chapter 3 : THE WAY HE LOOKED AT HER
1101 Words
The message stayed on the screen like a threat carved into stone.
«We know about the girl.»
Elara couldn’t breathe properly.
The storm outside suddenly sounded louder, heavier, violent enough to shake the entire city apart.
But it still wasn’t loud enough to drown the silence inside the penthouse.
Anik stood motionless beside the counter, phone clenched tightly in his hand.
Too tightly.
His knuckles had turned white.
And somehow that scared her more than the message itself.
Because Anik Varren was not the kind of man who lost composure.
He was the composure.
Cold. Controlled. Untouchable.
But right now?
Right now he looked like a man one wrong move away from becoming dangerous.
Not powerful.
Dangerous.
“Elara.”
His voice came out low.
Sharp.
“Look at me.”
She did.
Big mistake.
Because the second their eyes locked, the tension between them tightened all over again.
Even now.
Even after the threat.
Even after the warning.
That was the worst part.
No matter how dangerous this became—
Neither of them could stop feeling it.
Anik took a slow breath before speaking again.
“You’re leaving tonight.”
Her expression hardened immediately.
“No.”
A dark look crossed his face.
“This isn’t negotiable.”
“You think I’m going to run because someone sent a message?”
“I think you don’t understand what kind of people we’re dealing with.”
His tone changed near the end.
Colder.
More personal.
Like this fear came from experience.
Elara stepped toward him carefully.
“And what kind of people are they?”
Silence.
Wrong question.
She saw it instantly in his face.
The slight tightening in his jaw.
The dangerous stillness settling into his shoulders.
Anik looked away first.
“That world has nothing to do with you.”
“But it clearly has something to do with you.”
Another mistake.
Because something dark flashed behind his eyes.
“You need to stop digging.”
“Then stop hiding things from me.”
The words hit harder than she intended.
For a moment neither moved.
Neither spoke.
Rain continued crashing against the windows while the city lights flickered far below them.
Then Anik laughed quietly.
Not because something was funny.
Because he was frustrated.
“You really don’t know when to back down, do you?”
Elara folded her arms slowly.
“Not when I know someone’s lying to me.”
His eyes lifted back to hers.
And suddenly the air changed.
Dangerously.
Because now he wasn’t looking at her with restraint anymore.
Now he looked at her like temptation itself was standing in front of him.
“Elara,” he said quietly, “you need to understand something.”
She held his gaze.
“When people like me care about something…”
His voice lowered further.
“…we become monsters protecting it.”
Her heartbeat stumbled.
The way he said it—
Calm.
Certain.
Terrifying.
But what scared her most wasn’t the warning.
It was the fact that part of her liked hearing it.
That realization hit hard enough to make her chest tighten.
Anik noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“What are you thinking?”
Bad question.
Because she couldn’t tell him the truth.
Couldn’t admit that every time he tried pushing her away, he somehow pulled her closer instead.
“That you’re trying very hard to scare me.”
“And?”
“And I’m starting to think you’re more afraid of this than I am.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Electric.
The tension between them became unbearable again.
Anik stared at her for several long seconds.
Then slowly—
He stepped closer.
One step.
That was all it took.
Now she could feel the heat radiating from his body again.
Feel the dangerous energy rolling off him.
“Elara.”
Her name sounded rough coming from him.
Warning rough.
“If you keep looking at me like that…”
His eyes dropped briefly to her lips.
“…I’m eventually going to forget every reason this is a bad idea.”
Her pulse jumped violently.
And the worst part?
He sounded affected too.
Not calm.
Not controlled.
Affected.
That realization sent heat through her chest.
She should have stepped back.
Should have ended this before it got worse.
Instead—
She whispered the one thing she absolutely shouldn’t have.
“Maybe I want you to.”
Anik froze.
Completely.
The storm outside cracked with thunder at the exact same moment.
But neither of them reacted.
Because something far more dangerous had just happened inside this room.
The control in Anik’s eyes cracked.
Not fully.
Just enough.
Enough for her to finally see what he’d been hiding.
Desire.
Raw.
Intense.
Possessive.
It hit her so hard she almost stopped breathing.
Then suddenly—
Anik grabbed her waist.
Fast.
Elara gasped sharply as he pulled her against him.
This time there was no distance left between them at all.
Her hands instinctively pressed against his chest.
Bad idea.
Because now she could feel how violently his heartbeat was pounding too.
Not calm.
Never calm around her.
Anik lowered his head slightly.
His forehead nearly touched hers.
“You need to stop doing this to me.”
His voice sounded wrecked.
And hearing that from a man like him felt dangerously intimate.
Elara swallowed hard.
“Then let me go.”
Another silence.
Another mistake.
Because neither of them moved.
Neither of them wanted to.
Anik’s grip on her waist tightened slightly.
Like letting go physically hurt him.
Then his phone rang again.
The sound shattered the moment instantly.
Anik cursed quietly under his breath before releasing her.
Too quickly.
Like he hated himself for touching her at all.
He answered the call without taking his eyes off her.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then his entire expression darkened.
“When?”
More silence.
Elara watched the shift happen in real time.
Coldness returning.
Violence settling behind his eyes.
The dangerous version of him coming back.
Then he ended the call slowly.
“What happened?” she asked immediately.
Anik looked at her.
And for the first time—
She saw genuine fury in his expression.
“They broke into your apartment.”
The blood drained from her face.
But he wasn’t finished.
His jaw tightened hard before he spoke again.
“And they left a message for me.”
Elara’s heartbeat crashed against her ribs.
“What message?”
Anik stared directly into her eyes.
Then finally said the words that changed everything.
«“Stay away from what belongs to us.”»
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