Chapter 5
921 Words
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Sirens screamed in the distance.
Melissa’s heartbeat thundered in her ears as she crouched behind Lucas’s desk, glass crunching beneath her heels. The office smelled of gunpowder and fear. Her fingers gripped the hem of Lucas’s jacket like a lifeline.
Lucas didn’t move.
His back was rigid, shielding her with every inch of his body. She could feel the tension rolling off him, not just from danger—but from something colder.
Fury.
“Are you hit?” he asked over his shoulder, voice low and sharp.
“No,” she breathed. “You?”
He shook his head. “Stay down.”
Security burst in seconds later, followed by shouts and barking orders. Carter appeared at Lucas’s side, gun drawn. “Two shooters. Escaped down the stairwell. Police are en route.”
Lucas’s jaw ticked. “Clear the floor. Lock it down.”
Carter nodded and vanished.
Lucas finally turned, kneeling before Melissa. His hands cupped her face, scanning for blood, bruises, anything. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. Barely.
His eyes burned into hers, and for one small moment, his thumb lingered against her cheek.
“You’re shaking,” he said softly.
“No kidding.” She tried to laugh, but it came out brittle.
Lucas helped her to her feet, guiding her carefully around the glass-strewn floor. “You’re going home. I’m assigning round-the-clock security—armed.”
“I don’t need a damn army,” she snapped, the fear morphing into frustration.
“You do now,” he said darkly. “Because someone just tried to kill you.”
That sobered her fast.
She glanced at the bullet holes in the wall. “They weren’t aiming for you, were they?”
Lucas said nothing.
And that was answer enough.
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Later That Day – Melissa’s Apartment
Melissa paced while Carter and two additional guards swept the space again. Lucas leaned against her kitchen counter, watching her like a hawk.
“You should get some rest,” he said.
“I can’t sleep after being shot at, Lucas.”
“I know. That’s why I’m staying.”
She stopped pacing. “Excuse me?”
“Your place is safer with me here.”
“Seriously? You’re invading my apartment now?”
“If it means keeping you alive, yes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s really going on?”
Lucas crossed the room slowly, the air thickening between them. “Someone thinks they can hurt me by hurting you. I’m not going to let that happen.”
She swallowed hard. “You keep saying I matter, but—”
“You do.”
His voice was quiet. Final.
Melissa looked away, arms folded across her chest. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to get close to you. Your world comes with bullets and shadows. I want no part of it.”
Lucas stepped closer, tension radiating off him. “Then why haven’t you walked away yet?”
She looked up.
Big mistake.
His eyes locked with hers, dark and burning. “I think you want to stay, Melissa. No matter how much you try to deny it.”
Her breath caught.
Their faces were inches apart now. Too close. Too intimate.
And still—he didn’t kiss her.
Just looked at her like he could unravel every secret she was trying to bury.
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That Night
Melissa sat on her couch, wrapped in a blanket, phone on silent, the TV playing something she wasn’t watching.
Lucas sat across the room, laptop open but eyes drifting to her more often than the screen.
The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable.
It was charged.
Electric.
“What kind of man wants to scare a woman for revenge?” she asked softly.
Lucas closed his laptop. “A coward.”
“Or someone who knows your weakness.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’m not your weakness, Lucas.”
“Maybe not yet.”
His voice was a whisper. A confession wrapped in steel.
Melissa’s cheeks warmed. “Do you always say things like that to your employees?”
“No.” He stood and walked to her slowly. “Only the one who keeps me awake at night.”
She looked up at him, chest tightening. “You barely know me.”
He leaned down. “And yet… I can’t stop thinking about you.”
She should’ve told him to back off.
But her mouth refused to form the words.
Instead, she whispered, “This doesn’t feel real.”
“Because it’s not romance,” he said, voice low. “Not yet. But it’s something. And I don’t run from things that matter to me.”
Their eyes locked.
This time, she wasn’t sure who leaned in first.
Their lips brushed—barely.
Not a kiss.
A warning.
A promise.
A mistake waiting to happen.
The door burst open.
Carter strode in, face grim. “We’ve got a problem.”
Lucas straightened. “What is it?”
“We found something on the building cameras. The shooters weren’t alone. Someone on your team gave them access.”
Melissa stood. “You mean it is an inside job?”
Carter nodded. “And whoever it is... they’re still in your building.”
Melissa’s stomach turned.
Lucas’s jaw tightened.
No one could be trusted now.
And as Lucas turned to lock every door around her, Melissa couldn’t help but wonder—what if the real danger wasn’t outside?
What if it was someone they both knew?
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- Writer
