The Tycoon Forbidden Trespasser

~AMIRA~ New York was supposed to be the dream. It took exactly forty-five minutes for it to turn into a nightmare. I stood in front of the frosted glass door on the tenth floor of a building that smelled like old cabbage and bleach. I checked the email on my phone again. Then I checked the suite number on the door. Then the email again. ‘Suite 1004. Elite Faces Agency.’ There was no ‘Elite Faces Agency.’ There was just a piece of printer paper taped to the glass that said FOR LEASE. I tried the handle. Locked. I knocked, feeling stupid, feeling my heart start to beat against my ribs like a trapped bird. Nothing. Just the sunken echo of an empty room on the other side. "You looking for the modeling guys?" I spun around. An old janitor was pushing a mop bucket down the hall, looking at me with tired eyes. "Yes," I said, my voice shaking a little. "I have an appointment. I sent my portfolio. I paid the... the deposit for the portfolio shoot." The janitor sighed, leaning on his mop. He looked sad. Not surprised, just sad. "Honey, they cleared out two days ago. Cops were here yesterday. You are the fourth girl I have seen this morning." The floor seemed to waver under my boots. The deposit. Three thousand dollars. Every single cent I had saved from waitressing back home. I had sold my car for this. I had packed my whole life into two suitcases for this. "Gone?" I whispered. "Gone," he said. "Sorry." I don't remember walking out of the building. I just remember the noise. New York is so loud. It’s aggressive. Back home, the noise is just people living. Here, it sounds like the city is screaming at you to get out of the way. I stumbled onto the sidewalk, clutching my phone. I felt sick. I needed to sit down, but there was nowhere to sit. People rushed past me, bumping my shoulders, not even looking back to say sorry. I was invisible. I walked to the corner, trying to stop the tears stinging my eyes. ‘Don't cry, Amira. You are a bad b***h. You are a survivor. You will figure this out.’ I stopped at a crosswalk, digging into my tote bag to find my wallet so I could maybe buy a bottle of water and think. I just needed water. My mouth was so dry. I felt a shove. hard. "Watch it,” a voice growled. I stumbled forward, almost tripping into the street. By the time I regained my balance and turned around, I saw the back of a guy in a grey hoodie disappearing into the thick crowd. Then I felt the lightness of my tote bag. I looked down. The main zipper was slashed open. My stomach dropped all the way to my shoes. I shoved my hand inside the bag. I felt my lip gloss. My crumpled receipt for the plane ticket. My hairbrush. My wallet was gone. "No," I gasped, spinning in a circle. "No, no, no,” My ID. My credit card. The three hundred dollars in cash I had left for food. Gone. I screamed, "Hey! He took my wallet,” Nobody stopped. A woman in a suit actually stepped over my suitcase to get around me. I was twenty years old. I was in the biggest city in the world. I had no money, no ID, no job, and nowhere to sleep. I dragged my heavy suitcases against the brick wall of a deli and slid down until I was sitting on the dirty concrete. I pulled my knees to my chest. This was it. This was how I died. I was going to starve to death on a sidewalk in Manhattan while people walked over me. I checked my phone. 12% battery. I had one lifeline. One tiny, thin thread. I scrolled through my contacts until I found the name. ‘Audrey.’ We weren’t best friends. We were "party friends" from a summer she spent in my hometown two years ago. She was rich…filthy, stupid rich. The kind of rich where she lost a diamond earring in the ocean and just laughed about it. She told me once, “If you ever come to the city, call me. Seriously.” People say that all the time and never mean it. But I had no other choice. I hit call. It rang. And rang. And rang. ‘Please. Pick up. Please.’ "Hello?" The voice was groggy. It was 2:00 PM on a Tuesday, and she sounded like she was asleep. "Audrey?" I choked out, trying to keep my voice steady. "It’s Amira. From the beach? Two summers ago?" "Amira!" Her tone changed instantly, brightening up. "Oh my god, the girl with the insane curls and the killer body! How are you, babe?" I broke. I couldn't help it. I just started sobbing into the phone. I told her everything…the scam, the robbery, the sidewalk. "Whoa, whoa, okay, breathe," Audrey said. I could hear rustling, like she was sitting up in silk sheets. "Where are you?" "I don't know," I cried. "34th Street? I have nothing, Audrey. I am stranded." "Okay, listen. I am in Paris right now with my boyfriend…Daddy doesn't know, so shh….but you need a place." "I can't pay for a hotel," I whispered. "Shut up, I am not making you pay for a hotel," she laughed, like the idea of money was a joke. "Okay, look. My dad has this estate upstate. Like, an hour outside the city. It’s huge, it’s gated, and he never uses it. He hates the place. Too many memories or something. It’s fully stocked. Food, pool, everything. You can crash there until I get back next week." "Are... are you sure?" I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. "won't your dad be mad?" "Zane?" She snorted. "He’s too busy taking over the world to notice. He hasn't stepped foot in that house in five years. It’s basically a ghost town with high-thread-count sheets. I will text you the address and the gate code. Just... don't break anything, okay? He’s a total control freak about his stuff." "I promise," I said, feeling a wave of relief so strong it made me dizzy. "Thank you. You saved my life." "Yeah, yeah. Get an Uber, I will link it to my account so it picks you up. Go have a swim. Relax. Welcome to New York, babe." ••••••••••••***•••••••••••• The Uber ride took over an hour. We left the noise of the city behind, trading skyscrapers for tall iron gates and thick forests. When the car finally slowed down, my jaw dropped. "Here we are, miss," the driver said. This wasn't a house. It was a fortress. It was modern, all dark stone and massive glass windows that looked like black eyes staring out at the woods. It sat on top of a hill, isolated, surrounded by trees that blocked out the rest of the world. It looked expensive. Cold. Intimidating. I got out, dragging my bags as the Uber drove away, leaving me in total silence. I walked up to the massive steel front door. It looked heavy enough to crush me. I punched the code Audrey sent me into the keypad. ‘Click. Buzz.’ The lock disengaged with a heavy thud. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. The air in the house was cool and smelled like expensive cedar and... nothing. It smelled like nobody lived here. "Hello?" I called out. My voice echoed off the marble floors and the high ceilings. Shadows stretched across the hallway, long and dark. It was beautiful, but it felt creepy. Like I was stepping into the belly of a sleeping beast. I locked the door behind me. I was safe. I had a place to sleep. I had food. Audrey said her dad never came here. I was alone. But as I looked into the darkness of the living room, I felt a shiver run down my spine that had nothing to do with the air conditioning. It felt like eyes were watching me. I shook it off. ‘Stop it, Amira. You are just spooked.’ I dragged my suitcase further into the house, unaware that I wasn't just walking into a home. I was walking into a cage. And I had just locked myself in.