Chapter Five

As we stepped out of the private elevator onto the executive floor of Hart Global, the air didn't just turn cold; it pressurized.

Lucien didn’t slow down. He moved through the office like a king walking through a conquered territory. Every head snapped up. Every conversation died. I felt the weight of a dozen gazes, some curious, some hungry, some sharp with envy, but before I could even blink, Lucien had grabbed me by the small of my back and was marching me towards the office right next to his.

"Sit," he commanded, gesturing to a desk piled with thick folders. "Summarize these merger histories. All of them. By lunch."

"This would take a legal team a week," I said, staring at the mountain of paper.

"Then you’d better start reading, Scarlett. And stay inside. I don’t want you socializing with the staff. They have work to do, and you’re a distraction they can’t afford."

I scoffed at his arrogance.

He disappeared into his own office, leaving me trapped in a high-end fishbowl. I was three folders deep into dry corporate papers when the door swung open without a knock. A woman stood there, draped in a cream silk dress that probably cost more than my earnings. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun so tight it looked painful, and her eyes—a piercing, icy blue—raked over me with pure, unadulterated venom.

Liza Vane. The CEO of Vane Logistics and the woman the tabloids claimed was the "Next Mrs. Hart"

She didn't speak at first. She just walked in, leaning her hip against my desk and looking at me like I was a smudge on her windshield. "The new charity case," she mused. "I expected... more. You look like a stray dog" running her eyes all over me.

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms. Here I was trying to be good girl and mind my business but this trouble came knocking.

"And you look like you’re lost. The lobby is forty floors down."

It came out sharp before I could bit them back.

Liza’s eyes flared, but she smoothed her dress with a manicured hand. "I’m never lost in this building, darling. I spend more nights in the penthouse than you’ve spent hours. Lucien likes things... familiar. He likes a woman who knows exactly how he takes his pleasure."

She leaned over the desk, her cloying perfume filling my lungs. "Go downstairs and get me a sugar-free oat milk latte. And make it quick. Lucien and I have a meeting, and I don't like to be kept waiting by the help."

I looked through the glass wall. Lucien was sitting at his desk, his eyes fixed on a monitor, but the slight tilt of his head told me he was listening through the intercom.

I turned back to Elena and let out a soft, mocking laugh. "A latte? I’m sorry, is there a sign on my forehead that says Barista? Or are you just so used to barking orders at people who are paid to tolerate you that you've forgotten how to use your own legs?"

Liza’s jaw tightened. "Do you have any idea who I am? I’m the woman who will be running this empire alongside Lucien.. I’ve seen every side of him you’ll never reach."

"If you've spent that much time in his bed and you're still insecure enough to pick a fight with a 'stray dog' , then you must not have been very memorable, Elena." I stood up, leaning in until we were nose-to-nose. "If you want a coffee, go fetch it yourself. I’m busy doing the work you’re clearly too vapid to understand."

Elena’s face contorted. "You little slut.."

She raised her hand as if to slap me, but I caught her wrist mid-air. My grip was iron. "Try it," I whispered, my voice dropping to a dangerous low. "And I’ll show you exactly what a 'stray dog' do to people who dare to undermine her."

A low, dark chuckle vibrated through the air.

We both froze. Lucien was standing in the doorway connecting our offices, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. For the first time since I’d met him, the icy mask was gone, replaced by a look of sheer, dark amusement.

"She has a point, Liza," Lucien drawled, his grey eyes dancing with a wicked glint. "If you're thirsty, the breakroom is down the hall. Scarlett is here to work, not to be your personal assistant."

Liza flushed a deep, ugly red. "Lucien! This... this creature just threatened me! After everything we've shared.."

"What we've 'shared' was a business arrangement with benefits that expired six months ago," Lucien said, his voice turning cold as he stepped into the room. He walked past Liza as if she were furniture and stopped in front of me. "And as for the creature... I think she handled you just fine."

Liza sputtered, looking between us before spinning on her heel and storming out, her heels clicking a furious rhythm against the marble.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and slumped back against the desk. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Immensely," Lucien admitted. He stepped closer, invading my space until I was trapped between the desk and his towering frame. He reached out, his thumb catching my chin and forcing me to look up. "You’re sharp-mouthed, Scarlett. Brave. Arrogant."

"I learned from the best," I bit back.

His gaze dropped to my lips, and the amusement in his eyes shifted into something heavy, a dark, suffocating hunger. "One of these days," he murmured, his voice a low vibration that made my toes curl, "I might be forced to take you aside myself and discipline that mouth of yours thoroughly."

My pulse hammered against my throat. "Is that a threat, Mr. Hart?"

"It's a promise," he breathed. He leaned in, his lips a hair’s breadth from mine, long enough for the tension to snap. Then, he pulled back abruptly. "Boardroom. Five minutes. And if you talk to the directors like you just talked to Liza... I might just have to give you a raise."

He walked out, leaving me trembling and craving a touch I knew would destroy me. I grabbed my notepad, my head spinning, and followed him toward the massive double doors of the boardroom.

But as the directors looked up, their faces pale with fear, I realized I wasn't just there to take minutes.. maybe to observe how he breaks directors in the boardroom.