chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

ELLIS POV

The morning sun cut a sharp line across the mattress, waking me slowly.

I was face down, my cheek pressed against the familiar, steady rise and fall of Alex's chest. The air in the room was cool, but the sheets tangled around my hips kept the warmth trapped between us.

For the first time all week, the heavy ache in my shoulders had dissolved into the mattress.

Alex's heartbeat picked up under my ear.It didn't speed up gently,it spiked, hard and sudden.

Above me, his breath caught.The easy warmth that usually rolled off him vanished instantly, replaced by a rigid, freezing stillness.I kept my eyes shut, pretending to sleep as his arm began to slide out from under me.

He moved slowly and gently.I let out a soft, low grunt and rolled onto my side to give him space, keeping my eyes heavy and closed.

The mattress shifted as his weight left it.

Through lowered lashes, I watched him swing his legs over the edge.

He paused, his back a tense, straight line, before reaching back to pull the duvet up over my bare shoulders.

The floorboards creaked under his bare feet.I didn’t open my eyes to look at him.

The soft, heavy quiet we had shared a hours ago was completely dead.He was already in his own head pacing.

The rustle of fabric broke the silence.

Through half closed eyes, I watched Alex pull his trousers on, his movements hurried as he yanked his belt tight.

On the floor, his shirt lay discarded,the first button missing from the front.

I shifted, the sheets crisp against my skin as I pushed myself up onto my elbows.

"Dressed already?" I mumbled, clearing the sleep from my throat.

I let a small smile pull at my mouth, leaning back to pat the warm, empty space he'd just left on the mattress.

Alex didn’t look up.He was already reaching for his watch on the dresser, his thumb tracing the leather band.

He kept his jaw locked, his eyes glued to the watch face as he forced the silver buckle into place.

"I have to get to the office," he said.

The words were clipped and cold.

Just like that, the guy who had been holding me all night was gone.

"I need to be at my desk before the opening bell," he added.

The words hit me like ice water and the smile on my face vanished.

I scrambled backward until my spine hit the headboard, dragging the heavy duvet up to my chest, squeezing the fabric so hard my fingers throbbed and my knuckles turning white.

"Alex?" I whispered.

He didn’t budge from the dresser.He crossed his arms, his thumb rubbing a hard, heavy circle against his opposite wrist, right over his pulse.

"We need to talk about what this is," he said pointing between us

"Because right now, my stock is tanking, my board is threatening to replace me, and my mother is breathing down my neck."

The words stung and I flinched.

"I know. But last night..." I said softly.

“Last night was just a heat of the moment thing," he cut in.

"The tension between us has been building for three years, and it was getting in the way of the work. Now it’s out of our system."

I just stared at him.

I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough it drew blood keeping my eyes locked on his until my face went completely blank.

"Right," I said, a dry, humorless sound escaping me. "Good to know. Just blowing off steam. God forbid we actually complicate the work."

I swung my legs out of bed on the opposite side, keeping my back turned to him. I grabbed my robe from the chair, threw it on, and yanked the belt into a tight, aggressive knot.

"I need a shower."

Before I could take a step, my phone vibrated hard against the nightstand.

I stopped, reached over, and picked it up.

I swiped to answer and pressed the phone to my ear, my whole body locking up.

"Theo?" I called

My fingers squeezed the plastic case so hard they ached.

"What do you mean? We paid the deposit upfront."

I stood perfectly still, listening.

As the voice on the other end continued, my shoulders slowly dropped.

I turned my head to look back at Alex, the bitterness in my chest instantly replaced by a cold, crushing weight.

"Alex," I said, lowering the phone slightly. "Santoro Mills just pulled out. They've frozen the shipments for the materials."

Alex blinked, standing upright from the dresser.

"What? That's impossible."

"They say we breached the contract or sort," I muttered.

My eyes dropped to the floorboards as my voice started to crack.

"Theo says their legal team got a cease and desist last night. It orders them to stop production on my designs immediately and die what damn reason I don't even know."

Alex stared at me as though the floor had vanished beneath his feet.

"I was never informed about that."

I stepped forward, gripping the collar of my robe tightly against my throat.

"Alex, the whole collection is built around those specific Italian fabrics. If we use cheaper replacements, the line is completely ruined."

"We aren't using replacements," he said, his voice dropping into that flat tone.

"Then how do we make the clothes?"

The words rushed out of me, my throat tightening as the panic finally broke through.

"Do we just give up? Disband the team? Why the hell would they just drop us?"

Alex ground his teeth, his jaw locking.

"Because last night, someone used my digital signature to send that letter. They told them your designs were stolen property."

I froze.

The bedroom seemed to tilt around me.

I stared at him, the realization hitting me like cold water.

The man standing across from me had spent the last five minutes building a wall to protect his company, to protect himself.

"You didn't," I whispered, taking a slow step back toward the bathroom door.

"Don't be stupid, Ellis," he snapped, closing the distance between us in two long strides.

He towered over me, his chest rising and falling fast. The faint scent of the bed we had just shared still clung to him.

“For what reason will I have to do that to you!” He shouted

I looked up at him.His chest heaved as I searched his eyes for any twitch, any sign of a lie.

Slowly, my shoulders dropped.

The frantic panic began to drain away, leaving behind a heavy, freezing quiet.

"The leaked email from my server... and now a forged signature from yours," I said softly, the pieces finally clicking together.

He turned away from me and paced toward the window and stared out at the city waking up below, leaving me standing barefoot in the center of the room.

My hands trembled slightly against the fabric of my robe.

I lowered my chin, my leg almost slumping beneath the weight of it all as everything I had built over the last three years seemed to turn to ash right in front of me.

Alex didn't stay by the window for long.He spun around and marched toward the chair, his boots loud against the floorboards.

He grabbed his heavy wool overcoat, the metal hook of the hanger scraping against the closet rod with a sharp, piercing screech.

He shoved his arms into the sleeves, not even looking at me as he adjusted the collar.

"I'm going to the office. We need to find out whose IP address sent that signature. Stay by your phone," he said, his voice clipped and back to that dead, professional tone.

Before I could answer, he crossed the room and headed for the door.

The heavy wood slammed shut behind him, the lock clicking into place with a sharp thud that echoed through the apartment.

Then he was gone.

The silence came rushing back, heavier than before.

I stood there alone, the cold floor biting into my bare feet, listening to the emptiness he left behind.

For a moment, I didn't move.The room still smelled like him.Like the night we had shared.

Like the mistake he'd already decided to forget.

The forged signature,the leaked email.None of it was a coincidence,that I know.