—fierce, flushed, furious. Lips parted from our kiss. That spark between us hadn’t been an accident. It had been a war declaration.
And God help me, I wanted more.
But I couldn’t afford weakness. Not now.
Not with Sage spiraling. Not with Kaiya digging deeper.
My phone buzzed. A secure message flashed across the screen.
Status Update: Kaiya Everhart has accessed Folder 7 – Virelli Offshore Networks.
I stared at the words.
She was getting close.
Too close.
I locked the phone and poured myself a drink, swallowing it all in one gulp.
A storm was coming.
And her name was Everhart.
- Writer
