17. The Elevator.

Rose’s POV

Few weeks!!.

Few weeks of silence.

Few weeks of pretending like I didn’t see his face everywhere I turned.

But how could I not?

Adrian Wolfe was everywhere.

On billboards.

On the business channels.

On magazine covers with bold letters screaming THE YOUNGEST BILLIONAIRE CEO IN HISTORY.... I really wonder how old he really is.

Even the company’s internal newsletters couldn’t go a day without flashing his face across the screen.

Everywhere I looked ...his cold gray eyes looked right back at me.

And the worst part?

I still felt him.

Everywhere.

It didn’t matter how many times I told myself to stop thinking about him ... the memory of that night still burned behind my eyes. The touch of his hands, the warmth of his breath, the way his voice dipped when he said my name.

I should hate him for what he did.

For how he made me feel and then vanished from my life like it meant nothing.

But hate was easier said than done.

Every night, I still woke up thinking of him.

And now, I had to see him again ... in person.

At work.

The moment my supervisor told me I’d be presenting our new proposal to Wolfe Enterprises, I nearly fainted.

It wasn’t just any meeting ...it was the meeting.

The one that could change the future of my department.

And Adrian would be there.

I spent the entire morning pretending not to care, but inside I was crumbling. My heart kept pounding at the thought of seeing him again.

Would he even look at me?

Would he act like nothing happened?

When the time finally came, I stood in the glass-walled conference room, clutching my laptop like a lifeline.

And then ...the doors opened.

He walked in.

Adrian Wolfe.

Tall, sharp, flawless in his charcoal-gray suit. His presence hit the room like a storm. Everyone went silent. The air shifted. Even the CEO of my company straightened his tie nervously.

And me?

My knees nearly gave out.

He didn’t even look at me. Not once.

Throughout the entire meeting, he sat there ... calm, unreadable, every inch the powerful billionaire everyone thought he was.

When I spoke, his eyes stayed fixed on the presentation slides, never on me.

But I felt him.

I felt his gaze, even when he pretended not to see me.

That invisible pull ... the same one that started the night he entered my life ... it was still there.

When the meeting ended, everyone stood, shaking hands and exchanging polite smiles. Adrian turned to leave with his guards flanking him ... and something in me snapped.

Enough.

I couldn’t take the silence anymore.

Before I could think, I rushed after him.

Ignoring the shocked looks from my coworkers, I called out softly, “Adrian.”

He paused.

Didn’t turn around.

I pushed harder. “Adrian, please.”

This time he turned slightly, his expression cold as marble. His guards looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

He said nothing.

But when he entered the elevator, I followed him.

Before the doors slid shut behind us, trapping us in a space barely wide enough for the air between us.

He gave a small signal ... and the guards stayed outside.

It was just him.

And me.

My pulse raced so fast I thought I might collapse.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I whispered, stepping closer.

He said nothing. His jaw flexed once.

“Why are you ignoring me like I don’t exist?” My voice trembled. “You think pretending will make me forget what happened?”

“Rose...”

“No, don’t ‘Rose’ me,” I snapped, tears burning the back of my eyes. “You don’t get to disappear and act like nothing happened. You don’t get to act like I’m some stranger you met on the street.”

He turned his head slightly, still not meeting my eyes. “It’s for your own good.”

“My own good?” I laughed bitterly. “Is that what you tell yourself when you destroy people?”

He finally looked at me then ... and it almost broke me. His eyes weren’t cold. They were full of something else. Regret. Pain. Longing.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “For everything. You shouldn’t have been dragged into this.”

“Dragged into what?” I asked, stepping closer. “Into you? Because you sure didn’t seem to care that night.”

His jaw tightened. “If you need anything, Rose...

anything at all ... just let me know. But this… can’t happen.”

“Why not?” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Because I’m human? Because I’m not one of your kind?”

He didn’t reply.

I took another step closer. My heart was beating so hard it hurt.

I could feel the heat of his body, the tension radiating between us.

“You’re a cold bastard,” I whispered. “That’s what you are.”

And that’s when it happened.

He moved.

In one motion, he grabbed my waist and pinned me against the elevator wall.

Rough ... but firm. Controlling.

His hand pressed against my hip; his breath brushed against my skin.

“Don’t,” he said softly. His voice was deep, dangerous, trembling slightly. “Don’t say things you don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand,” I whispered.

He stared into my eyes for what felt like forever. The air between us burned. His fingers dug deeply into my waist, holding me in place.

His eyes ...those storm-gray eyes ... softened, just for a second.

Then, in a voice that sent chills down my spine, he whispered,

“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll stay away from me.”

I didn’t breathe. I didn’t move.

For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me.

And part of me ... no, most of me ...wanted him to.

But then...

Ding.

The elevator doors slid open.

His guards stood waiting, stoic as ever.

Adrian released me slowly, his expression snapping back to that emotionless mask.

Without a word, he stepped out, his presence commanding even as he walked away.

I stayed there, frozen against the elevator wall, my chest rising and falling in painful rhythm.

The doors closed again, trapping the scent of him in the air ...dark, clean, wild.

I leaned back, pressing a trembling hand to my chest.

“Damn you, Adrian Wolfe,” I whispered.

Because I knew.

No matter how much he pushed me away ... I wasn’t going anywhere.

But I have to forget about him.... I have too.

---

Adrian’s POV

I should have walked away.

The moment she entered the elevator, I should have pressed the button and told her to get out.

But I didn’t.

Because the truth is ... I wanted her there.

I wanted to hear her voice again, even if every word she said cut me open.

Her scent filled the air ... sweet, warm, faintly floral. My wolf stirred inside me, restless.

She looked at me like I was both her salvation and her curse. And maybe I was.

When she begged me to stop ignoring her, something in me snapped.

She didn’t know what she was asking for.

If I touched her again, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

And if I didn’t ... I might lose what was left of my sanity.

She called me a cold bastard.

And maybe she was right.

Funny how she's the only I allow to act like this around me... Otherwise I would have put her in her place.

Because when I pulled her against me ... it wasn’t out of anger.

It was instinct. Possession.

I wanted her to know I still felt it ...that same magnetic pull that had ruined us both.

But I couldn’t let her know what she truly meant to me.

I couldn’t tell her that her blood, her scent, her heartbeat ... they all called to me in a way no human ever could.

That she wasn’t supposed to exist in my world.

That I was fighting something ancient and wild inside me every single time I saw her.

So I said the only thing I could.

“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll stay away from me.”

The lie burned my throat.

Because she was what was best for me.

And that was exactly why I had to stay away.

When the doors opened, I stepped out before I could change my mind.

I didn’t look back.

But I heard her breath catch, soft and broken, just before the doors closed again.

It haunted me the entire day.

And for the first time in years, the great Adrian Wolfe ...Alpha, billionaire, leader of thousands ... felt completely powerless.

Because one human woman had undone everything I thought I was.