Captured By The Billionaire

Ella stood in front of the mirror and smiled at herself, four years of late nights and borrowed notes and lukewarm cafeteria coffee had finally led her here, and she felt every bit of it "I need you to stop looking so good because you're making the rest of us nervous" Jade said from behind her, lying across the bed with her chin propped in her hands, watching Ella with the devoted attention of someone watching their favourite scene in a film they have seen many times Ella laughed and smoothed her palms down the sides of the dress, it was deep wine red, fell just above her knees and moved when she moved, she had almost chosen something safer but Jade had pulled this one off the rail and held it up with such certainty that Ella hadn't argued "Help me with the zip" she said, reaching behind her Jade bounced off the bed immediately and crossed the room, pulling the zip up in one smooth motion before stepping back to take in the full picture "Ravenswood University is not ready for you tonight" she declared Ella turned back to the mirror and let herself look, really look, for the first time in a long time she wasn't picking herself apart or measuring herself against some version she hadn't become yet, she was just here and she felt good "Four years" she said quietly Jade sat up on the bed "four years, three heartbreaks, two all-nighters that nearly killed us, one very bad haircut we do not discuss, and one degree" she held up a finger for each thing and then spread her arms wide "we made it" Ella laughed properly, grabbed her clutch from the dresser and took one last look at herself "Let's go" she said The night was warm when they stepped outside, the streets were busy with people who had somewhere to be and no intention of rushing there, Ella and Jade joined them and walked the four blocks to the club with their arms linked and their voices too loud and neither of them caring"I cannot believe we are actually done" Jade said for what was probably the fifth time since they left the flat "We are actually done" "Done done" "Completely done" Jade let out a sound that was half laugh half scream and a man passing them on the pavement gave them a wide berth and they laughed even harder The club was already full when they arrived, warm and loud and smelling of perfume and celebration, Ella felt the music in her chest before she heard it properly and something in her loosened, she had been wound so tight for so long she had forgotten what it felt like to just breathe Jade pulled her straight onto the floor and she went without protest, she danced and laughed and at some point her shoes came off entirely and she didn't care, this was what four years of hard work had earned her and she intended to spend every bit of it They danced until they were breathless then pushed their way to the bar, two glasses of something cold and sweet, and Ella leaned against the counter and looked out at the room and felt something settle in her chest she recognised after a moment as peace, simple and uncomplicated, something she hadn't felt in a very long time It was somewhere between the second drink and the third song that she noticed him He was standing near the far wall with a glass in his hand and his gaze fixed on her, steady and unhurried, he had clearly been watching for a while and had no intention of pretending otherwise, he was tall and dressed simply but well, dark shirt, collar open, and there was a stillness about him that made him stand out in a room where everyone else was moving Ella looked away "There is a man" she said to Jade, leaning close to be heard Jade looked immediately "Jade" "You said there is a man, I looked at the man, this is how it works" Jade turned back with wide eyes "Ella he is beautiful, why are you telling me and not him" "Because I don't walk up to strangers" "Tonight you do" Jade said firmly "tonight you are a graduate and graduates are brave"Ella shook her head but when she glanced back across the room he was still there and this time when their eyes met he lifted his glass toward her, unhurried, easy, and warmth moved up the back of her neck She looked away and she was smiling and she knew it "Go" Jade said "I'm not going" "Ella" "I don't know him Jade, I am not walking across a room to talk to a man I have never met in my life" "Fine" Jade said, with the tone of someone who has already decided how this ends "then he'll come to you" And he did He came to her eventually, crossing the room without urgency, stopping beside her at the bar with enough space between them that she didn't feel cornered, he didn't open with a line or a compliment, he just looked at her with those dark, steady eyes and said "You look like tonight means something to you" She turned to face him and found up close he was even harder to look at casually, sharp features, dark eyes, a mouth resting in a near-smile as though something had just quietly amused him "It does" she said "it's my graduation night" "Ravenswood?" She blinked "how did you know" "Half the people in this room are wearing the same expression you are" he said "the one that says I've been waiting for this for four years and now I don't quite know what to do with myself" She laughed "is it that obvious" "Only to someone who's looking" he said, and it was clear he had been looking for a while "Then you deserve a proper drink" he said and turned to the bar before she could respond, placing a glass in her hand a moment later It was sweet with something underneath it, not what she usually chose but she took another sip"I'm Ella" "Daniel" he said They talked easily after that, she told him about her degree, about the dissertation she had nearly abandoned in the third year and finished at four in the morning on a Wednesday, about Jade and the two of them sharing a flat the size of a shoebox for three years and somehow surviving it, he asked questions that showed he had listened to the answers of the last ones, he laughed when she wanted him to and was quiet when she needed that instead, and she found she liked sitting next to him The music shifted into something slower and the room moved with it, and Daniel looked at her and held out his hand She took it On the floor his hand settled at her waist and she moved with him and it felt easy, she was warm and light-headed and happy and the room softened at the edges and she let it She spotted Jade across the floor at some point, dancing with a tall man in a blue jacket, Jade caught her eye and gave her a look that said everything and Ella shook her head and Jade grinned and turned away "Friend of yours?" Daniel said, following her gaze "My best friend" Ella said "she's been trying to get me to talk to you since she first saw you" "Smart woman" "Don't tell her that, she's already insufferable" He laughed and pulled her slightly closer and she let him and the song played on and the night felt full and golden and she thought this is what it is supposed to feel like, not just the end of something hard but the actual beginning of something good "Another drink" he said after a while, his voice low near her ear She nodded and he stepped away toward the bar and she leaned against the wall and watched the room, Jade had disappeared somewhere with the man in the blue jacket, the floor was full, everything was loud and golden and good She didn't see his hand go to his pocket She didn't see the fold of paper or the fine powder dissolving into the glass or the slow stir before he turned back around He placed the glass in her hand with the same easy smile and she took it and drank and they danced again and she was laughing at something he said when the floor shifted beneath herAt first she thought it was the movement, the warmth of the room Then the lights stretched and her legs went soft and his voice reached her from somewhere far away asking if she was alright and she had no answer for that "Some air" he said, his arm around her, and she leaned into it because there was nothing else solid, she was aware of moving through the crowd and then cold night air on her face and then leather beneath her and his voice close saying just rest and then nothing, just dark, just quiet, just gone