The BOSS'S ASSISTANT

CHAPTER 10. NO WHERE TO RUN

The car didn’t take her home.

Elena realized that about ten minutes in.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Alessandro didn’t look at her. “Somewhere quiet.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It is for now.”

That tone—calm, final, annoying—made her jaw tighten.

“You can’t just decide things like this.”

“I just did.”

Of course he did.

The car stopped in front of a private penthouse.

Not his office.

Not hers.

Somewhere worse.

Somewhere private.

Elena didn’t move immediately.

“This is a mistake,” she said.

Alessandro finally looked at her.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Probably.”

Then opened the door anyway.

Inside, the silence was too clean.

Too expensive.

Too isolating.

Elena stood near the entrance, arms crossed.

“You brought me here to what? Finish the argument?”

Alessandro loosened his cuffs, watching her.

“I brought you here so you stop walking away every time things get messy.”

“I didn’t walk away,” she snapped. “I left.”

“Same damn thing.”

“No, it isn’t.”

He stepped closer.

Slow.

Controlled—but barely.

“You think I don’t see it?” he said low. “The way you react when I get close to you?”

Elena’s voice dropped. “You’re imagining things.”

“Bullshit.”

That was sharp.

Immediate.

He kept going.

“You don’t look away,” he said. “You don’t talk like someone who doesn’t feel anything.”

She stiffened slightly.

“Stop analyzing me.”

“Then stop acting like you want me to figure you out.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Elena moved past him toward the window.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she muttered.

“No,” he said behind her. “You shouldn’t.”

That made her turn.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He exhaled slowly.

“It means I know exactly what I’m doing when I bring you into places like this.”

A pause.

Then quieter:

“And I still do it anyway.”

That hit differently.

Elena’s voice sharpened. “You’re playing games.”

Alessandro smirked faintly. “No.”

He walked closer again.

“I don’t play games,” he said. “I test limits.”

She didn’t move back this time—but her breath caught.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

“You’re standing too close,” she said quietly.

“Then move.”

She didn’t.

Neither did he.

Silence stretched.

Thick.

Dangerous.

Wrong.

Then he said it—low, rough:

“You’re all I’ve been thinking about.”

Elena froze.

That was not supposed to happen.

Not like that.

Her voice came out softer now. “That’s your problem.”

“Yeah,” he said. “It is.”

A beat.

Then—

“You’re not making it easier.”

Her eyes flicked up. “I’m not trying to.”

“That’s the worst part.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Just tension.

Breathing.

Distance shrinking without movement.

Alessandro stepped back first.

Like it physically cost him.

“Go sleep,” he muttered. “You’ve got work tomorrow.”

Elena hesitated.

Then quietly:

“This is going to end badly.”

He gave a short laugh.

“It already has.”

She turned toward the guest room.

Stopped halfway.

Looked back.

“Don’t follow me again,” she said.

He smiled faintly.

“No promises.”

And as the door closed—

Alessandro stood alone in the penthouse.

Realizing something he hated:

She wasn’t just under his skin anymore.

She was becoming the reason he couldn’t think straight at all.