The Devil's Mate

Laila's pov If hangovers had levels, I was definitely on “kill me now and resurrect me later.” But apparently, being half vampire meant I couldn’t die easy, which felt like the universe mocking me. I quickly got up after glancing at my wall clock - 'f**k I'm going to be late' By the time I stumbled out of the apartment, Sophia was still cocooned in her blanket burrito yelling, “Go make that human money, boss babe!” I flipped her off without looking back. My mom had made sure I had everything I’d need to “blend in” before sending me to the human world, my fake ID, fake degree, fake résumé, and the most legit set of forged credentials ever. Anyway, if I was going to work anywhere, I wanted the top. And that meant Global Tech Industry, biggest company on the damn planet. So, naturally, I was late. The moment I arrived, I could easily tell this wasn’t your average office. The air literally smelled like power and overpriced perfume. The floors gleamed, people rushed around like they just had too much caffeine, and I was the only one not wearing a suit. The receptionist gave me a once-over that screamed you don’t belong here before saying, “Hurry up. The CEO’s coming in today.” The elevators were jam-packed. Wall-to-wall humans in panic mode. Then I sighted it, a single, empty elevator off to the side, all sleek metal with gold trim. No one seemed to be using it. was it a bad sign? Maybe. Did I care? Absolutely not. “Finally, a win,” I muttered and made a beeline for it. The doors slid open — and I walked straight into something solid. Something warm. Not a wall. When I looked up, every thought in my brain short-circuited. Those eyes. Smooth skin. he also has sharp lips, I had to control myself not to lean in and touch. what's wrong with me. He didn’t move. He just stood there, staring down at me like he’d been expecting me. “Uh… excuse me?” I said, voice a little tighter than I wanted. Nothing. Just that steady, unreadable stare. I tried again. “Can you move?” Still nothing. Okay, where humans this creepy, but something about him seems off. I stepped sideways. He mirrored me. I went the other way. Same thing. Was this guy serious? “You do realize this is an elevator and not your personal modeling booth, right?” I said. No reaction. Great. Another beautiful statue with an ego problem. I sighed, reached into my bag, and pulled out my pink squeaky ball — stress therapy, don’t judge — and tossed it straight at his chest. It made a loud squeak! before bouncing off and hitting the floor. He blinked, clearly not expecting that. I smirked. “Yeah, didn’t think so.” Then I slipped past him, hit the button, and jumped inside before he could say or do anything. The doors closed on that face and I couldn’t help grinning. “Take that, mystery man.” When I got to the HR floor, I dropped off my credentials. The woman barely looked up from her screen before saying, “You’re hired. H.R.M department. Be here tomorrow.” That was it. No questions. No interviews. Just hired. Guess fake degrees do open real doors. I got back into the regular elevator, this time packed with girls whispering like a hive of gossiping bees. “He’s here today!” one of them said. “Draven Martinez — the CEO himself. Oh my God, did you see him?” “I heard he’s even hotter in person. Like, illegal-level hot.” “I’d let him fire me any day.” I rolled my eyes. “Who is this guy, a model or something?” They gasped. “You don’t know? He’s the boss , the owner of Global Tech!” So? “Draven Martinez.” After seeing no reaction from me, one of them showed me his picture on her phone. And there he was. Same eyes. Same perfect lips. Same everything. “Oh, crap,” I whispered. The girl laughed. “Right? He’s ridiculous.” “Yeah,” I muttered, backing up. “Ridiculous.” The elevator dinged, and I practically bolted out with the rest of them. The lobby was crowded, but I kept my head down, praying the universe wasn’t about to punish me for assaulting my soon to be boss with a toy. I pushed through the glass doors and stepped outside. And froze. Because he was right there. Leaning against a black car .Hands in his pockets. That same unreadable look — only this time, it was aimed directly at me. Every instinct in me screamed run. So did i.