Claimed by the billionaire

Chapter5

Lines That Blur

Blair’s POV

If someone had told her last week that she’d land a job at one of the most powerful companies in Manhattan, under him she would’ve laughed.

But now, standing in the sleek elevator with mirrored walls reflecting her nerves back at her, Blair Sinclair wasn’t laughing. She was holding her breath.

The doors slid open with a soft chime, revealing the top floor. Executive level.

Her heels clicked too loudly against the marble as she walked toward the reception desk, the receptionist barely glancing up before gesturing toward a hallway.

“You’re expected. Last door on the left.”

Her palms were damp. She wiped them against her skirt and tried to steady her breathing.

It’s just a job. Just a job.

Except it wasn’t. Not when her boss was the man she’d…

Her stomach twisted. She still couldn’t say it aloud. Couldn’t even think the full sentence without her pulse spiking.

She had slept with Jason Westwood. And now he was her boss.

Her very cold, very unreadable, very powerful boss.

Blair reached the last door and paused. She took a deep breath, then knocked softly.

“Come in.”

His voice was as sharp as she remembered. She entered.

Jason looked up from his desk, his expression unreadable.

No recognition. No trace of that night. Just cool professionalism and a suit tailored so sharply it could cut glass.

“Miss Sinclair,” he said without inflection. “You’re early.”

“I thought it’d be best to, start off strong,” she said, voice too light, too tight.

He gave a barely-there nod. “Sit.”

She did.

The silence stretched between them. She glanced down at the desk. Neat. Precise. Completely unlike the man from the bar who had kissed her like she was the only thing anchoring him to earth.

She swallowed. “I’m ready to begin, Mr. Westwood.”

For a moment, his gaze lingered on her too long to be professional, too brief to be personal.

“You’ll be shadowing my executive assistant this week. After that, you’ll report directly to me. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

He handed her a file without meeting her eyes. “Start here. I want a summary report by noon.”

She rose and took the file. But as she turned to leave, she hesitated. Her fingers curled around the folder, knuckles white.

She could feel it the tension. The heat under the surface.

She turned slightly. “About… the other night..”

“I don’t mix business with pleasure, Miss Sinclair,” Jason cut in, voice cool.

Her heart sank. But she nodded, forcing a brittle smile. “Of course.”

She stepped out into the hallway, lungs tight, trying not to let the sting settle too deep.

But she didn’t make it far before she heard it.

Two interns whispering near the corner.

“that’s her. The new girl. Heard she slept her way in.”

Blair froze.

“She’s cute but not that cute. Bet he drops her in a week.”

Heat rushed up her neck.

She turned sharply, but the girls quickly ducked away, pretending to flip through reports like they hadn’t said a word.

Blair blinked hard, willing the burn behind her eyes to go away.

This was what she was afraid of. This was why she’d wanted to forget the night before.

Now, she couldn’t.

And neither could anyone else.

Jason’s POV

Jason watched the door close behind Blair, his jaw tight.

The room felt colder now, the silence echoing with the memory of her voice, too soft, too damn familiar.

He turned back to his desk, grabbing his phone. He dialed Blake's number to see if he had gotten any updates on who is trying to bring him down.

Blake said. “I haven't gotten any update yet but she’s not just a fling, J. She’s a thread. And if someone’s already talking, you better believe someone else is listening.”

Jason muttered a curse.

“Watch your back,” Blake said. “And maybe hers too.”

The call ended.

Jason stood, moving to the window. His reflection stared back at him in the glass sharp lines, colder eyes.

This was supposed to be clean. Simple.

He should’ve walked away at the bar.

Now she was tangled in everything he’d worked to control. And someone already knew.

His phone buzzed again. An anonymous email.

*"She’s not who you think. You should've vetted her better."

And attached: a blurry photo of him and Blair, outside the bar.

Jason’s pulse spiked.

Someone had been watching.

And now, someone wanted to use her to get to him.

He turned away from the window, face darkening.

This wasn’t just a mistake anymore.

It was a threat.

Blair’s POV

I stared at the hallway mirror in the break room, my reflection looking back at me like a stranger.

The message had come through just ten minutes ago.

“You’re just a pawn. Stay away from him. This job won’t protect you.”

No name. No explanation. Just that single line of text, staring back at me like a threat etched in glass.

I didn’t know who “him” was, Jason? Or someone else entirely? And what did they mean by “this job won’t protect you”? My breath caught in my throat.

I’d deleted the message the moment I read it, but it was already burned into my mind.

I glanced over my shoulder. The hallway was empty. Too quiet. Even the buzz of the office felt… off. Was someone watching me?

Lucy’s voice from earlier in the morning replayed in my head:

"People in this place don’t like quiet. If it gets too quiet, someone’s scheming."

I hated how much sense that made now.

But I couldn’t bring this to Jason. We hadn’t spoken since the interview, other than brief work-related exchanges, and he barely looked at me, like I was part of the office furniture. Cold, unreadable.

The man from the bar didn’t exist in these halls.

And yet I felt him. Constantly. Like his energy wrapped around the air whenever he entered a room. My body still remembered the press of his hand on my skin, the heat in his voice.

I shook my head. Focus.

The message, Blair.

A prank?

Or was someone warning me?

Maybe Lucy

No. I pushed the thought away instantly. Lucy wouldn’t do that. Would she?

She’d been distracted lately, more cagey than usual. Hanging out with a guy she wouldn’t name. She said she was fine, but I knew her better than that.

Still. Lucy was my best friend.

Wasn’t she?

The office door clicked open across the room, breaking my spiral. I turned quickly, schooling my features. But it wasn’t Jason.

It was a friend of Jason, I heard him call him Blake once.

He gave me a curt nod, eyes flicking toward me in a way that felt… assessing.

My chest tightened.

Why was everyone suddenly watching me?

Jason’s POV

Blake leaned against the glass wall of my office, arms crossed. “You don’t think it’s odd? The timing? You meet her in a bar, she shows up here the next day, coincidence?”

I stared at him, jaw tight. “I didn’t know who she was that night.”

“But someone did.”

I frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying maybe this wasn’t random, Jase. Maybe someone planted her here.”

“That’s a hell of a theory, Blake.”

He stepped closer. “And yet your company phone got an anonymous message about her. A warning. Either she’s in danger… or she’s the danger.”

The words lodged in my mind like barbed wire.

I turned toward the window, watching Blair through the glass. She was talking to someone on the phone again. Her expression was guarded, her hands fidgeting. She looked nervous.

But guilt looked a lot like fear.

And now, I couldn’t tell which one she was hiding.

The leak. The message. The timing.

There were too many unknowns. And I hated the unknown.

My office, my life was built on control. And this woman, with her haunted eyes and trembling voice, was blowing holes straight through it.

“Keep an eye on her,” I said.

Blair’s POV

I made my way back to my desk, heart still beating out of rhythm.

The message had shaken me, but what rattled me more was the silence that followed. No follow-up. No sender. Just silence. As if whoever had sent it was watching, waiting to see what I’d do next.

I sat down, trying to focus on the schedule I was inputting, but my mind drifted, again to Jason.

He was colder today. Distant. Not just his usual CEO cold, but sharp-edged, guarded. Had he changed his mind about hiring me? Had he figured out who I was that night?

God.

What if he regretted it?

A ping broke through my spiral. Not from my phone. From the internal chat.

Unknown:

You really thought you were special? He does this. Ask around.

I gasped and quickly shut the chat, glancing around like I’d been caught. My fingers shook as I shut my laptop. My skin felt hot, like it was burning under invisible scrutiny.

“Blair?”

I jumped. I was still on call with lucy.

“You okay?”

I opened my mouth to lie, to say I was fine, but my throat tightened.

“I need air.”

I stood, then I cut the video call before she asked any more questions.

I walked toward the executive hallway, the one no one used unless summoned. I didn’t even think about where I was going. I just needed space. Quiet.

But what I found at the end of the corridor froze me in my tracks.

Jason’s POV

“She’s cracking,” Blake said under his breath, watching Blair leave her desk like something was chasing her.

My chest clenched. She looked pale, panicked.

Was she lying to me? Or was someone playing us like puppets?

I moved before I could think. I followed the direction she’d gone, down the private corridor. The security camera above flickered. And then I saw her.

Standing in front of my office door.

Not her desk. Not the elevator. My door.

But she wasn’t alone.

A man I didn’t recognize stepped out of the shadows, blocking her.

Tall. Dressed in black. Not staff.

I couldn’t hear what he said, but Blair stumbled back, her hand flying to her mouth.

My pulse kicked into overdrive. I moved faster.

By the time I reached them, the man had vanished down the emergency stairwell.

Blair was trembling, her back against the wall, eyes wide and filled with terror.

I grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at me. “Who was that?”

She opened her mouth, then shut it, as if the truth was too sharp to speak.

“I... I think someone’s trying to ruin you.”