CHAPTER SIX
896 Words
Eve
There are moments in life when your instincts immediately scream:
This situation is about to become terrible.
Standing face-to-face with Mira Laurent for the first time?
Definitely one of those moments.
She was beautiful.
Not the soft kind of beautiful that made people feel comfortable.
No.
Mira looked expensive.
Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. Perfect posture.
The kind of woman magazines wrote articles about.
And unfortunately for me, she also looked like the type of woman who could destroy someone’s life with a single smile.
Which she was currently giving me.
“I was hoping to meet the assistant everyone seems so fascinated with.”
The executive floor suddenly became painfully quiet.
People were pretending to work while very obviously listening.
Cowards.
I forced a professional smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Laurent.”
Her eyes moved slowly over me.
Evaluating.
Judging.
Dismissing.
“Oh,” she said lightly, “call me Mira.”
Something about her tone felt sharp beneath the politeness.
Like hidden glass inside silk.
Beside me, Xavier Moore looked dangerously unreadable.
Which honestly made everything worse.
Because when Xavier became silent, people suffered.
Mira stepped into the office without waiting for permission, placing her designer bag onto the couch like she owned the building.
Technically…
One day she probably would.
“I came to surprise you for lunch,” she told Xavier smoothly.
“I’m busy.”
Cold. Immediate. Uninterested.
Most women would’ve looked embarrassed.
Mira only smiled harder.
“I’m sure your assistant can survive without you for an hour.”
Her emphasis on the word assistant was impossible to miss.
I suddenly became very interested in reorganizing files that absolutely did not need reorganizing.
Xavier’s gaze flickered briefly toward me.
Then back to Mira.
“Eve,” he said calmly, “cancel my afternoon meetings.”
I blinked.
Wait.
What?
“You’re leaving?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His eyes met mine instantly.
And for some reason, the room suddenly felt too warm.
“For lunch,” he replied.
Right.
Lunch.
With his fiancée.
Why did that bother me?
It shouldn’t.
Absolutely shouldn’t.
I nodded professionally while ignoring the strange heaviness in my chest.
“Of course.”
Mira noticed.
Of course she noticed.
Women like her always noticed everything.
She walked toward Xavier slowly before adjusting his tie with practiced familiarity.
The intimacy of the gesture hit me harder than expected.
“You work too much,” she murmured softly to him.
Xavier gently moved her hand away.
Small movement.
But I noticed.
So did she.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Her smile tightened almost invisibly afterward.
“I’ll wait downstairs,” Mira said finally.
The second she left, the office atmosphere changed completely.
Silence.
Heavy silence.
I focused very hard on my laptop screen while pretending I couldn’t feel Xavier staring at me.
“You’re angry.”
I almost laughed.
Men truly had unbelievable confidence.
“I’m not angry.”
“You’re typing aggressively.”
“I type aggressively every day.”
Another silence.
Then—
“You dislike her.”
I looked up immediately. “Excuse me?”
“Mira.”
I stared at him carefully.
This conversation felt dangerous.
“I don’t know her.”
“But you dislike her.”
I leaned back slowly in my chair.
“And if I do?”
Something flickered in his eyes.
Something dark.
Interested.
“You’re honest,” he said quietly.
“No,” I corrected softly. “I’m just not fake.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
For one strange second, it felt like we were talking about something much deeper than Mira.
Then suddenly—
My phone rang.
Daniel.
Relief immediately flooded through me.
I answered quickly. “Hey.”
My brother sounded exhausted. “Mom collapsed again.”
Everything inside me froze.
The office disappeared.
The conversation disappeared.
Nothing mattered except those four words.
I stood instantly. “What happened?”
“The doctor says her blood pressure dropped badly.”
Fear punched straight through my chest.
“I’m coming now.”
I grabbed my bag so quickly my hands shook.
Xavier moved immediately. “What happened?”
“My mom’s in the hospital.”
The words came out unevenly.
I hated that.
Hated sounding weak.
Panicked.
But fear was already swallowing me whole.
“I need to leave.”
“You’re not driving like this.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Eve.”
His voice stopped me instantly.
Firm. Calm. Controlled.
The exact opposite of what I felt right now.
“I’ll take you.”
My heart stumbled.
“No, you have lunch plans.”
“I don’t care.”
The answer came too fast.
Too honest.
We both noticed.
Silence crashed between us.
Then his phone started ringing again.
Mira.
Of course.
Xavier looked at the screen coldly before silencing the call without hesitation.
And suddenly…
I realized something terrifying.
He chose me.
Not romantically.
Not completely.
But in this moment—
He chose me.
The realization shook something inside me.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whispered.
His expression softened slightly.
And somehow that felt more intimate than touching.
“Yes,” Xavier said quietly.
“I do.”
For the first time since meeting him…
I saw warmth break through the ice completely.
And that was far more dangerous than his coldness had ever been.
- Writer
