A SLOW UNDOING
1415 Words
Zara didn't know which was worse—waking up to find Lucas already in the kitchen shirtless, or waking up realizing she had dreamed about him again. The second one hurt more, especially because in the dream, he had kissed her like she was more than just a convenient business transaction.
And now, here he was, cooking eggs like some casual husband who didn’t look like sin in sweatpants.
"You're up early," he said, glancing over his shoulder with a smirk.
She wrapped the silk robe tighter around her. "You're cooking?"
He slid scrambled eggs onto a plate and poured coffee into a mug. "I'm multi-talented."
Zara arched a brow. "What do you want?"
Lucas grinned, handing her the mug. "Peace. Quiet. And for you to stop looking at me like I just ruined your life."
“You kissing me on that balcony nearly did.”
Lucas leaned against the island, his arms crossed. “You kissed me back.”
She took a long sip of coffee, glaring at him over the rim. “It was a moment. It passed.”
“Did it?”
Zara set the mug down a little too hard. “We said we wouldn’t do this. We agreed. Business, nothing more.”
“And yet…”
“And yet,” she cut in sharply, “you keep pushing.”
Lucas studied her in silence, his gaze unreadable.
After a beat, he said softly, “You’re scared.”
“I’m smart,” she corrected. “There’s a difference.”
But her voice had lost some of its bite, and he noticed.
She needed space.
More than that, she needed something to ground her. Something to remind her why she’d agreed to this marriage in the first place.
She needed Naomi.
---
Two hours later, Zara sat across from her best friend at a trendy rooftop café, oversized sunglasses hiding her face even as she told Naomi everything.
Naomi whistled low. “So the fake husband kissed you, the mother-in-law suspects everything, and you got a threatening text from a mystery hater?”
“Basically,” Zara muttered, stirring her iced coffee.
Naomi leaned in. “Babe. This isn’t fake anymore. You’re spiraling.”
“I’m not spiraling.”
“You’re emotionally compromised.”
Zara rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a hostage negotiation, Nai.”
“No,” Naomi said. “It’s worse. It’s a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, pining-on-balconies mess, and you are the main character who’s about to fall—hard.”
Zara snorted. “Please.”
Naomi leveled her with a look. “You like him.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You want him.”
Zara didn’t answer.
Naomi smiled triumphantly. “Thought so.”
“It doesn’t matter. This isn’t real.”
“But your feelings are.”
Zara sighed. “Even if they are, what happens when the deal is over? I get out, and he goes back to being a billionaire bachelor who doesn’t believe in love.”
Naomi paused. “What if he’s already changing?”
Zara blinked. “You think?”
“Look, guys like Lucas don’t cook breakfast unless something’s shifting.”
Zara laughed. “Maybe he was hungry.”
Naomi shook her head. “You need to figure out what you want before you end up heartbroken—or worse, in love.”
---
Back at the penthouse, Lucas was pacing in the living room, phone to his ear.
“Yes, I’ve reviewed the merger contracts. No, Whitmore doesn’t get that much equity. He’s bluffing.” Pause. “Let him walk if he wants. We’re not desperate.”
Zara hovered in the doorway, watching him. Confident. Commanding. Frustrated. Beautiful.
When he hung up, he sighed. “You ever feel like you’re babysitting grown men?”
“Every time I open i********:,” she deadpanned.
Lucas chuckled. “Where were you?”
“Lunch. With Naomi.”
He stiffened slightly. “Did she warn you off me again?”
“She gave me good advice.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “Run fast, run far.”
Zara smiled faintly. “Not exactly.”
He looked at her, curious. “Then what?”
“She told me to be honest with myself.”
Lucas approached her slowly. “And?”
“I’m still figuring it out.”
He didn’t push. Instead, he reached for something in his pocket and handed it to her—a slim envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Our prenup copy. Signed and sealed. Just in case.”
Zara hesitated before taking it. “That’s oddly… responsible of you.”
He shrugged. “I’m reckless, not stupid.”
She didn’t know why, but the gesture made her stomach tighten.
Lucas, the player, the charmer, had just done something solid. Something grown-up. Something almost husband-like.
She didn’t like that it moved her.
“I have a gala this weekend,” he said. “You’re coming.”
“Another party?”
“This one’s political. A senator’s fundraiser. You’ll need to wear red. We’ll match.”
Zara rolled her eyes. “Subtle.”
He smiled. “We’ll set tongues wagging.”
“They already are.”
Lucas stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. “Let them.”
---
That weekend, the gala was held in a historic hotel downtown, the kind with vaulted ceilings and red velvet curtains. Zara wore a scarlet satin gown with a slit high enough to make reporters blush. Lucas wore a black tux with a matching red pocket square. Together, they looked like sin wrapped in silk.
The cameras exploded the second they arrived. Zara kept her smile fixed and her posture graceful.
Lucas leaned into her ear. “You’re stealing the spotlight.”
“That’s the point,” she whispered back.
They moved through the crowd like practiced performers. Laughing. Smiling. Whispering in each other’s ears.
But it wasn’t all performance.
Not when his fingers brushed the inside of her wrist during a toast.
Not when she caught him staring at her lips instead of listening to the speeches.
Not when her heart skipped every time he said her name like it meant something.
Zara excused herself for air and stepped onto the grand balcony, her skin tingling from too much contact.
Lucas followed minutes later.
“You disappeared again,” he said.
“You always find me.”
He leaned on the stone railing beside her. “Because I always look.”
She turned to him. “Why?”
He hesitated. “Because you calm the noise.”
Zara’s chest tightened.
“This wasn’t supposed to be complicated,” she whispered.
“But it is.”
“Why?”
He looked at her then, really looked.
“Because somewhere along the line, I stopped pretending.”
Her breath caught.
“I’m not asking for forever,” he said. “I just want to know if this—whatever this is—matters to you too.”
Zara swallowed hard.
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed again.
Same unknown number.
> Careful. His secrets could ruin you both.
She stared at it, frozen.
Lucas frowned. “Zara?”
She locked the phone. “It’s nothing.”
He didn’t believe her, but he let it go.
She wasn’t sure if she was grateful or terrified.
Because the truth was—she did feel something.
But so did someone else.
Someone watching.
Someone who wanted to destroy everything.
---
Later that night, long after the gala ended and the city quieted, Zara lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling.
She was falling for him.
Worse—she didn’t know how to stop.
But how could she love a man who was still keeping secrets? Who still hadn’t told her who he was behind the charm?
She needed answers.
And maybe… she needed to stop playing by his rules.
---
The next morning, Zara made a call of her own.
“Caitlyn, it’s me,” she said, voice low. “I need a background report on Lucas Thorne. Everything. Real estate, investments, lawsuits, past engagements. All of it.”
Caitlyn hesitated. “That’s your husband.”
Zara’s voice turned cold. “Exactly.”
She hung up and turned to the mirror.
If Lucas was hiding something, she would find it.
Because falling in love with a lie? That would destroy her.
And if there was one thing Zara Grace refused to be—it was fooled.
Not again.
- Writer
