Chapter 7
585 Words
Unfamiliar
Ace Monteverde did not get jealous.
He did not need to.
People stayed where he placed them. Business partners. Employees. Women. Everything in his life had order, distance, and control.
So he did not like the unfamiliar feeling sitting heavy in his chest that afternoon.
He told himself it was irritation.
Nothing more.
Bea worked quietly at her desk, but she could feel it.
The change.
The air around his office had shifted since the morning meeting. The intercom stayed silent longer than usual, like he was deliberately not calling her.
And somehow, that felt worse.
She preferred instructions to silence.
Silence meant he was thinking.
And when Ace Monteverde thought too long, someone always paid for it.
“Miss Bea. Inside.”
Her stomach tightened.
She stood and entered.
He was not at his desk. He stood near the shelves, reviewing a file he clearly was not reading.
“You took longer than necessary with Mr. Vale this morning,” he said without looking at her.
She blinked. “Sir?”
“Your conversation.”
“It lasted less than a minute.”
“That is still longer than needed.”
Her fingers curled slightly. “He was being polite.”
His jaw flexed. “You seemed comfortable.”
“I was being professional.”
Silence.
Sharp.
Heavy.
He finally looked at her.
And there it was.
Something darker in his eyes.
“You adjust quickly,” he said.
She did not understand. “To what, sir?”
“To men.”
The words landed like a slap.
Her spine straightened. “I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”
“Do not misunderstand,” he said coldly. “You work for me.”
“Yes,” she replied, voice steady. “I do. That does not mean I stop being a person.”
That answer hit.
Harder than she intended.
His eyes narrowed.
Most people shrank under his stare.
She did not.
And that unsettled him more than Adrian’s presence had.
He stepped closer.
Not to touch.
But to tower.
“You think I don’t see the way people look at you?” he said quietly. “You think I don’t know what men want?”
Her heart pounded, but she held his gaze. “That is not my concern.”
“It becomes your concern when it happens in my building.”
Something inside her snapped.
“I am not property,” she said, voice low but firm.
The room went still.
The line had been crossed.
His eyes darkened.
“And yet,” he murmured, “you stand in my office. Under my authority. Paid by my company.”
Her chest rose and fell slowly. “I work for you. I do not belong to you.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and dangerous.
For a moment, something flickered in his expression.
Not anger.
Not dominance.
Something closer to conflict.
He turned away first.
“Go back to work,” he said, voice colder than ice.
She walked out, heart racing.
But for the first time…
She was not the only one shaken.
Inside, Ace ran a hand through his hair, jaw tight.
Because the truth was simple.
He did not like Adrian noticing her.
He did not like the idea that someone else could speak to her without fear.
And he did not like the realization creeping in.
This was not control anymore.
This was something else.
Something he had never allowed himself to feel.
And that made it dangerous.
- Writer
