CHAPTER 2: YOU BELONG IN MY BED, NOT MY OFFICE
1606 Words
Elena couldn’t breathe.
Lucien Vale’s thumb remained against her lower lip while the stolen gold keycard glinted between his fingers as the tiny storage room suddenly felt suffocating.
Too small.
Too intimate.
Too dangerous.
“You came here to steal from me,” Lucien repeated quietly.
He didn’t sound angry, and that was the terrifying part because he sounded calm, controlled, like a man who had already decided exactly what he intended to do.
Elena forced herself to inhale.
“I can explain.”
Lucien’s gray eyes searched her face.
“You’ve said that twice,” he said, his gaze dropping briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes. “So far, you’ve explained nothing.”
Outside the storage room, distant music still drifted from the ballroom while guests laughed somewhere down the hall, completely unaware that one of Manhattan’s most feared billionaires currently had a suspected thief pinned against a wall.
Elena’s heart pounded.
“I didn’t come here to hurt you.”
Lucien arched an eyebrow.
“No?”
“No.”
“Interesting,” his voice remained smooth. “Because people rarely break into my hotel for harmless reasons.”
Elena opened her mouth, but nothing came out because how was she supposed to explain something she barely understood herself?
She didn’t know who had hired her, only that five hundred thousand dollars had appeared in an offshore account after she accepted the job, only that she had been told to get close to Lucien Vale, and only that she desperately needed the money.
Lucien seemed to read the conflict in her face.
“You don’t know,” he said quietly.
It wasn’t a question.
Elena blinked.
“What?”
“You don’t know who hired you.”
She stared at him.
“How could you possibly know that?”
For the first time, genuine amusement flickered across his face.
“Because if you did, you would’ve lied immediately.”
The observation unsettled her because he was right.
Lucien stepped back at last, and the sudden loss of his warmth felt strangely disappointing, something Elena hated herself for noticing.
The billionaire slipped the gold keycard into his pocket.
“For now, I’m choosing to believe you.”
Her relief lasted exactly two seconds.
“For now?” she repeated.
Lucien opened the storage-room door.
“That depends entirely on what happens next.”
Before Elena could ask what that meant, a tall security guard appeared outside.
“Sir.”
The man’s eyes flickered toward Elena with suspicion, judgment, and fear, because everyone seemed afraid of Lucien, and the realization fascinated her.
“What is it?” Lucien asked.
“Miss Aurora is asking for you upstairs.”
Lucien’s expression hardened instantly.
“Tell Aurora I’ll be there shortly.”
The guard hesitated.
“She said it’s urgent.”
Lucien’s jaw tightened as for the first time since meeting him, Elena caught a glimpse of exhaustion behind the billionaire’s cold composure, not physical exhaustion but emotional, as though carrying the weight of entire empires had finally become heavy.
The expression vanished almost immediately.
“Clear my schedule for the rest of the evening,” Lucien ordered.
“Sir?”
“I won’t repeat myself.”
“Yes, Mr. Vale.”
The guard disappeared.
Lucien turned back to Elena.
“You’re coming with me.”
Elena frowned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Lucien studied her for several seconds.
“You attempted to steal from me.”
“I said I can explain.”
“And I said I’m willing to listen,” he moved closer, much closer. “You’ll explain everything upstairs.”
Elena folded her arms.
“You’re k********g me.”
“No,” his gaze slowly traveled over her face. “I’m protecting you.”
The words caught her completely off guard.
“What?”
Lucien’s expression remained unreadable.
“Someone warned you not to let me touch you.”
Ice slid through her veins.
“How do you know that?”
“Because you looked terrified when your phone rang,” he paused. “And because people don’t send warnings unless they’re afraid.”
Elena stared at him because this man noticed far too much.
Lucien extended his hand.
“Come with me voluntarily.”
She looked at his hand, then at him.
“I don’t trust you.”
A strange shadow crossed his face.
“Smart woman.”
Before she could respond, Lucien gently took her wrist, and electricity surged between them again as both of them felt it instantly.
Elena saw it in the sudden hardening of his expression.
Lucien released her immediately, too quickly, as though touching her had affected him more than he’d intended.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Neither mentioned it.
The private elevator opened moments later as silence filled the confined space while they stepped inside.
Elena stood on one side while Lucien occupied the other, and the tension between them consumed all available oxygen.
She could feel him watching her even without looking, and the sensation made her irrationally nervous.
“Why are you staring?” she asked finally.
“I like looking at you.”
The answer came too quickly, too honestly.
Elena turned.
Lucien met her gaze without hesitation, completely serious.
Heat climbed her cheeks.
“That’s inappropriate.”
“Probably.”
“Most people try to hide thoughts like that.”
Lucien’s expression remained calm.
“I’ve never been most people.”
The elevator doors opened.
Elena stepped out immediately, then stopped as the penthouse looked less like an apartment and more like a private kingdom, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan, dark wood, marble, and expensive art filling the enormous space.
Everything reflected Lucien—powerful, elegant, cold, and somehow profoundly lonely.
“You live here alone?” she asked before thinking.
Lucien removed his suit jacket.
“Usually.”
Usually carried history.
Before Elena could question it, a woman’s voice interrupted.
“Lucien?”
A stunning brunette appeared from the hallway wearing one of Lucien’s white dress shirts and nothing else, and Elena froze as an unpleasant feeling twisted inside her stomach.
The brunette noticed immediately because women always noticed.
“Who’s this?” she asked coolly.
“Elena.”
The brunette looked her up and down, then slowly smiled, like a predator recognizing another predator.
“She’s beautiful.”
Lucien’s eyes never left Elena.
“I noticed.”
Heat flooded Elena’s face as the brunette noticed that too.
“Vivian,” Lucien said calmly, “go home.”
Vivian’s eyes widened.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
She looked between them, understanding dawning because it clearly wasn’t the first time she’d seen Lucien interested in someone, which irritated Elena far more than it should have.
Vivian collected her purse.
Before leaving, she paused beside Elena.
“Be careful,” she whispered quietly.
Elena frowned.
“Why?”
Vivian glanced at Lucien.
“Because men like him don’t fall,” her gaze returned to Elena. “They destroy.”
Then she left.
Silence returned.
Elena should have ignored the warning, but instead she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Lucien poured himself whiskey.
“She’s wrong.”
Elena looked up.
“About what?”
Lucien took a slow sip.
“I don’t destroy everything,” he looked directly at her. “Only people who deserve it.”
The statement should have frightened her, but instead it made her wonder who had hurt him badly enough to make him believe that.
Lucien set down the glass.
“Now,” he walked toward her slowly and deliberately. “Tell me who sent you.”
Elena hesitated.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Lucien studied her long enough that she became uncomfortable.
Then he sighed, actually sighed, and the sound shocked her.
“You really don’t know.”
“No.”
He looked away toward the windows.
For the first time that evening, he seemed uncertain, and the sight unsettled her because powerful men weren’t supposed to look uncertain.
“Why would someone want information on you?” she asked softly.
Lucien laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“Take your pick.”
He turned back.
“My competitors want my companies,” a pause. “My enemies want revenge,” another pause. “And some people simply enjoy watching empires burn.”
Something dark passed through his eyes—old pain, old betrayal.
Before she could say anything, Lucien’s phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“Vale.”
Silence.
His expression changed completely as cold fury settled over his features.
“When?” he asked softly.
Elena’s stomach tightened.
Lucien listened, then slowly lowered the phone.
“Mr. Vale?” Elena asked quietly.
He looked at her, and for the first time all night, genuine concern appeared in his eyes.
“Someone just tried to access your apartment.”
Elena’s blood turned to ice.
“What?”
Lucien moved instantly, crossing the room and closing the distance.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion.”
Fear exploded inside her.
“Daniel.”
Her brother.
“Oh my God—”
Lucien caught her before she could collapse as his arms wrapped
around her automatically, strong, warm, and protective.
“You’ll call him,” Lucien said quietly near her ear. “He’ll be safe.”
Elena clutched his shirt.
For the first time in years, someone else sounded strong enough to believe.
Then Lucien whispered the words that changed everything.
“From this moment forward, nobody touches you without my permission.”
- Writer
