The Man from the Restroom

Elara

It had been four days since I found out someone had been poisoning me, and I decided I couldn't spend another minute waiting for my life to fall apart.

Fear was exhausting.

I had cried over Roman, stared at my stomach and prayed to the goddess that my babies would survive, and gone through every meal of the last year in my head trying to work out who did this to me.

Now I needed something else. Something I could control.

So I worked.

My laptop sat on the small dining table in Mom's apartment, surrounded by papers, my notebook, and the breakfast I cooked for myself this morning.

I didn't trust anyone else with my food anymore. My fingers stopped above the keyboard when I heard how that sounded inside my own head, and then I kept typing anyway. I wouldn't let whoever did this take my life from me before they even succeeded.

I opened the file. LUNE.

For four years, I built other people's dreams. Roman's company, Roman's reputation, Roman's empire.

I had the ideas. I created systems that saved Blackwood Dominion millions of dollars, and I solved problems before Roman even knew they existed.

Every time someone congratulated him, I stood beside him and smiled.

Not anymore. LUNE would be mine.

By the time Mom walked in, I had barely moved. She dropped her handbag on the couch and looked at the plate beside me.

She came closer and read over my shoulder. "What is this?"

"LUNE. The project I told you about."

I turned the laptop toward her.

For the next few minutes, I explained it properly.

LUNE was meant to connect people who needed help with the people and companies that had the money and the skills to give it.

People with disabilities. Single parents. Small businesses that couldn't afford proper support. People with good ideas and no way to pay for them. They would be able to find funding, resources, and professional help without having to beg someone powerful to notice them first.

Mom listened without interrupting once. When I finished, she sat down slowly. "You've been working on this a long time."

"Months. I just never had time to really focus on it."

"Because you were building Roman's empire." She put her hand on my shoulder. "It’s time to build yours."

Something in my chest loosened. "That's the plan."

Her phone rang. She answered it and walked toward the kitchen, and at first, I went back to my work. Then I heard her say my name.

She hung up a few minutes later. I closed the laptop halfway. "Who was that?"

"My boss."

"Why is your boss calling you about me?"

"Because apparently you're a genius." She spread her hands. "Don't look at me like that. You solved his problem."

Two days ago, mom came home with a colleague of hers who worked in the higher ranks. They brought a work from Cross Dynamics.

I asked to see the proposal. I read it, found the problem buried in the payment structure, and spent the whole afternoon rebuilding the offer. It wasn't difficult.

Not to me.

"He wants to meet you."

"No. I just left a company where I spent four years working for someone else."

"This isn't about working for him. He wants to thank you."

"Well, he can send flowers."

Her brows rose, and I regretted it the second it left my mouth. Flowers. Roman had sent them to my office every Friday for four years, and I let myself believe that meant something. My chest tightened.

Mom's face softened. "Elara, you have to go out eventually."

"I'm fine."

"You're not. Which is exactly why you need to leave this apartment. There's an art opening this evening. He's hosting it." She smiled, and I hated that she was right.

"Elara, it’s just rich people buying expensive paintings."

“Okay mom.” I exhaled

I worked most of the day, and every time I looked at the LUNE plans, I felt something I hadn't felt in years. Excitement.

Not because Roman approved a strategy, or because Blackwood Dominion won another contract. Because this one was mine.

At six, mom knocked on my bedroom door. She stepped inside and looked me over. The dress was black and simple, loose enough that I didn't feel like I was suffocating in it. "You look beautiful."

I grabbed my bag. "Thanks mom. Now let's go before I change my mind."

The gallery was already full when we arrived. Music played from speakers I couldn't see, and people stood in small groups holding wine and pretending to understand the paintings.

I kept my hands away from every tray that passed me. I wasn't taking any chances.

A woman in a gold dress called mom, and the two of them hugged like sisters. Mom was so excited. From what I remembered, cleaners didn’t attend such events. But because I did a little work for someone high up the food chain, she belonged. Even if it was just for an evening.

Then, a sudden scent washed over me—dark espresso, cedarwood, cutting sharply through the gallery's perfume and wine. My pulse skipped a beat.

"Interesting choice."

I knew that voice. My whole body went still, and I turned around slowly.

It was the man from the restroom. He was in a black suit tonight, his dark hair combed back, looking nothing like the stranger who carried my groceries to the car. More polished. More dangerous. But the eyes were the exact same, and right now they were locked on ME.

"You? What’re you doing here?" I said.

He glanced around the room. "I could ask you the same question."

Before I could answer, Mom appeared beside me. She saw him and her whole face brightened. "Mr. Cross."

My heart stopped. I looked at her, then at him, then back at her.

"You’re Levi Cross."

He slid one hand into his pocket. "Nice to officially meet you, Elara."

Levi Cross. CEO of Cross Dynamics. One of the most powerful men in New York. For years I’d how Cross Dynamics was Roman's biggest rival. But now I’m staring at the man behind the name.

The same man who had found me crying outside a men's restroom four days ago.

"Your mother told me on the phone that her daughter rebuilt my contract. She told me your name."

Mom looked between the two of us. "You two know each other?"

Heat climbed into my face. Levi answered first. "We met at the grocery store." He waited for a second. "Outside the men's restroom."

"Interesting." Mom's eyebrows lifted toward her hairline.

She was so happy Levi was talking to me. After all, she was just a janitor who happened to introduce her friend's work to me. In her mind, this was an opportunity.

Levi laughed, a deep, warm sound, and something in my chest turned over. Then the woman in the gold dress called mom again and my mother drifted away, still smiling to herself, and I wanted to follow her.

Levi stepped closer. Not too close. Just enough that his voice dropped. "I've been wondering if I would ever see you again."

"You said maybe."

"Maybe came faster than I expected."

For one moment, I didn't feel broken. I didn't feel afraid, or like someone's wife, or someone's employee, or a woman who needed saving. I was just Elara, and Levi Cross was looking at me like that was more than enough.

Then something warm moved through my body. Deep and slow, and it felt exactly like a warning.

My fingers tightened around my handbag. Levi noticed at once. "Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth to answer him.

A low voice spoke inside my head.

Careful.

The gallery went quiet around me. My heart slammed against my ribs. I looked at the people standing nearest to us, but nobody had turned. Nobody else heard it.

"Elara?" Levi asked.

It came again, softer this time.

Careful of him.

But the voice wasn't frightened. It was curious. Interested. If anything, it sounded pleased.

I stared at Levi Cross. The stranger. My mom's boss. Roman's rival. And I understood one thing with complete certainty.

Meeting him at that grocery store was something.. it just wasn’t an accident.