CHAPTER SIX:WHISPERS AND WARNINGS
811 Words
The morning after the incident in Cassian’s office felt like waking from a fevered dream Eden wasn’t sure she’d survived.
She dressed cautiously, deliberately toning down her outfit as if modesty could serve as armor. Her blouse was high-collared, her skirt long, her hair pinned in a prim bun — the same kind she'd worn back home to church services. But it didn’t matter. She still felt marked.
Marked by his gaze. By the hunger in it.
Marked by her own reaction.
She stepped into the sleek, cold halls of Blackwood & Co., forcing herself to walk tall despite the flush that came every time she passed someone in a suit who might’ve overheard that breathless moment in the glass office.
Her eyes flicked to the surveillance cameras she now noticed in the corners. Were they there yesterday? Did Cassian watch her even now?
Stop. Focus.
She made it through the morning half-numb, pouring herself into tasks like a drowning woman gasping for air. During lunch in the employee café, a woman slid into the chair across from her. Tall, with warm brown skin, a stylish twist-out, and an effortlessly cool vibe, she smiled like someone who had seen too much.
“You’re the intern, right?” she asked, popping open a can of Red Bull. “Eden, yeah?”
Eden blinked. “Yes. And you are…?”
“Jasmine. I work in legal strategy upstairs. Don’t worry, I’m not here to haze you.” She sipped. “Actually, I’m here to do the opposite.”
Eden tilted her head. “Meaning?”
Jasmine leaned in slightly. “Word travels fast here. Just a tip — don’t let your pretty face or those wide eyes get you tangled in something you won’t survive.”
Eden frowned. “I’m not sure I follow.”
“Cassian Blackwood,” Jasmine said plainly. “He doesn't do harmless. And he doesn’t play fair.”
Eden swallowed, throat tight. “We’re not—there’s nothing going on.”
Jasmine gave a half-smile. “There never is. Until there is. And by the time you realize it, he’s already rewritten the rules.” She stood and tossed the empty can in the recycling bin. “Watch yourself, Eden. Some devils come in expensive suits.”
Eden sat frozen long after Jasmine left.
---
That evening, she returned to her apartment feeling like she’d just emerged from a storm she couldn’t see. She turned on the light, kicked off her heels, and let her body collapse onto the sofa.
The phone rang.
Her father's name lit up the screen.
For a split second, guilt paralyzed her. She stared at it, heart thudding. Then she answered.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“My star,” he greeted warmly. “How’s the big city treating you?”
She smiled softly despite everything. “It’s fast. Loud. Beautiful. Scary.”
He chuckled. “That’s the truth of it. City life strips off your illusions. Be careful, Eden. The devil walks more freely in places like that.”
Her chest tightened. “I know.”
There was a pause. “You sound tired.”
“I am.”
“You praying, baby?”
A longer silence.
“Trying.”
He didn’t scold. Just sighed. “Don’t forget who you are. And if you ever need to come home, you do that. The city doesn’t get to keep you unless you let it.”
Tears stung her eyes. “I won’t forget.”
---
Cassian’s POV
He watched her through the tinted glass of his private surveillance suite.
She didn’t know about the hidden elevator. Or the remote access feeds. Or how many layers of Blackwood & Co. were truly under his control.
He had cameras in every hallway. Every conference room. Every shared space.
Eden was not just an intern. She was a slow-burn addiction. And every hour she spent fighting what was between them only deepened his resolve.
She would bend.
Not because he forced her. But because something in her wanted to.
Cassian leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled under his chin.
“She’s still pretending,” he said aloud, to no one. “That’s cute.”
He pressed a button on the intercom. “Send an internal memo to Haven. Let her know she’s been requested for a closed-door review.”
“When, sir?”
Cassian’s mouth curved.
“Tonight.”
---
Eden’s POV
She was halfway through changing into pajamas when her phone buzzed.
> Please report to Office 72B, South Tower. 10:00 PM. Closed-door review.
No signature. No explanation.
Her heart thudded.
She checked the time. 9:41 PM.
Who called for a meeting this late?
Who even knew she was still awake?
The city buzzed outside her window — wild, merciless, alive.
Eden stood frozen, unsure if she was afraid… or secretly hoping he’d be there.
- Writer
