Chapter 3

The tray felt heavier than it should have.

Aria balanced it carefully as she followed Lena down the dim corridor lined with towering black doors polished to a mirror sheen, thin lines of white light tracing their edges.

The glossy floor reflected every step, and the quiet glow along the walls made the entire passage feel unreal.

Each door had a small brass number fixed beside it,

Lena stopped in front of the first one and nudged it open with her elbow.

Inside, four men also in suits sat around a low table scattered with documents and half-empty glasses. Their conversation paused as the two servers entered.

Aria kept her eyes lowered as Lena had instructed.

Invisible. That was the rule.

Lena moved smoothly, placing fresh drinks on the table while collecting the empty glasses. Aria copied her movements carefully, her fingers steady despite the nervous flutter in her chest.

One of the men leaned back in his chair, watching her a little too closely.

But Aria ignored him and finished placing the drinks.

“Thank you,” another man said absently as Lena guided them back toward the door.

The moment they stepped into the hallway again, Aria released the breath she had been holding.

“See?” Lena whispered. “Easy.”

Aria gave a small nod, though her heart was still racing.

They moved to the next room.

Then the next.

Some guests barely noticed them. Others watched with the bored curiosity of people used to being served.

On their way to the next room, before Aria could stop it, a sharp voice cut through the chatter.

“Kovac.”

Both women turned.

The woman from earlier, still as intimidating as before had called out.

“Yes, Mara?” Lena answered.

“We’re short in the east corridor tonight,” Mara said briskly. “Marcus didn’t show.”

Lena frowned. “Again?”

Mara ignored the comment and pointed toward the hallway Aria had not yet seen.

“You’ll take the lounge rotation. Private room servers are already behind.”

Lena glanced at Aria.

“What about her?” she asked.

Mara’s eyes moved to Aria briefly, assessing.

“New?”

“Temporary,” Lena said. “Helping me tonight.”

Mara considered for half a second before grabbing a small card from the counter and placing it on Aria’s tray.

“Fine. She can run drinks to the east hallway.”

Aria blinked.

“Me?”

“It’s simple,” Mara said flatly. “Guests place orders at the bar. You take them down the corridor and knock. Drop the drinks, collect the empties, come back.”

She pointed toward the darker hallway at the far end of the station.

“Rooms are numbered. Don’t wander anywhere else.”

Lena stepped closer to Aria while Mara turned to bark instructions at someone else.

“It’s okay,” Lena said quietly. “That’s actually easier than the lounge, just don’t forget the rules.” She reminded me for the third time

Aria wasn’t entirely convinced. Knowing herself, she was most likely to make a mistake or say something if she thought is wrong or unfair, a justice complex that always got her in trouble.

“That hallway looked… expensive,” she muttered.

Lena laughed under her breath.

“Everything in this place is expensive.”

She adjusted the tray in Aria’s hands.

Lena gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“I’ll be right in the lounge if you need me. We’ll meet back here every twenty minutes to swap trays.”

That helped. A little.

Just then the bartender slid a bottle and two crystal glasses onto Aria’s tray.

“Room twelve,” he said.

Aria carefully balanced the tray again.

Lena leaned closer before they separated.

“You’ll be fine,” she whispered.

Aria nodded, though her stomach fluttered uneasily.

She understood there would be dangers attached to taking such a job, but thought she could avoid it for a night if she stayed with Lena.

Sigh, nothing ever seemed to go the way she wanted it to.

Lena headed towards her designated location, and Aria headed in the opposite direction.

Toward the quiet corridor lined with private doors.

Aria tried to keep her hands steady as she walked down the quiet hallway Lena had pointed out earlier. The corridor was dimmer than the main lounge, lit only by soft wall lamps that cast warm pools of light along the carpet.

The Private rooms. This was where the real members sat.

The kind of men Lena had warned her about.

Aria slowed as she checked the small card placed on her tray. A guest from the bar had asked her to deliver a bottle and two glasses.

Room to the end of the hall.

Her shoes made almost no sound against the thick carpet, but her heartbeat felt loud enough to echo through the corridor.

She reached the door and lifted her hand to knock.

Before her knuckles touched the wood, laughter drifted from behind her.

Male voices.

When she turned, she saw two men walking down the hallway toward her.

They were the same men who had been watching her earlier in the lounge. She eyed them warily.

One of them smirked the moment their eyes met.

Don’t stare she reminded herself, before looking down.

“Well, look what wandered into the members’ hallway.”

Aria’s stomach dropped. It wasn’t what he said, but the tone of his voice, it was mocking, like she had just made a mistake she hadn’t realized yet, but he did.

“I was just delivering a drink,” she said quickly.

She stepped sideways to leave.

One of the men moved faster, blocking the path.

“Relax,” he said, leaning against the wall like he owned the place. “No need to run.”

The other man stepped closer.

Too close.

His eyes moved slowly over her.

“You’re new.”

Aria tried to step past them again.

A hand shot out suddenly and grabbed her wrist. Causing the tray to tilt and the contents to roll to the ground.

It landed with a bang, breaking, Aria took one glance at it, deciding it was more important to escape the situation than to clean up the mess.

“Let go,” she said sharply.

The man laughed.

“No, are you in a hurry?” He said as he continued laughing, like he’d just said the most hilarious joke.

Aria’s heart began pounding.

The hallway suddenly felt too narrow, with no one around. The reality of her situation sinking in.

She jerked her arm back with force that neither man expected,

That single second of surprise was all she needed.

She ran, her feet pounding against the carpet as she rushed down the hallway, her breath coming out in fast and shallow puffs.

Behind her, she heard a curse.

Footsteps followed. They were after her. She didn’t look back, but she could tell, her chest tightening with panic.

She reached the first door she could and twisted the handle, only to realize it was unlocked.

“Thank God”, she rushed in, shutting the door quickly behind her.

Her back pressed hard against it as she tried to catch her breath.

Outside, the footsteps slowed. One of the men stopped just beyond the door.

“Where’d she go?”

Another voice answered.

“Forget it.”

A moment passed, and it wasn’t silent, and she began to wonder if they had gone.

Then the first man spoke again, quieter this time.

“That’s Knight’s room.”

A moment later their footsteps retreated down the hallway.

Aria stayed where she was, her ear pressed against the door, heart pounding wildly.

She waited, counting the time in her head.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Twenty.

No sound. They were gone.

A shaky breath left her lungs.

Only then did she notice how dark the room was.

The curtains were drawn and the lights were low, leaving most of the space wrapped in shadow.

Perhaps it was the deep masculine scent of tobacco that filled the room, or the shift in the hair. Maybe the heavy breath that was confused for hers in the heat of the moment, but realized now it wasn't.

But she was sure: someone else was in the room.

A presence stood somewhere in the darkness. He seemed closer than she realized, but in the dark, she couldn’t be sure.

A voice broke the silence.

“What are you doing here?”

Aria nearly jumped out of her skin, her suspicions confirmed.

She just had had to enter an occupied room, she facepalmed.

The voice was deep and raspy. His words were almost raspy.

“I—I’m sorry,” she said quickly, turning toward the sound even though she could barely see him. “I didn’t mean to come in here.”

“Get out.”

Hidden meaning weighing his words.

But they carried the kind of authority that made her spine stiffen.

Aria glanced back at the door.

The memory of the men outside flashed in her mind. She couldn’t be sure if they weren’t waiting by the corner for me, besides she had a feeling that no matter what, those guys outside seemed more of a threat than the one she was currently with.

“I can’t,” she said softly.

The man moved, she couldn’t see him, but she felt it, the air becoming thin, like it wasn't enough for the both of them.

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows.

Aria’s breath caught. A confused mess of excitement or anxiousness, she couldn’t tell.

He stopped right in front of her. So close she could feel the heat of his body.

Her fingers tightened against the door behind her.

“I’ll leave in a minute,” she said quickly. “There were men in the hallway. They - They were, I mean, they are chasing me.”

He didn’t answer; instead, he inhaled slowly as if testing the air around her.

In one moment, he grabbed her by the waist, pressing her against himself. His nose brushing lightly against the side of her neck.

Aria froze. Every muscle in her body went still.

His breath was warm against her skin, and for a second her mind stopped working entirely.

She was trapped between two dangers.

The men outside, and the man standing far too close to her now, one who seemed to have no understanding of boundaries.

But strangely, this one didn’t feel like the same kind of threat.

“Let go of me,” she said, although it came out as a whisper.

The man’s breathing had changed, become erratic, like controlled chaos. Something about her had cut through the haze clouding his mind.

Roman Knight had locked himself in this room minutes earlier.

He had recognized the drug almost immediately, laughing at the mere foolishness of it. Firstly, that a mere drug could ever leave him a slave to his body, and secondly, that they were dead come morning.

But the unnatural heat in his blood, and the fog in his mind that this person occupied told a different story.

He had intended to wait it out alone, until the door burst open and this woman walked in.

Now the scent of her skin filled the space between them, intoxicatingly sweet.

Aria suddenly found the courage to move. She pushed against his chest.

The contact seemed to snap something inside him. Before she could reach the door, his hand caught her wrist.

She turned in surprise.

“Stop it, I told you—”

She felt something brush her mouth, it was warm and wet.

For a second her mind refused to understand it. The sensation lingered soft pressure against her lips, the slow slide of something warm moving over them. Then it shifted again, firmer this time, his mouth pressing harder, his lips moving against hers.

Only then did the realization strike.

He was kissing her.

The contact deepened without hesitation. His mouth parted slightly over hers, the kiss turning almost greedy, as if he were trying to taste something he had already decided he liked. Warm breath spilled across her skin, his lips moving slowly, deliberately, the pressure changing as though he were testing the shape of her mouth in the dark.

Her first kiss. Gone in an instant to a nameless, faceless man.

Aria’s mind was blank for a second, then instinct returned. She pushed against him.

He stumbled back half a step but didn’t release her. His movements slow and awkward.

Her heart pounded wildly, rage bubbling within.

“How dare you—”

She moved faster than her mind, and a crisp slap echoed in the quiet room.

She gasped, the gravity of her actions sinking in, she rushed to the door, trying to leave. But Roman moved faster.

His arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her effortlessly from the floor.

The room tilted as he carried her across it.

Aria barely had time to react before he placed her on the bed.

For the first time, the dim light from the lamp caught his face clearly.

Dark eyes.

The first thing she noticed was not the colour but the depth of it. Dark and endless, strained with control that looked ready to snap.

Cold eyes of a very powerful man.

And for the first time, Aria realised she had probably made the biggest mistake by entering that room.