Novels by Zari

Elliot’s povMy phone buzzed in my pocket during my morning coffee break, I pulled it out expecting a work email.Instead i saw a message from an unknown number. Stay away from Aiden Blackwood.My hands started shaking so bad, I almost dropped my phone right there in front of everyone. I looked around, nobody was watching me so I deleted it fast.It had to be Vivian because nobody else would send something like that. I tried to focus on work, but I kept checking over my shoulder every few minutes like someone was standing there.At exactly two o'clock everyone started heading to the conference room for the presentation. I grabbed my laptop, then followed behind some other assistants who were talking about lunch.Nobody talked to me much because I was still new so I just walked quiet behind them.Aiden was already in the conference room when we got there. He stood at the front with his arms crossed looking all serious like he always did before meetings.I sat down near the middle of th

Vivian's Pov I walked into Blackwood Tech like I owned the place, because once upon a time, I almost did. The receptionist looked up at me with wide eyes, and I could tell she was scared. That made me smile because people should be scared of me, and I was here to fix a problem before it got worse. "Is Aiden in?" I asked, even though I already knew he was, because I had someone watching his schedule. Rachel nodded quickly. "Yes, Miss Stone, but he is busy and.." she started to say, but I was already walking past her. I didn’t need permission to see Aiden. We had history, and he would see me whether he wanted to or not. I walked through the office. Everyone stared at me, i saw a young guy with brown hair sitting at the assistant desk. He looked up at me, and I knew immediately this was him, and this was the problem. I looked at him, he was just an average looking guy. I couldn’t understand what Aiden saw in him. "You must be the new assistant," I said, making sure my voice had enou

Elliot's Pov Three days later, I was still at Blackwood Tech and hadn't gotten fired yet, which felt like a miracle. Every day was the same, Aiden giving me impossible tasks, me finishing them and him looking at me like he was trying to solve a puzzle that didn’t make sense. The tension between us kept growing until I felt like I couldn’t breathe around him. Tonight was different, though, because Aiden asked me to stay late again. This time, he said we would work together on a presentation for a client meeting tomorrow. When everyone else had left and the office grew dark and quiet, I walked into his office with my laptop and sat in the chair across from his desk. "We need to go through these projections," Aiden said, sliding a stack of papers across the desk. I took them, and our fingers brushed for just a second. Electricity shot up my arm, and I pulled my hand back too fast. "Okay," I said, looking down at the papers because I couldn’t look at him. We started working, and the

Elliot's Pov I woke at five in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep because my brain wouldn’t shut up about yesterday, about the way Aiden looked at me and about how close I came to getting caught. I gave up on sleep, got dressed, took the subway to work, and when I got to the sixty-fifth floor at six, I expected to be the first one there. But Aiden’s office lights were already on. Does this man ever go home? I thought. I put my bag down at my desk and turned on my computer, trying to be quiet. Then Aiden’s door opened, and he walked out holding an empty coffee cup. He stopped when he saw me. "You are early," he said. It wasn’t a question or a compliment, it was just a fact. I nodded because I didn’t know what else to say. He walked over and held out the coffee cup. I took it, and he looked at me a second longer than necessary, then turned and went back into his office without saying anything more. I stood holding his cup, thinking that making coffee was definitely not in t

Elliot's Pov "You have exactly two hours to complete this task, if you fail, you can leave the building and never come back." I stared at the stack of papers Aiden Blackwood had just shoved into my hands, my brain went completely blank. This was not how the first days were supposed to go, I had been in his office less than ten minutes, he was already trying to get rid of me. The papers felt heavy, like they were made of lead instead of paper. I looked up at him, standing there in his perfect suit with his cold blue eyes, I knew he expected me to fail. "Well?" he said, his voice lacking any patience. I realized I hadn’t said anything, I was just standing there like an idiot. "I understand," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, but inside, I was screaming. What kind of person does this to someone on their first day? What kind of test was this? Why did his eyes look like they could see right through me and figure out every lie I ever told? "Good," Aiden said. He turned back to h