The Billionaire’s Claim

Chapter 4

KIERAN

The air in the conference room felt thick, heavy with tension I couldn’t quite name. Or maybe I could, but admitting it would be dangerous. I told myself I was just here to take notes, to be invisible. But sitting across from Kieran the man I had once loved so fiercely it burned invisibility felt impossible. Every glance, every shift of his eyes toward me was a reminder of the history between us… and the unspoken storm we were dancing around.

“Miss Jethro,” Eliam’s warm voice cut into my thoughts. I blinked and looked up at him, his easy smile and dark, charming eyes pulling me into a safer space. Or maybe it was just an illusion of safety. “Do you mind passing me that file?”

I slid the folder toward him, careful not to brush his hand. He still gave me that teasing look, the one that said he knew exactly how to make someone squirm.

“Thank you,” he murmured, his voice dropping low enough that only I could hear. “If you keep helping me like this, I might start thinking you like me.”

A small, polite laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “Careful, Eliam. I might start charging you for my services.”

From the corner of my vision, I caught Kieran’s jaw tighten. It was so subtle, most people would’ve missed it, but I knew him too well. He didn’t like this. Not Eliam’s tone. Not my smile. Not the way I was letting someone else occupy even a fraction of my attention.

We continued through the meeting, my pen moving across the page, my ears tuned to the business talk but my body hyper aware of Kieran’s presence. The rich baritone of his voice carried authority, yet every time he spoke, I felt a strange ache. Like I was hearing a ghost familiar, but belonging to a life I no longer had the right to touch.

When the meeting finally ended, I began stacking my notes, eager to escape before the suffocating tension strangled me completely. But Eliam wasn’t finished.

“So,” he began, leaning closer to me as we walked toward the hallway, “I hear you’re working directly under Kieran now. That must be interesting.”

I gave him a careful smile. “It’s work.”

“That’s not what I meant.” His smirk deepened. “I mean, the man’s intimidating as hell. And don’t tell him I said this but he’s not exactly the chatty type. How are you surviving?”

I was about to respond with something diplomatic when a voice deep, controlled, and far too close interrupted.

“She’s surviving just fine.”

I froze mid-step, heat crawling up my neck. I didn’t need to turn around to know his expression, Cool and Unreadable. But his eyes… oh, they’d be sharp as blades.

Eliam chuckled softly, unbothered. “Of course she is. I was just making conversation.”

“Make conversation on your own time,” Kieran replied, not raising his voice but somehow filling the entire hallway with it.

Eliam arched a brow but stepped aside. “Noted, boss.” He gave me one last playful wink before walking away.

My heart thudded in my chest, though whether it was from embarrassment or something far more dangerous, I couldn’t tell.

Kieran turned his gaze on me, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.

“Walk with me,” he said simply.

I followed, my heels clicking against the marble floors, the echo of our steps the only sound between us. We moved through the corridors until we reached his sleek office , modern, yet undeniably his. Every piece of furniture, every carefully placed object screamed control. Power. Distance.

He closed the door behind us. “Eliam seems… fond of you.”

I set my notes on his desk, keeping my tone light. “He’s just being friendly.”

Kieran’s eyes narrowed slightly, the faintest trace of something jealousy? irritation? flickering there. “Friendly isn’t the word I’d use.”

I bit back a sigh. “It doesn’t matter what word you’d use. I’m here to work, not… whatever you’re implying.”

For a heartbeat, silence stretched between us. His gaze searched mine, as if trying to peel back layers I’d carefully built. And then, softer than I expected, he said, “I don’t like him around you.”

The words sent a shiver down my spine. Not because they were controlling though maybe they were, but because of the way he said them. Quiet. Almost… possessive.

I forced a small laugh, even though my chest felt tight. “Good thing it’s not your decision.”

His jaw clenched, but he said nothing more. Instead, he reached for the file I’d placed on the desk. “We have work to do.”

And just like that, the moment dissolved, replaced by business. But the air between us stayed charged, the silence filled with everything neither of us dared to say.

Hours later, when I finally left his office, I caught sight of Eliam at the far end of the hallway. He lifted his hand in a casual wave, his grin playful. I gave him a polite nod back, knowing full well Kieran would see it from his glass-walled office.

I didn’t mean for it to be a game. But maybe that’s exactly what this was becoming.

From behind my desk, I watched her step into the hallway, the faint smile she offered Eliam twisting something deep inside me. I told myself it was nothing I didn’t care, But my hands curled into fists anyway.

Because I knew better.

Ashley Jethro had always had a way of stirring storms in me I couldn’t control. And now, watching her laugh at another man’s words, I realized something dangerous.

I might have let her go once.

But I wasn’t going to do it again.