LOGIN~~~Logan~~~I pulled the silver case from my inner pocket as the elevator doors slid open. The lighter followed a second later. A soft click, a brief flare, and the cigarette caught. I drew in a long pull, letting the smoke settle deep in my lungs before releasing it slowly.Cyrus stepped in beside me without a word. The doors closed.The ride down was quiet except for the low hum of the elevator and the faint crackle of burning tobacco.I had been in the middle of something good.My little moon had been on my lap less than two hours ago, sharp-tongued and flushed and trying so hard to pretend she didn’t like the way I looked at her. I should still be there. Or at her place. Anywhere that involved her mouth and her attitude and the way she said my name when she was annoyed.Instead I was here.Dealing with this.An incident at one of the Draegor shipping terminals. During active loading near the containers, something went wrong. A child got hurt.Fuck that.This wasn’t as simple as ca
~~~Logan~~~The conference room was packed.Every senior supervisor, every floor manager, every man who answered directly to me on the shipping side of the Draegor empire sat around the long black table. Grown men. Hard men. People who handled multi-million contracts and dock workers without blinking. Right now none of them could meet my eyes.The air felt thick, almost heavy enough to choke on. No one spoke. No one shifted. The only sounds were the low drone of the air conditioning and the faint, uneven breathing of twenty-something men trying not to draw attention to themselves.Sweat already shone at their temples. A few had damp patches spreading under their collars. One of the older managers kept swallowing like his throat had gone dry. Another’s hands were clenched so tightly on the armrests that his knuckles had turned bone-white. Across from me, a younger supervisor’s leg was bouncing uncontrollably under the table; he kept trying to still it and failing.They all looked like
~~~Rhea~~~Five minutes later the bowl was empty.I was full, warm, and still trying to pretend my face hadn’t been on fire for most of the meal. Logan, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop grinning. That quiet, satisfied, completely unhinged little smile stayed fixed on his face like he’d just won something only he understood.He set the bowl down, then pushed a bottle of water toward me.“Drink.”I took it, still side-eyeing him, and lifted it to my mouth.The second the bottle touched my lips he moved.My phone disappeared from where it had been sitting beside me. One smooth, casual snatch.I choked on nothing.“Hey—!” I stretched across the space between us immediately, fingers grabbing for it. “Give it back!”Logan leaned just out of reach, still grinning, completely unbothered. He turned the phone in his hand like he had all the time in the world.Then he did the unthinkable.His thumb moved across the screen.The phone unlocked.My chest did a hard, loud thud.“Wait—how did you kno
~~~Rhea~~~I was still chewing when his voice dropped into that calm, almost lazy tone.“I cooked it, by the way.”The second the words registered, the food went down the wrong way.I choked very hard.A violent cough tore out of me. My eyes watered instantly. I slapped a hand over my mouth, shoulders shaking as I tried not to die in the middle of the damn cafeteria while Logan Draegor sat there looking completely unfazed.He moved fast.One second the spoon was in his hand, the next he was pressing a bottle of water into mine, the other hand already at my back, rubbing slow, firm circles like this was normal.“Breathe,” he said quietly. “Small sips.”I glared at him through watery eyes while I drank, still coughing between swallows.When I could finally speak, my voice came out hoarse and scandalized.“You… cooked this?”Logan’s gaze dragged slowly down my face, then back up, unhurried. That same calm, slightly amused expression stayed fixed on me.“Yes.”My eyes stayed glued to his
~~~Rhea~~~He sat down next to me without asking, the bench dipping under his weight. Close. Way too close. His thigh pressed against mine like it had every right to be there, and he set the bowl down between us before casually peeling the lid off.The smell hit me instantly. My traitorous stomach let out a low, mortifying grumble that felt loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear.Jeez. Fuck. Its my favourite food and how did the bastard know my favourite?Giving how he's been stalking me lately, its not a surprise he knows my likes and dislikes.Logan’s eyes flicked to me, that cocky little smirk already tugging at his mouth. He didn’t comment. Just scooped a careful spoonful and held it up in front of my lips like this was the most normal thing in the world.“Open.”I turned my face away so hard my neck cracked. “I can feed myself, you overgrown control freak.”“I know.” His voice stayed calm. Almost gentle. Which somehow made it worse. “I don’t want you to.”I clenched my jaw
~~~Rhea~~~My face went hot immediately.Missed him? Hello?! Who the hell does this psycho think he is?I should be furious with him for whatever stunt he pulled to clear my entire booth and make it look like I’d cheated my way to the top, and for scaring my boss so badly the man still couldn’t look me in the eye without flinching. The gossip, the suspicion, the awkwardness… all of it traced back to him.I shoved against his chest and yanked myself out of his arms, putting immediate space between us. My voice came out sharp and cold.“Missed you?” I let out a short, humourless laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself, Draegor. The only thing I feel when I see you is the strong urge to throw something at your head.”I crossed my arms, chin lifting as I glared up at him.“And for the record, I didn’t need your little… intervention today. Whatever you did at my booth, keep it to yourself next time. I don’t need you fixing things I never asked you to touch.”His lips twitched.Just the barest f







