chapter 1: INDICTING INCIDENT
She shouldn’t have been there.
Curiosity had a way of ignoring warnings, and tonight, it had dragged her into a world that glittered with danger. The chandelier lights reflected on marble floors, but it was the shadows between them that caught her attentionthe men in tailored suits, the whispers, the sharp glint of weapons hidden beneath luxury.
And then she saw him.
Tall. Dark. Commanding. The kind of man whose presence made the air itself tense, as if it feared the consequences of his wrath. His eyes locked onto hers the moment she stumbled into the room, and for a heartbeat, the noise of the party vanished.
Her stomach twisted. She was in the wrong place, wearing the wrong dress, feeling entirely too exposed. And yet… she couldn’t look away.
He moved closer, a predator in a tailored suit, each step deliberate, each glance a warning. She tried to turn, tried to disappear into the crowd, but it was too late. He had already seen her.
“You shouldn’t be here,” his voice was low, smooth, dangerous. Like velvet laced with steel.
“I… I was just…” she stammered, but words failed her.
He tilted his head, amused, as if her fear was a game he’d been waiting centuries to play. “Curiosity like yours,” he said, stepping dangerously close, “can be… expensive.”
Her heart raced. Not just from fear. From the way he watched her. From the way every nerve in her body screamed both warning and something else—a dangerous pull she wasn’t ready to name.
She made a snap decision and bolted, weaving through the party, trying to escape him. Her pulse hammered in her ears. She could feel his gaze, burning into her back, unrelenting, marking her in ways she couldn’t see.
And then, chaos.
A man stepped out from a shadowed hallway, blocking her path. His intentions were clear. But before she could scream, a hand firm, heavy, authoritative grabbed her shoulder and spun her behind him.
The boss. The man who had scared her from the moment she saw him. He stood between her and danger, his jaw tight, eyes blazing. Not with kindness, not with protection, but with something darker. Possession. Obsession.
“Run again,” he growled under his breath, “and I promise… you won’t get far.”
She froze, trapped by the sound of his voice and the way he dominated the space around her. She wanted to run, to escape, to disappear into the night. And yet… somewhere deep inside, a small, foolish part of her wondered if she even could.
Because she had already been seen. And some desires dangerous, forbidden, and deadly were impossible to out run.
