Chapter 26

Eliora's POV

I turned swiftly, my anger and fear reaching a breaking point. “And what are you going to do? Are you going to force me to talk? Or what? Are you going to forcefully kiss me again!”

The words hung in the air, heavy and sharp. Kian stood half-bent, gripping the sofa cushion. His face was pale from the genuine pain of moving too fast. But his eyes—those dark, intense eyes—were fixed entirely on me, shocked by my outburst.

*Why the hell did you have to say that, Eliora? Do you want him to kiss you?*

My mind screamed at my mouth’s sudden betrayal. The question, asked in a fit of pure frustration, sounded less like a threat and more like a desperate, subconscious plea.

My face felt hot. I quickly tried to take the words back. **"You know what? Forget I ever said that."** I spun around, ready to rush out of the living room and lock myself in the guest suite.

"**Eliora, wait, just hear me out.**" Kian’s voice was rough, but no longer commanding. It sounded like he was truly struggling, which forced me to slow down.

I stopped and turned to him, folding my arms tightly across my chest. "**We just can't do it again, Kian.**"

I wasn't talking about the kiss; I was talking about the cycle. The pain, the passion, the inevitable disaster that always followed us. This whole... thing was already breaking down the distance I had fought so hard to create.

Kian ignored his own pain, pushing himself upright until he was leaning heavily against the sofa back. He looked tired, but his gaze was clear.

"You think I enjoy this?" he asked, his voice low. "Forcing you here, dealing with this contract mess, getting stabbed in my own office? I am fighting blind against a threat that involves you, and you are acting like a defiant teenager."

"I am acting like a woman whose life was already ruined by you once!" I shot back, dropping my professional mask completely. "I have my own problems, Kian, problems you don't even know exist. And now you pull me into your danger zone, threaten my business, won't tell me who wants my company down because of you.”

“Everything, everything, Kian, is all falling apart since you came back into my life again, and what? You expect me to be grateful?"

"I expect you to be honest!" he roared, taking a clumsy step toward me. He immediately regretted the move, clutching his side. "You're hiding something from me, Eliora.”

“I can feel it. I know you,” he said it so casually. But my heart fluttered a bit.

“Well, you felt wrong, and you don't know me.” I said, looking away from his intense gaze.

*What the hell is wrong with you today, Eliora?*

“You came here, but you won't tell me what you found on the day of the incident. Why did you hide the photo?"

*Oh my God… damn CCTV… I totally forgot.*

I swallowed. “I only took it because if the police were to get there and see it first… it would be another case!" I lied, well, *part* lie, ignoring the tight knot in my gut.

I couldn't tell him about the anonymous texts. If I did, it would surely lead to Ezra, and I couldn't tell him about Ezra.

“And you couldn't tell me?”

“It's irrelevant,” I shook my head.

"It's not irrelevant!" Kian insisted. "It was the warning, Eliora! The photo, the message—it was all designed to get a reaction from me. They want me to see you as the cause of my destruction. And you know why they chose that moment."

He paused, his eyes narrowing. "I know you are hiding something, but I don't know what… Tell me what you're hiding."

My heart hammered against my ribs. But wait…. *Why does it feel like I'm being interrogated?*

"It's none of your business," I whispered, shaking my head slowly. "It's my private life. You gave up the right to ask about my private life years ago."

"Everything you do is my business when it leads someone to stab me in my own building!" Kian took another, more stable step closer. His anger was pushing him past his physical limits.

"Why are you so obsessed with what I'm hiding?" I countered, trying to turn the focus away from the stalker. "Is it because you need to control everything? Or is it because you actually care?"

The question hung between us again, a raw challenge. Kian stopped, just a few feet away. His expression softened, melting the lines of anger around his eyes. **He is being... different.**

"Maybe I do care," Kian admitted quietly, the simple words feeling heavier than his previous shouting. "Maybe I don't like seeing you trapped in something I can't protect you from. Maybe I don't want to see you get hurt knowing that it's because of me.”

"I don't need your protection," I said quickly, trying to stop the feeling that started to warm my chest. "I need you to stay away from me."

"You keep fighting me," Kian said, taking another step. He was close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating off his body, the pain scent mixed with expensive cologne. "You push me away, you talk about decency, but you spent three hours working beside me, you cleaned my wound, and you nearly cried when you thought I was hurt."

I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “I watched the CCTV.”

He raised his hand slowly, not to touch me, but just to gesture between us. "You've changed, yes. You've built a wall that could stop an army. But sometimes, Eliora, that wall slips."

I swallowed hard, my arms still folded, holding myself together. "I only cleaned your wound because I'm human, I saw you hurt so I helped you! Everything here is business."

"Is the outburst of a forceful kiss business?" Kian asked, his voice dangerously low, his eyes lingering on my mouth.

I couldn't breathe. My chest tightened.

"I told you to forget that," I managed, my voice trembling.

"I can't," he murmured, his gaze holding me captive. "Because it's one thing I really wanted to do since the day I saw you in that dress at the gala."

*Think of something, Eliora... don't just stand there.* I chanted to myself, but even my mind seems to have betrayed me.

He closed the final distance between us, leaning in. I could feel his breath—warm, minty. I should have moved. I should have turned and run, but my feet were glued to the marble floor.

"You're not forcing me to talk, Eliora," Kian whispered, his voice dark and deep. "But you're not leaving until we figure out who is trying to destroy us both."

I stared up at him, trapped by the intensity of his gaze and the close proximity. I knew that despite his pain, he was the dominant force in this room, and I was exactly where he wanted me: close enough to watch, close enough to break.