CHAPTER 11 — ENEMIES CLOSE IN
The night had fallen over the city, the streets below Velasco Empire Holdings twinkling with the lights of a world that seemed calm and distant. Inside the office, however, the atmosphere was anything but peaceful. Aria sat at her desk, trying to focus on finalizing the Henderson project, but something in the air felt… off.
It wasn't just the usual tension between her and Lucien. There was a weight tonight a subtle, suffocating pressure that made her chest tighten with unease.
She glanced toward Lucien's office. He wasn't there, yet she could feel the room brimming with his presence, his authority seeping through the walls. Every instinct in her body screamed that something was coming.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.
"Stop interfering with things you don't understand. Or someone will pay the price."
Aria froze. Her fingers trembled as she re-read the message. Threats. Targeted. Personal.
Her pulse quickened, and she swallowed hard. She knew knew that this wasn't just a random warning. Someone was watching. Someone knew about her and Lucien.
The office door clicked behind her. She jumped, and her eyes widened to see Lucien standing there, his gray eyes narrowing the moment they fell on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his tone calm but dangerous, like a panther coiled to strike.
Aria handed him the phone, her hands shaking. "I… I don't know who sent this, sir. But it sounded like a threat."
Lucien read the message, his expression unreadable, but his jaw tightened, and the tension in the room doubled. "Stay here," he ordered, turning sharply and disappearing into his office.
Minutes stretched into eternity. Aria tried to concentrate on her work, but her hands refused to steady. Every instinct in her body screamed danger. She had never felt so exposed, so vulnerable.
Lucien returned, a folder clutched tightly in his hands. His gray eyes scanned her with a mix of concern and something darker possessiveness, protectiveness, and the kind of intensity that made her pulse race and her stomach twist.
"Aria," he said, voice low and commanding. "This is serious. Someone is targeting me… and by extension, anyone close to me. That includes you."
Her chest constricted. "M-me, sir?"
"Yes," he said sharply. "You are too close to me, and too important. This isn't just office politics. This is dangerous. And I will not allow anything to happen to you."
The words sent a shiver down her spine. There was no exaggeration, no subtlety. Lucien's protective streak, usually controlled and reserved, now bared its teeth, raw and unyielding.
Aria's thoughts spiraled. Too close? Important? Dangerous? Her heart pounded, a mixture of fear and something else something dangerous, intoxicating. She realized just how deeply she had become entangled in his world, and she felt the weight of it.
Before she could respond, the elevator dinged. Security was calling her to the lobby. Lucien's eyes darkened, and he moved faster than she could react, grabbing her hand and pulling her close. The contact made her pulse skyrocket, but she didn't resist not fully.
"Stay behind me," he ordered, voice low, nearly a growl. "Do not look around. Do not speak. Trust me."
Her stomach fluttered with a mix of fear and desire as she followed him, his hand firm around hers. Every step to the elevator seemed to stretch infinitely, every shadow on the walls making her heart hammer.
When they reached the lobby, a car waited. Security had already been briefed, but Lucien's hand remained around hers, guiding, shielding. The ride was tense, silent, the hum of the engine barely covering the thundering of her heartbeat.
Finally, in the safety of Lucien's private penthouse, he released her hand, but his gray eyes never left her. "This is serious, Aria," he said, voice tight. "Someone wants to use me, and by extension, you, as leverage. They know too much. You are… too close to me."
Aria swallowed, her voice trembling. "I… I didn't know, sir. I didn't mean—"
"You didn't," he interrupted gently, though the edge in his tone remained. "But ignorance doesn't protect you. I will. That's what matters."
The confession hung in the air, a dangerous acknowledgment of the depth of his feelings. Aria's chest heaved, emotions churning fear, relief, longing, and something more.
Lucien stepped closer, the distance between them charged with electricity. She could see the flicker of vulnerability in his eyes, something rarely revealed to anyone. And in that vulnerability, she saw the man beneath the cold, controlled exterior the man capable of love, of care, of protection beyond reason.
"I don't know how long this will last," he murmured, his voice low, intimate. "But I won't let anyone hurt you. Not now. Not ever."
Her breath hitched, and she realized the truth she had been avoiding. The attraction, the longing, the pull between them this wasn't just forbidden office tension anymore. It had become real. Dangerous. Personal.
Aria's hands trembled as she whispered, "I… I trust you, sir."
Lucien's eyes softened, but his intensity didn't waver. "Good," he said. "Because from now on… you'll need to. More than ever."
And in that moment, Aria understood that their connection once a subtle tension, a forbidden attraction had transformed. It was no longer just office romance. It was survival, trust, and the undeniable pull of a forbidden love entwined with danger.
Outside, the city glowed, oblivious to the storm that had entered their lives. Inside, Aria realized something terrifying and exhilarating, the closer she got to Lucien, the more vulnerable she became but also the more alive she felt.
And she knew, with every heartbeat, that there was no turning back.