LOGINNatalie’s POV
By the time I woke up the next morning, I had almost convinced myself that I was imagining everything.
Almost.
I stood in the kitchen making breakfast while Ava sat at the table, swinging her legs beneath her chair and talking about school, and for a few minutes, listening to her made everything feel ordinary again.
Maybe the SUV had been a coincidence.
Maybe someone el
Natalie’s POVAva had somehow decided that King’s Corporation was one of her favorite places in the world.I wasn’t sure how that had happened.The first time she’d come to the office, she’d spent most of the afternoon drawing pictures and asking Mia questions about everyone who walked past the reception desk.The second time, she’d drawn Lucas and called him Mr. Serious Face.Apparently, that had been enough to make the entire building memorable.Now she was standing beside me in the elevator, holding my hand while talking nonstop about a drawing she’d made that morning.“And then Carla said the dog looked like a potato.”I smiled.“Did it?”“No.”She looked offended by the sugg
Natalie’s POVBy eight that evening, most of the executive floor was empty.The usual noise had disappeared hours ago, leaving only the quiet hum of computers and the occasional sound of footsteps somewhere beyond the glass doors.I was still at my desk, staring at the same presentation slide I’d been working on for the last fifteen minutes.Nothing was wrong with it.I just couldn’t concentrate.The project had been sitting on Lucas’s desk for weeks, but a major client had suddenly moved their deadline forward, which meant everything had to be reviewed, corrected, and submitted before morning.Normally, I could handle pressure.I’d spent years handling pressure.Bills, work, Ava, unexpected emergencies, and every other problem life seemed determined to throw at me.
Lucas’s POV“Who contacted her?”The question had barely left my mouth when Tom looked down at the folder in his hands.“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”I frowned.“Then why did you say you found another lead?”“Because there’s something else in the file.”He opened the folder again and pulled out a photocopied document.“I found this attached to one of the old investigation reports.”I took it from him.At first, it looked like nothing more than another useless piece of paperwork, the kind of document that had probably been overlooked because nobody thought it mattered.Then I saw the name.Natalie Hart.My eyes narrowed.“What is this?”“It’s a record of a phone call attempt.”I looked at him.“From Natalie?”Tom nodded.My attention immediately returned to the paper.The date was several years old.Five years ago.Around the same period Natalie had disappeared.My fingers tightened around the edge of the document.“That can’t be right.”“It gets more interesting.”I looked
Natalie’s POVLucas was being exactly what I had asked him to be.Professional.Distant.Careful.So why didn’t it feel like a victory?I stared at the email he’d sent me that morning, reading the same three lines for the fourth time.Please have the revised documents ready before the eleven o’clock meeting.That was it.No unnecessary questions, no dry comments about my coffee order, no brief conversations that somehow turned into discussions about everything except work.Just instructions.I should have been relieved.After the almost-kiss, I had spent days telling myself that distance was exactly what I needed. Lucas was my boss, I was his employee, and whatever had almost happened between us needed to stay e
Lucas’ POVI already knew the answer before Natalie said anything.The way she had gone completely still when I asked, the way her fingers tightened around the strap of her purse, and the brief hesitation before she finally looked at me told me more than her words probably would have.“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.I almost smiled, but there was nothing funny about the situation.“You know exactly what I mean.”Her eyes dropped.For a moment, I considered pushing her for an answer, but the more I looked at her, the more obvious it became that she was uncomfortable, and that was the last thing I wanted.So I stepped back.“Forget I asked.”She looked surprised.“Mr. King…”&n
Natalie’s POVI couldn’t stop thinking about it.No matter how many times I told myself to focus on something else, my mind kept returning to the same moment, the darkness in the hallway, Lucas catching me before I fell, the way his hand had moved through my hair, and the unbearable few seconds when neither of us had made any effort to step away.I barely slept that night.Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered how close he’d been, close enough that I could feel his breath, close enough that I knew exactly what he was about to do.And the worst part wasn’t that he had almost kissed me.It was that I had wanted him to.That realization made me bury my face into my pillow and groan quietly.What was wrong with me?Lucas was my boss.My boss.Yes he was also Ava’s father but that didn’t and definitely shouldn’t have changed the fact that there were plenty of men in the world I could have complicated my life with, and somehow my brain had decided the best possible choice was the man wh
Chapter 3LUCAS’ POV I didn’t want to attend that meeting, but I was glad I did. Apparently, I had a new personal assistant. Not that I needed one, but mother insisted. But when she walked in and I got just a glimpse of her, my whole world stopped. It was a face I hadn’t seen in years, and neve
Chapter Two - NATALIE'S POV The phone nearly slipped from my hand.“What the fuck?” I muttered. Jason was a lot of things, but this was a whole new level of low. I typed. “Are you stalking me now?” Then I cleared it. I stared at the message, panicking and thinking of how to respond. So I did
Chapter One - Natalie Pov: My phone started ringing before I could take a single sip. I looked at it in pure disgust. It was an unknown number and I wasn’t in the mood to even guess who it was. I stared at the screen, debating whether to ignore it. The phone rang again. And again.With a sigh,
Prologue - Five Years EarlierI should have known something was wrong the moment Vanessa volunteered to help with the wedding.My stepsister had never volunteered for anything in her life, not unless there was something in it for her.Yet somehow, I ignored every warning sign.The late-night phone







