CHAPTER 4
1159 Words
The office smelled of leather and cedar. Lingering in the corners were faint tangs of cologne.
Mateo Crest stood behind his desk, hands resting lightly on the polished wood, but his mind wasn’t on paperwork. It was on her.
Coco Benett.
He watched her out from the corner of his eyes as she played with her blouse, she didn’t realize she was being watched, probably because he was careful as he studied her.
Still….something about her felt quietly dangerous
He cleared his throat while pretending to adjust some papers on his desk.
“miss Benett?” he said sternly while pretending to look at the files on his desk.
“do you fully understand what your responsibilities are here?”
“Yes sir. Medical routines, managing your diet, public appearances and….. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
She said steady but it was the way she said it laced in softness that made it far too easy to want to close the distance between them.
“Very good.” He said. He watched the silence linger between them while staring at her, letting her shift under his gaze but unable to look away.
Most people would immediately want to break the gaze. But she didn’t, she held it, with defiance and fear in equal measure.
Leaning back, he took his time studying her like a project that piqued his curiosity until he finally broke the silence.
“You’re not like the others,” he murmured, almost to himself.
She raised one of her eyebrows in shock. “What do you mean?”
“You carry yourself like someone who refuses to be small, even when the world and your economic state said you should be.”
Her lips parted slightly, caught off guard. She didn’t know if it was a compliment or an insult. She wanted to dismiss it, to hide, to assert control, but she didn’t. She just stared.
There was something about that stare that unsettled him more than it should have. The fire burning in her eyes, it was quiet but consuming. it smoldered beneath her calm, steady gaze. The kind of fire that burned through silence, that made him want to lean closer just to feel its heat.
Mateo stood up, waling around the desk till he was finally able to smell the coco butter shampoo in her hair.
“Most people normally break under pressure here, but not you and that….interests me.”
“I’m not here to be of interest to you Mr. Crest.” She swallowed.
His eyes darkened and he smiled faintly, a dangerous curve on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “yes I know. You are trying to make ends meet, but yet…”
Something about the tension between them pulled at a thread he hadn’t tugged in years.
He came standing directly behind Coco and stared at her once again, he took note of the hint of vanilla perfume together with coco butter and that did something to him.
He leaned close to the back of her neck and she froze. Not because she was scared, but she felt his breath on her skin, so soothing and calm that the hairs on her back rose too in excitement.
“What…what are you doing?” she said softly, she didn’t know why the words came out soft like she liked the fact that just his breath was able to give her goosebumps.
“Your shampoo is not bad”. Mateo was the worse when it comes to giving out compliments.
There was a buzz on his desk and it made him break away from his gaze. He wanted to ignore it. But the screen flashed again and he reluctantly picked.
“Crest.”
Coco was hearing muffled voices from the telephone but couldn’t make out what was said. She saw his expression gradually changed to a more serious look as he stared at her. What could the person be telling him that made him change expression so quick. He looked annoyed and irritated.
“Sir, security footage shows a possible intruder near the east wing last night.”
“Did he make his way in?”
“No, but we saw someone watching sir.”
His eyes turned to coco. She sat there calm, her expression unreadable. Something stirred in him, the need to protect or maybe something more.
“Track it.” He said calmly. “And make sure no one interferes with her. Am I clear? “His voice became sterner.
He hung up and leaned back, watching her again.
She had no idea of what she signed up for by just being in his world. And yet, he still wants her to be in it, how she is going to react to it, how she can handle the pressure of his world.
He walked towards the window with his arms crossed, trying to analyze the whole situation, and then a knock interrupted his thought process.
“Enter.” He said.
Helen came through the door with her usually unreadable expression
“sir, there is someone that is looking for you. He claims to be a courier that has a document to be delivered to you specifically for your signature.”
“right now?”
“yes sir, he said it is confidential.”
“alright,send him in.”
A scrawny looking delivery man entered and handed a black folder to him. Opening it, he looked at it with an expressionless face. Inside were documents, not for any business, but of her. Detailed, well compiled notes that included her medical history, her psychological evaluations and even a timeline of their family finances. Someone has been keeping tabs on her long before she had arrived here.
He didn’t know whose handwriting it was, he didn’t recognize the source, but he clearly recognized the threat and the message they were trying to pass across.
“what is it?” Coco said while leaning towards him.
“Nothing that concerns you.” He said smoothly while forcefully shutting the folder. But he knew it has everything to do with her, and soon she will too.
As the sun set while casting long shadows in his study, Mateo’s thoughts churned.
Who could it have be? And what exactly are their intentions? Why now?
He felt the strange urge to protect what was his and keep her close, even from the dangers that she brought into his world. And somewhere deep inside, he realized that what he felt for her surpassed professional curiosity, it was obsession, and it knew it was dangerous.
Later that night, as Mateo reviews the security footage in his private study, he freezes.
he sees Coco entering the east wing alone. But behind her, for a brief instant, a shadow moves in the reflection of the glass.
It doesn’t belong to anyone he knows.
Mateo leans closer, heart hammering. Someone is already inside the Crest estate.
- Writer
