Chapter Four
1844 Words
Ava’s POV
The moment the words left his mouth, the room felt smaller.
You’re already in this, and there is no turning back.
For a second, I couldn’t breathe. The air in Dominic Vale’s office thickened, pressing against my chest like a warning. I had walked in here telling myself I could leave whenever I wanted. That no man, no matter how powerful, could trap me with a few carefully chosen words. Yet my feet stayed rooted to the floor.
“What does that even mean?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain steady.
He didn’t answer right away. He watched me the way people studied storms from behind glass. Detached, assessing, already calculating the damage. His silence felt deliberate, like he was giving me time to unravel.
“It means,” he said finally, “someone noticed you before I did.”
My jaw dropped. “Who?” I demanded.
“That depends on how honest you’re willing to be.”
“I’ve been honest,” I snapped. “From the start.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Then tell me about the message.”
I clenched my fingers around my phone. The screen had gone dark, but I could still feel the vibration echoing through my palm. I hadn’t answered it. I hadn’t even looked. Fear had frozen me in place.
“I don’t know who sent it,” I said. “It came in last night. There was no name. No number. Just… a warning.”
“What kind of warning?”
I swallowed. Saying it out loud made it real. “They want me to stay away from you. Whoever this person… he or she thinks that I should not have taken your card. That some doors aren’t meant to be opened.”
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. “And that scared you.”
“Yes.” My eyes widened. “I have every reason to be scared.”
“But the fear was not enough to stop you.”
“No,” I admitted. “Because if I keep letting fear decide for me, I’ll never get anywhere. I have plans for the future, big plans.”
Something flickered in his eyes then. Approval, maybe. Or something far more dangerous.
He turned away from me and walked back to his desk. “Sit,” he said again, not as a command this time, but as a request.
I sat, slowly and quietly. Dominic leaned against the edge of the desk, folding his arms. Up close, he was overwhelming. He was tall. He radiated a quiet authority that made it impossible to forget where I was or who I was dealing with.
“You didn’t come here for a job,” he said.
“Yes, I did.”
“You came here for answers.”
I hesitated.
“That doesn’t make you weak,” he added. “It makes you reckless.”
“That’s funny,” I said bitterly. “I’ve spent my whole life being careful.”
“And where has that gotten you?”
The question stung because I didn’t have an answer.
He pushed off the desk and moved toward the window. “You’re not wrong about one thing,” he said. “You don’t belong in my world.”
I bristled. “Then why am I here?”
“Because someone is testing boundaries,” he replied. “Mine. Yours.”
My heart began to race. “You think this is about you.”
“I know it is.”
“That’s arrogant.”
“No Ava, that’s experience.”
I stood up again, unable to sit still. “You’re saying someone threatened me just to get your attention?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re just… what? Calm about it?”
He turned to face me. “I’m not calm. I’m contained.”
“That’s worse,” I muttered.
Before he could respond, there was a knock on the door. My heart jumped into my throat.
“I said no interruptions,” Dominic said sharply.
“I know,” his assistant’s voice replied from the other side. “But security flagged something. You need to see this.”
Dominic’s gaze flicked to me, then back to the door. “Send it.”
A tablet slid through the narrow opening. The door closed again.
He picked it up and scanned the screen. The change was immediate. The calm shattered, replaced by something lethal.
“What?” I asked. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer. He turned the tablet toward me. It was a photo of me.
Walking out of the charity gala the night before. My head turned slightly, my expression tense. Dominic’s card was visible in my hand. My blood ran cold.
“That was taken from across the street,” I whispered. “I didn’t see anyone.”
“You weren’t meant to. Whoever this is… is after you.”
Another image followed. Me unlocking my apartment door. Me on the bus that morning. Me entering his building.
“They’ve been following me,” I said, my voice breaking. “How long?”
“Long enough,” Dominic replied quietly.
I stepped back, panic finally breaking through. “This is insane. I didn’t sign up for this. I just wanted—”
“To survive,” he finished.
“Yes.”
“And now you’re in danger.”
I laughed shakily. “You say that like it’s a minor inconvenience.”
“For me, it is.”
“For me, it’s my life.”
Silence fell between us, heavy and charged.
“I can protect you,” he said.
The words sent a shiver down my spine. “At what cost?”
“That’s the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
“Whether you trust me. Do you trust me?”
I stared at him. “You just told me I can’t turn back.”
“No,” he corrected. “I told you someone else decided you couldn’t.”
“That doesn’t make you the good guy.”
“I never said it did. But, I’m not as bad as you think..”
I looked at the tablet again, at my own image reduced to evidence. “If I walk out of here,” I said slowly, “what happens?”
“You’ll be watched.”
“And if I stay?”
“You’ll be guarded.”
Guarded by him? What on earth have I got myself into?
“I don’t want to owe you anything,” I said.
“You already do,” he replied. “You just don’t know it yet.”
Anger flared through my fear. “You don’t get to decide my fate.”
“I don’t,” he agreed. “But I can influence it.”
I took a deep breath. “Then be honest with me. What do you want?”
He met my gaze, unflinching. “I want to know why someone chose you.”
“And if I don’t know?”
“Then we find out together.”
Together? The word lingered, heavy with implication. Another vibration buzzed in my hand. My phone lit up this time.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
Dominic’s eyes dropped to the screen. “Answer it.”
“I thought you said—”
“They want you scared,” he said calmly. “Let’s see how bold they are.”
My hands shook as I accepted the call. “Hello?”.
“You should have listened,” a voice said. Distorted and artificial.
“Who is this?” I demanded.
“You don’t belong with him. You don’t belong to his world.”
My chest tightened. “You don’t know me.”
“We know enough.”
Dominic leaned closer, his presence solid at my side. “Tell them,” he murmured.
“Tell them what?”
“That you’re not alone.”
I swallowed. “I’m not alone.”
A pause. Then a low chuckle. “We’ll see how long that lasts. We’ll see how long you’ll stay alive.”
The call ended. I stared at my phone, numb.
“They’re escalating,” Dominic said. “That means time matters.”
“What happens now?” I asked.
He toiok the tablet from my hands and set it down. “Now,” he said, “you leave this building with my security. They’ll follow you wherever you go.”
“And my life?” I asked. “Does it just… stop being mine?”
“No,” he said. “It changes. You need to be… guarded. That’s the most I can do for you right now. I’ll protect you and make sure no harm comes your way.”
I looked at him. At the man who had stepped into my life like a storm and shattered the illusion of safety I’d clung to for years.
“This is your world,” I said quietly. “Danger. Power. Games.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re asking me to step into it.”
“I’m asking you to survive it.”
I nodded slowly. “Then promise me something.”
“What?”
“That you won’t lie to me.”
He held my gaze. “I won’t lie.”
“You’ll just withhold the truth.”
A corner of his mouth curved. “When necessary.”
“That doesn’t make me feel good. My left was perfect before you came into it.”
“Perfect? C’mon, Ava. You were barely surviving. You wouldn’t be here if your life was perfect.”
“Maybe… just maybe it wasn’t perfect. But, I had peace.”
“A poor man has no peace.”
I breathed heavily. “Don’t you think you have insulted me enough? Just one night of knowing you, and my life is already messed up. I have never been so scared.”
“I’m here to offer you protection, you just need to trust me.”
“I can never trust you.”
“Yes, I know it’s hard to trust me, but at least have a little faith in me. I won’t let any harm come to you. I promise you.”
“Okay.”
Security escorted me through private corridors and down into an underground garage. Dominic walked beside me the entire time, silent and watchful. The car waiting for us was black, unmarked, and intimidating.
As I slid into the back seat, a thought struck me with sudden clarity. Nothing about this was temporary. As the door closed and the engine started, Dominic’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Someone just accessed your student records,” he said.
My heart slammed against my ribs. “That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” he replied, “when someone is sending a message.”
The car pulled out into traffic. And for the first time, I understood the truth behind his words. There really was no turning back.
- Writer
