Chapter 12
1097 Words
DANIELLA POV
By the time I got home, my legs were still weak.
I don’t even remember how I managed to walk from the elevator to where I’ll get a cab without looking like I’d just been completely ruined. My lips still tingled. My heart still hadn’t gone back to normal. The image was still on my head.
“You’re mine.”
The way he said it, it didn’t sound playful and it didn't sound casual. It sounded possessive, raw and almost dangerous.
And then he pulled away.
“I’m so sorry, Daniella.”
I dropped my bag on the couch and pressed my fingers to my lips.
Why was he apologizing? For kissing me? Or for almost losing control? Or for whatever that growl was? f**k. That growl. Thinking about it made my legs tingle again.
Uggh I need to talk to Lilian. I stood up and went to her room. And like I suspected, she was binge watching vampire diaries.
I walked up to the tv in her room and put it off to gain her attention.
“b***h how dare you turn off the TV they were about to freaking kiss.”
I covered my face with one hand. “We kissed.”
“YOU WHAT?”
“Lower your voice!” I hissed.
“Daniella I need details like ASAP.” And she shifted for me to sit down beside her.
I groaned but told her anyway. The elevator. The tension. The wall. The way he said I was his.
When I got to the part where he pulled back and apologized, Lilian went quiet for a second.
Then she laughed.
“He apologized?” she repeated.
“Yes!”
“Oh he’s finished.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means he lost control and it scared him. Men only apologize when they feel too much.”
I rolled my eyes even though my stomach flipped at her words. “Or maybe he just regretted it.”
“Did it look like he regretted it?”
I paused.
No, It didn’t.
“He looked like he wanted to devour me,” I admitted quietly.
“Mhm,” she said smugly. “Exactly.”
I lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
“You should’ve seen his face when the elevator jerked. It was like he snapped back into reality.”
“Or back into self-control.”
I swallowed.
“You know what he said?”
“What?”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“That’s not normal flirting,” Lilian muttered.
“I know.”
“So what are you going to do?”
I didn’t have an answer.
Because the truth was I didn’t want to run, I wanted more.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
But even as I said it, I knew something had changed.
I ended up spending the night in Lilian’s room.
Rider was already in his office when I arrived. He was wearing his calm, composed and perfect expression. His suit clung to his body perfectly like it was made specifically for him.
Him looking all innocent like he hadn’t pinned me against an elevator wall twelve hours ago.
“Good morning,” he said without looking up from his laptop.
“Morning,” I replied, trying to sound normal.
He gave me instructions for the day. Short and precised. No lingering glances. No tension in his voice.
It was like the elevator incident never happened.
And somehow that annoyed me more than if he’d brought it up.
Why does he get to act unaffected? Why am I the one replaying it over and over? Why do I feel like I did something wrong?
By lunchtime, I was irritated and confused. And by the time I stepped into the break room, Taylor was already staring at me like he knew something.
“What?” I snapped.
He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you walking like someone rearranged your life?”
I choked. “Nothing happened.”
His grin widened.
“Oh something definitely happened.”
I hesitated , Then sighed.
“We kissed.”
Taylor dropped his cup dramatically.
“I KNEW IT.”
“Lower your voice!”
“When? Where? How? Did he faint after?”
“In the elevator,” I muttered.
He blinked.
“Oh. Oh that’s bold.”
“He pulled away,” I added quickly.
Taylor folded his arms. “And?”
“And apologized.”
Taylor stared at me for two full seconds.
Then burst out laughing.
“Oh he’s gone.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?!”
“Because Rider does not apologize. Especially not to women.”
I frowned.
“Well he did.”
Taylor leaned closer.
“He’s been fighting himself since you got here.”
That made my heart skip.
“Stop.”
“I’m serious. You don’t see the way he looks at you?”
I gulped .
Because I had seen it today, while pretending like nothing happened.
And the worst part?
He still looked. Just when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.
That entire week was torture for me.
Taylor teased me every single day.
“Mrs. Rider,” he’d whisper when Rider walked past.
Or he’d fake cough and say, “Elevator.”
I wanted to disappear. But aside from the teasing, this week wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.
Rider wasn’t as distant as he pretended. He would stay back later, Asked if I’d eaten.
Once, when I tripped over a wire, his hand shot out so fast it was almost unnatural.
His grip lingered a second too long.
His eyes searched mine like he was checking for something deeper than what I’m showing.
Getting close to Rider wasn’t easy. He would push, then soften. Pull back. Then lean in again.
Every time I tried to ask something personal, he redirected.
Every time I got too close emotionally, he built a wall.
But slowly, the walls started cracking. He started driving me home some nights like how we do before.
We talked about random things, music, childhood memories and dreams.
Sometimes I’d catch him staring at me like he was memorizing my face.
And sometimes there was something else in his eyes. Something I couldn’t explain. And the more time we spent together, the more I started noticing things. Small and strange. Some of them were not human nature. Things that made me wonder if Rider was really what he said he was.
- Writer
