Chapter 29: 

Eliora's POV

The fluorescent lights of the Monroe Group headquarters always felt a little colder as the sun went down. I had spent the day buried in documents, trying to ignore the way my skin still felt hypersensitive from the days spent at the penthouse. I was exhausted, but my mind was a chaotic mess of business strategies and the memory of Caden’s amber eyes.

As I walked through the lobby toward the glass exit doors, the evening security guard gestured to a large, vibrant bouquet sitting on the marble counter.

"These were dropped off for you an hour ago, Ms. Monroe," he said with a polite nod.

I took the bouquet, the weight of the stems surprising me. They were stunning deep crimson roses mixed with white lilies, smelling of spring and expensive perfume. I searched for a card, my heart thumping. I found a small, cream-colored envelope tucked into the ribbon.

I pulled out the note. The handwriting was bold and confident:

"Keep that beautiful smile on your face."

There was no signature. My mind immediately flashed to Caden. He was the only one who had seen me smile today, the only one who had commented on it with such easy charm. A small, involuntary blush warmed my cheeks. It was a nice feeling to be seen as a woman, not just a CEO or an ex-wife or a target.

But as I stepped out into the cool evening air, reality hit me. I reached into my bag for my phone to call a car, only to find the pocket empty.

"Dammit," I hissed, closing my eyes in frustration.

I remembered exactly where it was. In my rush to leave Kian’s penthouse this morning after Drew arrived to take over, I had left it on the mahogany nightstand in Kian's bedroom. With the anonymous threats escalating, I couldn't be without my phone for a single night.

I hailed a taxi, the drive to the penthouse feeling like a countdown to a confrontation I wasn't prepared for.

---

The penthouse was eerily quiet when I swiped my keycard and entered. The scent of cedar and expensive cologne Kian’s signature wrapped around me instantly. I didn't see anyone in the living room, so I moved quickly toward the master suite. I just needed to grab the phone and get out before things got complicated.

I pushed open the heavy oak door to his bedroom. The room was dim, lit only by the city lights filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I spotted my phone on the nightstand, its screen dark. I grabbed it, a wave of relief washing over me, but just as I turned to leave, the sound of a handle turning made me freeze.

The master bathroom door opened, and a thick cloud of warm, mint-scented steam spilled out into the room.

Kian stepped out, and the air in my lungs vanished.

He wasn't wearing his usual three-piece suit. He wasn't even wearing a robe. He had nothing on but a dark gray towel wrapped precariously low around his waist.

Droplets of water clung to the hard, tanned muscles of his chest, tracing the line of the white medical bandage on his side. His hair was damp, dark curls sticking to his forehead, and his skin looked flushed from the heat of the shower. He looked less like a wounded businessman and more like a predator who had just finished a hunt.

He stopped, his dark eyes locking onto mine. The silence between us was heavy, charged with a raw, sexual tension that made the room feel twenty degrees hotter.

"Eliora," he rasped. His voice was deep, vibrating through the floorboards and straight into my bones.

"I... I forgot my phone," I managed to say, my voice sounding thin and weak. I held the device up as if it were a shield, but my eyes couldn't help but travel down the length of his torso. Even with the injury, he was a physical force, a man built to dominate.

Kian didn't say a word. He walked toward me, his movements slow and deliberate. He didn't seem to care that he was nearly naked; he moved with the confidence of a man who owned everything in his sight including me. He stopped just inches away, the heat from his body radiating against my skin.

His gaze dropped to the flowers I was still clutching. I hadn't realized that I had brought it up with me until now. His expression darkened instantly, his jaw tightening.

"Where did you get those?" he asked. The possessive edge in his voice was unmistakable. He wasn't asking out of curiosity; he was demanding an explanation.

"i don't see how that is any of your business," I said, trying to find my backbone. "They're just flowers, Kian."

"Who sent them?" He stepped even closer, forcing me to look up at him. His scent, soap and raw masculinity filled my head, making it hard to think. He reached out, his fingers grazing the roses before his hand moved to my wrist. His grip wasn't painful, but it was firm, his thumb pressing against my racing pulse. "Did a man give it to you?"

"It's none of your business," I snapped, though my heart was hammering against my ribs. "You're a board member in my company, Kian, not my owner. You don't get to interrogate me about my private life."

"I made myself a board member so I could protect my investment," he growled, his face dropping closer to mine. "And you are my most valuable investment, Eliora. Whether you like it or not."

He leaned in, his lips hovering just a breath away from mine. I could see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes, the intensity of a man who didn't know how to lose. My hand, still holding my phone, pressed against his warm, damp chest. I should have pushed him away. I should have walked out. But my body was betraying me, leaning into his heat, craving the touch I had spent years trying to forget.

Fight it Eliora.

But I was caught in my feelings, drowning in the familiarity of him. I wanted to hate him for his arrogance, but in this moment, all I felt was the magnetic pull of the man who had once been my everything.

Kian’s hand moved from my wrist to the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair, pulling me closer. Just as his lips began to graze mine—

"Kian? You in there? The board just sent over the revised projections for the Monroe merger."

The door swung open, and Drew stepped in, flipping through a file. He didn't even look up at first. "I told them the numbers looked a bit thin, but you know how Larson—"

Drew stopped dead, his eyes widening as he took in the scene: Kian in a towel, looming over a flustered Eliora clutching a bouquet of flowers.

Oh my God, let the earth open and swallow me whole.

"Oh," Drew said, a slow, mischievous grin spreading across his face. As Kian's stepbrother, he was the only one who dared to look at Kian with anything other than fear. "Am I interrupting a board meeting? Because if this is how you guys negotiate, I’ve been doing business all wrong."

I shoved Kian back, my face burning with a heat that had nothing to do with the steam. "I was just leaving!"

"Don't let me stop you," Drew chuckled, leaning against the doorframe. He looked at Kian and then at the flowers. "Nice roses, Eli. Kian, I didn't know you had a romantic bone in your body."

"I didn't send them," Kian barked, his voice lethal. He didn't look at Drew; his eyes remained fixed on me, dark and warning.

I didn't wait to hear another word. I pushed past Drew, muttering a quick "goodnight," and practically ran out of the penthouse.

---

The cool night air hit me like a slap to the face. I stood on the sidewalk, my legs feeling like jelly. I was a mess. I was supposed to be a professional woman, a mother, and publicly, the fiancée of Elijah. If anyone saw me leaving Kian’s place at this hour looking like this, it would be a scandal that would destroy the Monroe Group’s reputation.

I reached into my bag to call a car, but before I could, my phone buzzed with a new message.

It was from the anonymous number.

My breath hitched as I opened it.

"Don't think I have forgotten about you."

My head snapped up, scanning the dark street, the shadows between the buildings. I felt like a hundred eyes were on me.

Another buzz.

"I'm watching you closely."

Then, a photo was downloaded. My heart stopped. It was a high-resolution shot of me standing exactly where I was now, under the streetlamp outside Kian's building, looking disheveled and shaken.

A final text followed:

"Are you getting back with your ex? What a juicy headline! I wonder what the world, and your 'fiancé' Elijah would think about the CEO of Monroe Group playing house with her ex-husband at night. Talk about a scandal."

The flowers slipped from my hand, the roses scattering across the dirty pavement. The terror I had been trying to suppress came roaring back, cold and paralyzing.

This wasn't just a threat. This person was right here. They knew about Elijah. They knew about Kian. And they were waiting for the perfect moment to watch my entire life go up in flames.

I stood there, frozen in the dark, realizing that no matter how hard I fought to keep my secrets, the walls were finally closing in.