chapter 4 : HE WAS LOSING CONTROL
1228 Words
“Stay away from what belongs to us.”
The words echoed through the penthouse like a death sentence.
Elara stared at Anik, her heartbeat pounding so violently it hurt.
“They said that?”
Anik’s silence was answer enough.
The city lights behind him painted shadows across his face, sharpening every dangerous angle of his expression. He looked furious.
No.
Worse than furious.
Controlled fury.
The kind that didn’t explode immediately.
The kind that waited.
Calculated.
Destroyed carefully.
“What exactly did they do to my apartment?” Elara asked quietly.
Anik’s jaw flexed.
“They got inside.”
Every muscle in her body tightened.
“They touched my things?”
“Yes.”
The simple answer made her stomach turn.
Because this wasn’t random anymore.
It wasn’t paranoia.
Someone was watching them.
Following them.
Sending warnings.
And somehow that realization made the room colder.
Anik grabbed his keys from the counter.
“You’re not staying there tonight.”
Elara blinked. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“I can decide where I stay.”
“And I can decide whether or not I let you walk into danger.”
His tone instantly irritated her.
“There it is again.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “What?”
“That controlling thing you do.”
A dark look crossed his face.
“Elara—”
“No.” She stepped closer. “You don’t get to order me around every time something goes wrong.”
“You think this is about control?”
“I think you’re used to everyone obeying you.”
Wrong thing to say.
Very wrong.
Because suddenly the atmosphere shifted.
Anik took one slow step toward her.
Then another.
Dangerously calm.
“You want to know the truth?” he asked quietly.
Elara held his gaze.
“The truth is,” he continued, “I’m trying very hard not to imagine what would happen if they got to you before I did.”
The words hit hard enough to steal her breath.
Because he didn’t sound angry anymore.
He sounded terrified.
And somehow that was worse.
Anik ran a hand through his dark hair roughly before turning away from her.
“I shouldn’t have let this happen.”
Elara frowned slightly.
“You’re blaming yourself?”
“Yes.”
The answer came instantly.
Too instantly.
She stared at him in silence.
For the first time since meeting him, she saw cracks in the armor he wore so perfectly.
Guilt.
Real guilt.
That realization softened something inside her chest.
“You couldn’t have stopped this.”
A bitter laugh escaped him.
“You don’t know me very well if you believe that.”
There it was again.
That darkness around him.
That dangerous certainty that he should always be in control of everything.
Even impossible things.
Elara studied him carefully.
“You really think protecting people is your responsibility, don’t you?”
Anik looked back at her slowly.
“When someone becomes important to me…”
His voice lowered.
“…their safety becomes my problem.”
Her pulse skipped.
Important.
He said it so casually.
Like he didn’t realize how much weight the word carried.
Or maybe he did.
Maybe that was the problem.
The silence between them deepened again.
Heavy.
Charged.
Anik walked toward the massive windows overlooking the storm-covered city.
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then quietly—
“You should hate me for dragging you into this.”
Elara’s chest tightened unexpectedly.
Because he actually believed that.
She moved toward him slowly.
“You didn’t drag me anywhere.”
His eyes shifted toward her.
“You had a choice.”
“So did you.”
That made him go still.
Elara stopped beside him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body again.
And suddenly she understood something dangerous.
The distance between them was becoming impossible to maintain.
Every conversation pulled them closer.
Every argument burned hotter.
Every warning sounded more intimate than threatening.
It was getting worse.
Fast.
“You know what the worst part is?” she whispered.
Anik looked down at her.
“What?”
“I should probably be terrified of you.”
Something unreadable crossed his face.
“You should.”
“But I’m not.”
Silence.
His eyes darkened instantly.
“Elara…”
“No,” she continued softly, “I think the terrifying part is that I feel safer when I’m with you.”
Big mistake.
A very big mistake.
Because something inside Anik visibly snapped.
Not loudly.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Dangerously.
His hand suddenly caught her wrist.
Firm.
Warm.
Possessive.
Elara inhaled sharply.
And the look in his eyes—
God.
That look.
Like restraint was physically hurting him now.
“You need to stop saying things like that.”
“Why?”
“Because you already know what they do to me.”
The confession wrapped around her like fire.
Neither of them moved.
The storm outside raged harder.
Thunder shook the windows again.
But inside this room, the real danger stood inches away from her.
Anik’s thumb brushed lightly against her wrist before he could stop himself.
The tiny movement sent heat through her entire body.
And judging by the sudden tension in his shoulders—
He felt it too.
His eyes dropped slowly to her lips again.
Elara’s heartbeat stumbled.
This time neither of them looked away from it.
The attraction between them had stopped being subtle a long time ago.
Now it felt inevitable.
Like gravity pulling them toward disaster.
Anik stepped closer.
Close enough that her back nearly touched the cold glass window behind her.
Now there was nowhere left to retreat.
Not that she wanted to.
“Elara.”
Her name sounded wrecked coming from him now.
Like control was slipping further every second.
“Yes?”
“You need to tell me to stop.”
The words shocked her.
Because he sounded serious.
Desperate, almost.
Like he was giving her one final chance to end this before it became irreversible.
But Elara couldn’t do it.
Because the truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
She wanted him too much.
So instead of stopping him—
She whispered:
“No.”
That single word shattered whatever restraint he had left.
Anik’s hand slid to her waist instantly, pulling her flush against him.
Elara gasped softly as his forehead pressed against hers.
Every breath between them felt intimate now.
Dangerously intimate.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” he muttered.
Maybe she didn’t.
But she knew one thing.
The way this man looked at her should have terrified her.
Instead—
It made her want him more.
Anik’s fingers tightened slightly against her waist as his eyes searched hers one final time.
Like he was looking for a reason to stop.
He didn’t find one.
Slowly—
Painfully slowly—
He leaned closer.
Elara’s pulse exploded.
Their lips were barely inches apart now.
One second away.
One breath away.
And then—
The penthouse doors slammed open.
Both of them jerked apart instantly.
A man in a dark suit stood near the entrance, breathing hard like he had rushed upstairs.
But what froze the entire room—
Was the blood on his hands.
“Sir,” the man said urgently, looking directly at Anik.
“We found the body.”
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