BRACE YOURSELF

ELENA

I watched as Atlas picked up the document and threw it down in front of him, keeping his gaze fixed on mine all the while.

His gaze was electrifying, and somehow rid me of every saliva in my mouth, making me squirm in my seat.

“Are you going to sign that or not?” I croaked out, sticking out my tongue and running it across my lower lip.

He cocked a brow as his fingers skimmed the document to the last page. “Did I say I wasn’t going to?” He shot back, his voice low and husky, his eyes dark and droopy.

I adjusted again in my seat, clearing my throat as I suddenly felt small under his intimidating gaze. “Well, uhm,” I licked my lips again, my teeth grazing it a bit, “you’re just wasting a lot of time, so I think m-maybe you don’t want to. Because if you’re cool with the terms, you would have—“

He scoffed in a surprisingly polite manner, cutting me off, then bent his head and scribbled his signature at the bottom of the page. “You didn’t think I was simply mesmerized by your beauty?” He asked after a while, and my breath caught in my throat.

Did he just casually call me beautiful?

Why was he flirting so openly? What made him so fucking audacious? And tempting?

“W-what?” I stuttered when I finally found my voice, and he pulled his gaze to me, mischief playing behind those blue eyes.

“Don’t act so modest, Elena,” he said as he reached over to drop the document next to my hand on the table, his fingers brushing mine and leaving sparks. “You’re fucking beautiful. Own it.”

I swallowed, a red hotness creeping into my cheeks, and I found that weird because people called me beautiful all the time.

Braden used to call me that all the time.

But I couldn’t deny the fact that it never made my heart flutter the way it was doing now, looking at this mysterious man with a mischievous smirk on.

As I took the pen from him and pulled my gaze to the document, I could feel his gaze hot on my face, and it made my heart race even faster.

What was he thinking?

“I can’t wait to explore you, Elena,” he added after moments of heated silence, and I quickly whipped my gaze to his face, hot all over.

“What did you say?” I demanded, my breath raspy.

“Sorry,” he smirked, “I meant I can’t wait to explore with you.”

Was he playing with me? Teasing me?

Well, the truth was, I knew what he was doing. And I hated that I was indulging him, being all flushed and fevered, instead of shunning him.

Pathetic…

Lost in the depths of his blue gaze, I struggled internally to calm my thrashing heart, wondering why the fuck I was reacting to him this way.

Did he have some kind of hold on me? Would it be wise to sign this contract?

As we held each other’s gaze, the air between us electrified, he started to lean forward, his hand snaking forward, and just as his fingers skimmed my wrist, my pinged loudly and I jumped.

He drew back, smiling, as I glanced down at the screen of my phone to see a text from Luke.

~•Come get your stuff yourself, bitch. I’m not your fucking errand boy.

I let out a frustrated sigh, the tension worn off already, as I scribbled my signature on the document.

I’d asked the thieving bastard to send my stuff to me. Things I couldn’t just let go of. Valuables I couldn’t stand losing. Things I’d shared with Braden.

Things that had been part of my life before the Grants fucked me over.

I wanted them back…

I pushed the chair backwards and rose to my feet, pocketing my phone. “Well,” I started, glancing down at Atlas who seemed puzzled by my sudden movement, “I guess we’re done here.”

“But—“

“So I’ll be on my way now,” I quickly interrupted whatever he was about to say, suddenly impatient. “I have somewhere to be right now,” I explained as I started to walk away, “so I’ll probably mail over your own copy of the contract. See you around.”

Before he could say a word, I was already out the door and flagging down a cab.

The cab pulled over to the curb and I got in, spilling the address to the driver quickly.

As the car went into motion again, I leaned my head against the headrest and let out a deep sigh.

Thinking about it now, I’d been through hell. And why the hell do I deserve all this?

From losing the love of my life to the cold hands of death, to ending up in jail for manslaughter, and realizing afterwards, that I’ve been deceived by the sly fox, Luke, all this time.

Now I was getting tangled in yet another web with Atlas.

What did I do so wrong to be dealt so ugly a fate?

Almost thirty minutes later, the cab pulled up in front of Luke's imposing penthouse, which had once been home to me. What a lie my life has been.

“Thank you,” I said to the driver, tipping him off, then I turned around and took a deep breath, before taking careful, calculated steps up to the front gate.

I rang the doorbell twice, and shortly after, the butler appeared at the gate.

“Ms. Elena,” he acknowledged me with a slight tilt of his head as he opened the gates, letting me in, and I nodded at him in response.

Just as I stepped into the penthouse, a woman with piercing green eyes, high cheekbones and blond-almost-white hair came strutting down the stairs, her sly gaze on my face.

She was the lady from the engagement… The same one Luke was divorcing me for..

His wife-to-be…

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I went up the stairs, and just as I walked past her, her voice rang out behind me.

“Elena Carlson, right?” Her tone was just as condescending as her expression, laced with mockery, and even though I tried hard to ignore her, I still found myself turning to face her.

“Hello,” she added, the smirk on her lips stretching.

“Yes,” came my stiff response, as I wasn’t interested in indulging her. I just wanted to smack that cockiness off her face.

“I’m Sophia,” she introduced, folding her arms across her chest. “Luke’s fiancée.”

“I see.”

She gave me a quick once over, then scoffed. “Elena, you know you don’t belong here, right?”

“Well I’m just here to get my things, Ms. Sophia,“ I bit back almost immediately, “so if you—“

“So be fast about it, then,” she interrupted, spreading her palm in an arrogant gesture, “because you would have to leave town soon.”

I paused, my eyes drilling holes into her face.

“Everyone knows you’re an ex-convict now,” she added with a shrug, “so it’s best if you just leave, to save face, you know.”

I let out a derisive scoff and closed the distance between us. “And you think I’ll just leave town because of that? Or because you said so?”

When she said nothing in response, only staring up at me with a smug smile, I shook my head. “You should be careful, Ms. Sophia,” I spat, taking a step back from her, “because I was once where you are right now, and I know what it feels like being there. Thinking you have it all.. They’re going to use you, trust me. That’s what they do.”

Without another word, and ignoring her suddenly fearful and curious expression, I turned around and walked up the stairs to my room.

I didn’t need to seek anyone’s permission to get into my own room, because I once lived here and knew my way around.

As I stepped through the doors, I breathed in the familiar smell of my room, which caused a flurry of memories rushing into my head.

Sighing, I snapped out of my reverie and pushed towards the closet, pulling out the large box which I'd used to store most of my stuff.

A few seconds into looking through the box, the door pulled open behind me, and I whirled around to see like striding in like he owned the fucking room.

“What do you want?” I demanded immediately, eyeing him as I rose to my feet, and he smirked, looking at me in that way that would have turned me on before I found out he was an asshole.

“You didn’t miss me?” He asked with a slight shake of his head, his eyes raking over me hungrily.

“Never,” I spat, “and you know that.”

“Okay,” he scoffed. “Did you miss how I used to fuck you, then?”

I cocked my brows, rolling my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous, Luke. You were nowhere near—“

Suddenly, he closed the distance between us in two quick strides, pinning me up against the closet and crowding me in.

“Don’t think I don’t own you, Elena, just because we’re divorced,” he warned. “I own all of you. Every part of you.”

Unable to stop myself, I opened my mouth wide in a hysterical laughter, my head falling backwards.

Then I pushed him off me with one hard shove. “I would rather die than be with you again, Luke. You better get that into your thick skull.”

“Also,” I slapped his hand away, “you should know I plan to fuck you over. So brace yourself.”

His brows furrowed in a frown. “Is that a threat?”

“No,” I spat. “It’s a warning.”