The Man Everyone Fears

If confidence had a smell, it would be whatever perfume I sprayed ten minutes ago, mixed with panic. I kept checking my reflection on the glass door of the thirty-fifth floor lobby, pretending to look calm. My reflection was lying.

I wasn’t calm. I was seconds away from facing Alexander Stone, the youngest billionaire CEO in the city, the man who fired people like it was a hobby.

The receptionist didn’t even smile at me. She just looked me up and down and said, “You can go in now, Miss Reyes.”

I fixed my hair and whispered to myself, “You can do this.” My voice trembled a little.

The office was huge, with floor-to-ceiling windows showing the skyline. Everything inside screamed money and power. And right there, behind a black glass desk, sat the man himself.

He didn’t look up at first. He was on his phone, voice cold and sharp. “If they can’t close the deal, they’re useless. Replace them.”

My stomach dropped.

Then he hung up, lifted his head, and looked at me.

And just like that, I forgot how to breathe.

His eyes were gray, like storm clouds before rain. His face was all sharp angles, his hair perfectly styled. There was something about the way he stared, quiet but dangerous, that made me feel like I was being seen and judged at the same time.

“You’re late,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “There was traffic and my—”

“Excuses,” he cut me off. “That’s the first thing I don’t tolerate here.”

I froze, heat crawling up my neck.

He leaned back in his chair. “Sit.”

I obeyed instantly, clutching my bag on my lap. The leather of the chair was too soft, and somehow that made me even more nervous.

He opened my résumé. “Nineteen. No degree. One internship that lasted… two weeks?”

I swallowed. “Yes, sir. My mom got sick so I had to—”

He looked up. “You left your job to take care of her?”

I nodded.

For a second, something flickered in his eyes, but it disappeared too fast to name.

He closed the folder. “Why do you want to work here?”

I hated this question. I’d practiced the answer last night, but my brain went blank.

“I just… need the job,” I said quietly.

He didn’t blink. “Everyone needs a job. That’s not an answer.”

Something in me snapped a little. I met his gaze. “Because I want to prove I can do something with my life,” I said, my voice firmer. “I’m tired of being the girl who always quits when things get hard.”

The silence that followed was thick. His jaw tightened, like he wasn’t expecting that answer.

He stood up suddenly, and I almost jumped. He walked around his desk, slow and deliberate, until he was right in front of me.

I could feel the heat from his body even though he wasn’t touching me. He crossed his arms, watching me. “Do you always speak like that to your boss?”

“I don’t have a boss yet,” I said before I could stop myself.

His lips twitched, almost like a smile. “You’ve got attitude.”

“I’ve got honesty,” I said.

He leaned closer, and for a terrifying second, I thought he might actually smile. “That’s rare around here.”

He walked back to his desk. “You start tomorrow.”

My eyes widened. “Wait—what? You’re hiring me?”

He didn’t look up from his computer. “Don’t make me regret it.”

I stood there frozen, unsure if this was real.

“You’re dismissed, Miss Reyes,” he said, voice calm again.

I turned to leave, still dizzy from everything, when he spoke again.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

I looked back.

His gaze was steady, unreadable. “If you want to survive here, you’ll learn to stop shaking every time I look at you.”

My breath caught in my throat. “I’m not shaking.”

He raised one brow. “You are.”

I quickly left the room before he could see the blush creeping up my neck.

The moment I stepped out, I finally exhaled. The elevator doors opened, and I almost ran inside. My hands were trembling so bad that I dropped my phone.

A woman inside the elevator picked it up for me. “First day?” she asked kindly.

“Not yet,” I said. “Tomorrow.”

“Good luck,” she said. “He’s… not easy.”

I forced a smile. “Yeah, I noticed.”

When I got outside, the sky was gray, and the wind smelled like rain. I stood there on the sidewalk, staring at the glass building I’d just left. I’d landed the job I wasn’t even qualified for.

But instead of feeling happy, there was a weight in my chest. Like I’d just stepped into a trap I couldn’t see yet.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. The way he said my name. The quiet authority in his voice.

He was too powerful. Too controlled.

And I hated how part of me wanted to see what he’d look like if he lost that control.

I buried my face in my pillow and groaned. “You’re insane, Luna.”

My best friend, Mara, had told me about men like him. Dangerous. Beautiful. The kind who could destroy your peace and make you thank them for it.

And now, one of them was my boss.

The next morning, I arrived ten minutes early. The lobby was buzzing with people in suits, heels clicking against marble floors. Everyone looked like they belonged—except me.

The receptionist gave me an ID card. “Mr. Stone’s assistant is out sick. You’ll be filling in today.”

My stomach twisted. “Wait, his assistant? On my first day?”

She shrugged. “He said you’d manage.”

Great.

When I entered his office, he was already there, typing something on his laptop. He didn’t look up. “You’re early.”

“I thought you liked that,” I said before I could stop myself.

He did look up this time, one brow raised. “You’re learning.”

He handed me a stack of folders. “File these in order and don’t mess them up.”

I nodded quickly and went to the shelf behind his desk. My fingers were shaking again, and of course, one of the folders slipped and scattered across the floor.

I knelt down to pick them up, but before I could reach the last one, a large hand picked it up first.

I looked up—and froze.

He was crouched beside me, so close I could see the faint stubble on his jaw, the small scar near his temple, the way his eyes darkened when they met mine.

“You’re clumsy,” he said softly.

“I’m nervous,” I whispered back before I could stop myself.

He tilted his head slightly. “You don’t have to be.”

Something in his voice wasn’t cold anymore. It was lower. Warmer. Dangerous in a different way.

For a second, neither of us moved. The air between us was charged, heavy, like something could happen if one of us dared to move closer.

Then he stood up, breaking the moment. “Focus on your work, Miss Reyes.”

I nodded quickly, heart still racing.

Hours passed. I filed, printed, fetched coffee, took calls. He barely spoke, except to give orders. Yet every time I looked up, I caught him watching me. Not in a creepy way. In a way that made me feel seen, like he was trying to figure out why he’d hired me in the first place.

By lunchtime, I felt like I was walking on glass.

When the phone on his desk rang, he picked it up. His expression darkened instantly. “Cancel the meeting. I’m coming down there.”

He grabbed his coat and looked at me. “You’re coming with me.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Take notes.”

We rode the elevator down to the twelfth floor. The whole floor went silent when he stepped out. Everyone was tense. He entered a meeting room where two men sat arguing over a contract.

“Mr. Stone,” one of them started, “we can’t finalize the deal until—”

“Until what?” he said sharply. “Until we lose it?”

His voice filled the room. No shouting, no anger. Just power. Pure, quiet power that made everyone shut up.

Then, for some reason, his eyes flicked to me. “Miss Reyes,” he said. “Read the clause on page six.”

My heart nearly stopped. I had no idea what was going on. But I picked up the paper, flipped through the pages, and read the first thing I saw out loud.

And somehow, it was the right one.

He gave a small nod. “Exactly.”

The meeting ended five minutes later. Everyone looked like they’d just been through a storm.

When we stepped out, he said, “You did well.”

“Thanks,” I said softly.

He stopped walking. “You surprise me.”

“I get that a lot,” I tried to joke, but his expression didn’t change.

He leaned slightly closer. “Don’t make me regret hiring you, Miss Reyes.”

My throat went dry. “I won’t.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, trying to convince my heart to stop pounding so fast.

That night, I got home exhausted but buzzing. Something about him pulled me in, even though every part of me said to stay away.

Then my phone buzzed.

A text from an unknown number.

Unknown: You handled yourself better today.

My heart stopped.

It had to be him.

And under the message, another one popped up.

Unknown: Don’t ever lie to me, Luna. I always know.