POV: Dante
The video arrives on my screen in the middle of the afternoon.
Sebastián sends it with a single line: "Elevator, 31st floor. Him. With her."
I open the file.
Aurora enters the elevator with a folder. Elías stops the doors and slips in behind her. The space is small.
I play it.
He stands next to her. Although the volume is muted, I recognize the gesture: soft smile, head tilted. It's the mask he wears when she wants to be liked.
Aurora responds little. She looks ahead, but her shoulders tense, her hand clutches the folder. At one point, Elías leans slightly toward her. He doesn't touch her.
My jaw tightens.
The elevator stops at the foundation's floor. He says something else to her before getting out. When the doors close, Aurora leans her back against the wall and closes her eyes for a moment.
I pause the video.
"How long did it last?" I ask.
Sebastián leans against the frame.
"Forty seconds," he replies. "Enough for him."
I close the window.
"Audio?" I ask.
"I heard it," he says. "He talked about Seraphim, about you, about 'high-rise forms' and 'protection.' Nothing that breaks the rules. Lots of subtext. He wanted her to think and you to know that he already smells her.
I nod.
I think about the primary contact form. About Aurora's signature above my name. For the tower, it's a piece of information. For Elias, an invitation to test my limits.
"Can we report it?" I ask.
"There's no basis for it," he replies. "From the outside, it's just elevator talk."
Exactly.
"Then we'll do it our way," I say. Mark them both in the system. If they spend more than ten seconds together in an enclosed space, I want an immediate alert.
"Done," he says.
I could stay and watch the cameras. He doesn't stop at forty seconds. The next step will be coffee, an invitation, an offer.
"I'm going to talk to her," I add.
Sebastián frowns.
"Are you going to tell her who he is?" he asks. "She already knows he's an omega. The rest is missing."
I think about it.
Aurora is still processing. If I throw the whole map of clans and surnames at her now, I'll overwhelm her.
"I'll tell her what she needs to know so she doesn't see him as just a nice guy from the foundation," I reply. "The rest, when she's ready."
Sebastian nods, although he doesn't like it.
"Hurry up anyway," he says. "Valcourt loves people who think they still make their own decisions."
He leaves.
I write a short message:
"Aurora, when you're done with the urgent Seraphim stuff, come up to my office. D."
I send it.
She knocks on the door a few minutes later.
"Come in," I say.
She enters with a folder and leaves it on the table. She remains standing.
"Is it about the report?" she asks.
"No," I reply. "It's about Elias Valcourt."
The way her fingers tense up is enough for me.
"I knew they had seen him," she says. "It feels strange to think that they also monitor elevators."
"We monitor dangerous people inside the building," I correct her. "He's on that list."
She crosses her arms.
"He introduced himself, said he worked with the foundation, told me you spoke highly of me," she summarizes. "He mentioned the form and 'protection.' He didn't say anything clearly wrong. But yes, it made me uncomfortable."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because of the way he looked at me," she replies. "As if he already knew too much. As if he expected me not to know what I am."
"Elías isn't just another employee," I explain. "He's Valcourt. His last name opens doors you don't even see. He likes to get close to people he considers valuable before anyone else."
"Valuable because of what I do at Seraphim or because of... the other thing?" she asks.
"Both," I reply. "Your reports serve his clan. Your body too. Don't underestimate it."
Aurora looks down for a second.
"What does he do with the people he's interested in?" she asks.
"He offers them easy ways out," I say. Projects, support, contacts. Then, when they're dependent on him, the price comes.
"That's why the form has his name on it," she says quietly. "So that if something happens to me in here, the tower will call you and not someone else."
"Yes," I reply. "I'd rather, in a crisis, have the building obey me than someone who sees you as a business opportunity."
She holds my gaze.
"That sounds like protection and also control," she says.
"It is," I admit. "Control over who gets close to you. Protection from those who have already seen you. If someone is going to be in charge at that moment, I want it to be me, not Valcourt."
She is silent for a few seconds.
"What if one day I decide that you are dangerous too?" she asks.
"We'll talk about that day," I reply. "And you can leave. Until then, while you're in my tower, my job is to stand between you and people like him."
I tilt my head slightly.
"I'm going to ask you for something simple," I add. "If Elias talks to you again, even if it's just for coffee, come to me first. It doesn't matter how he frames it." I want to hear it from you before I see it in a report.
She nods slowly.
"He told me to ask what's behind the word 'protection,'" she says. "That sometimes it's a hug and sometimes it's a cage."
"With me, protection means a wall," I reply. "A wall against those who want to use you. A cage would be to let you loose among them and pretend you have the same weapons."
She looks up.
"Then let me know when that wall starts to close in," she says. "I don't want to find out too late that I can't move anymore."
The corner of my mouth lifts.
"I'll let you know," I reply. "And if it closes, it will be because what's outside is worse."
She turns to leave.
"Aurora," I call after her.
She stops in the doorway.
"Don't underestimate Valcourt," I add. "He likes people who don't see their own value. I see it. And I don't intend to share it."
Her eyes open a little wider. She doesn't respond. She leaves.
When the door closes, the scent she leaves behind is a mixture of alertness and something advancing.
I look at the blank screen.
The line has already been drawn: she, under my name; he, on the other side, waiting for a crack.
If Elías crosses it again, the next conversation won't be in an elevator.
It will be between predators, and the underlying theme will have only one name: Aurora Vega.