Chapter 5: Jealousy & Fire
895 Words
By Friday, I already hated how much of myself I was giving away without realizing it.
King Enterprises buzzed like a hive ready to sting. The office smelled of polished wood, caffeine, and ambition. Vanessa had been sharp all week, hovering in ways that were meant to make me uncomfortable, and somehow… it was working.
I was straightening files at my desk when she appeared beside me, coffee in hand and that smile that had no warmth in it.
“You’re really catching his attention,” she said lightly, eyes glinting. “Be careful. Men like him… they don’t like competition.”
I didn’t flinch. “Competition isn’t my problem.”
She laughed softly, a dangerous sound. “It is if he wants you.”
I turned toward her, brow raised. “Excuse me?”
Her gaze flicked toward Darius’s office. “Don’t act naïve. You think he just notices because you’re competent? Please. He notices because you intrigue him.”
I swallowed.
And she was right.
Because suddenly, the air in the office shifted. Doors opened, papers rustled—but when Darius stepped out, all eyes were on him, mine included.
He walked past me, his gaze slicing through the room like a knife, stopping just long enough for me to feel it on my skin. Vanessa’s eyes narrowed, lips tight.
“You’re going to regret crossing me,” she muttered under her breath as she walked away.
I clenched my jaw.
By lunch, the tension had escalated. Vanessa had cornered Malik in the break room, whispering something with venom in her eyes. I caught part of it as I passed—enough to know she was trying to undermine me.
It wasn’t just jealousy. It was a challenge.
I wanted to explode. Instead, I kept my head down, breathing carefully.
But when Darius came out of his office later that afternoon, something in his expression changed. The controlled, cool mask he wore in meetings fell away just slightly. He scanned the floor until his gaze landed on me, sharp and unmistakable.
I felt it.
Possession.
The office cleared slowly as people pretended to busy themselves elsewhere, leaving us alone in that electric bubble.
“You’re careful,” he said quietly, voice low and dangerous, “but someone’s testing you.”
“I can handle it,” I replied evenly.
His jaw flexed. “They’re trying to get to me through you.”
I froze. “Through me?”
“Yes.” He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “They want to see you slip. I don’t want you hurt because of them.”
My chest tightened. I should’ve backed away, but instead… I let the tension pull me closer.
“I can take care of myself,” I whispered.
“You’re not just my employee,” he said, voice low enough that it made my skin crawl and burn at the same time. “And you’re not just someone I notice. This… this is bigger than us.”
He paused, hand brushing my hair from my face—not lingering like before, but deliberate.
I swallowed, breath shallow. “Bigger how?”
“Danger,” he said. “Jealousy. Power plays. People like me don’t just lose their advantage. And people like you… get caught in the crossfire.”
I stared at him, heart hammering. The office suddenly felt too small, too suffocating. And yet, I wanted him closer.
Before I could respond, his phone buzzed. He glanced at it and tensed. Malik appeared in the doorway, expression unreadable. Darius’s eyes flicked back to me.
“Be careful,” he said softly.
And then he was gone.
I sat back in my chair, trembling.
Not just because of him.
Because of how much I realized I wanted him—even knowing this was dangerous. Even knowing the walls I had built around my heart were cracking.
Later that evening, Keisha insisted we go out. I should have said no, but I needed to breathe somewhere outside the office, outside the constant weight of Darius’s presence.
The lounge was loud, the bass pounding through my chest. I tried to lose myself in the crowd, in laughter, in the glow of lights, but I couldn’t stop scanning the room.
And there he was.
Not my boss. Not the CEO. Just a man leaning against the bar, watching me like a predator who’d already caught his prey.
My chest tightened.
“Don’t do this to me,” I muttered under my breath.
“Do what?” Keisha asked.
“Nothing,” I said, forcing a smile.
But when his eyes met mine across the crowded room, my stomach dropped. And suddenly, it wasn’t nothing anymore.
He stepped closer as I made my way to the exit. Malik flanked him, silent and protective.
“This is getting messy,” Darius murmured as I stepped out into the night air. “And I can’t keep pretending it isn’t.”
“I don’t want to pretend,” I said, breath catching.
His hand reached for mine. Not a touch. A claim.
“Then don’t,” he whispered.
And just like that, the city seemed smaller. The night louder. The tension unbearable—and intoxicating.
Because at that moment, I realized this wasn’t just attraction. It wasn’t just desire.
It was fire.
And fire, once sparked, is impossible to control.
- Writer
