Chapter 4 - The Digital Leash

The air in Julian’s office was filtered, chilled, and smelled faintly of ozone and his expensive cologne. It was a beautiful cage, but a cage nonetheless.

​For three hours, I sat at the small desk in the corner, staring at the photo of my seventeen-year-old self on the monitor. Every time I tried to close the image, it looped back. It was a reminder: I have been watching you. I have always been watching you.

​Julian sat ten feet away behind his massive slab of obsidian-colored glass, fielding calls that involved billions of dollars. He ignored me, or so I thought, until I reached for the mouse and opened a private browser window.

​My heart hammered against my ribs. My fingers were cold, fumbling as I typed in a webmail address Julian hadn't blocked yet. I didn't try to call Sarah—he’d have the logs. I didn't try the police—who would believe me? I was the legal ward of a billionaire philanthropist.

​I typed a message to the one person Julian hated: Danny. My ex. The boy with the motorcycle and the "bad influence" reputation that Julian had used as an excuse to ground me for a month last year.

​Danny, he has me. He moved my things. He took my passport. I’m at the Vane Building. Help me.

​I hovered the cursor over 'Send.' My breath was shallow, my lungs burning. Just one click. One plea for help into the dark.

​"I wouldn't do that, Elara."

​The voice was right behind my ear. I hadn't even heard him move. Julian was standing over me, his shadow swallowing the desk. I scrambled to close the window, but his hand clamped down over mine on the mouse, pinning it to the pad.

​His palm was hot, his grip like iron.

​"You think I gave you a computer with an unmonitored line?" Julian’s voice was a low, dangerous silk. He leaned down, his chest pressing against my back, forcing me to lean forward. "I own the satellites that carry this data, Little Bird. Every keystroke you make is mirrored on my phone."

​He clicked the mouse himself. Not to delete the email, but to send it.

​"Why did you do that?" I gasped, trying to twist away.

​"Because Danny needs to know exactly where to come so I can show him what happens to boys who touch things that belong to me," Julian growled. He gripped the back of my chair and spun it around, forcing me to face him.

​He didn't look calm anymore. There was a raw, jagged hunger in his eyes that made my blood turn to ice. He reached out, his fingers tracing the silver choker at my throat, tilting my head back until I was looking directly into the grey storm of his gaze.

​"You broke Rule Number Two, Elara. You tried to contact the past."

​"You can't keep me here like this! It’s kidnapping!"

​"It’s protection," he countered, his thumb pressing firmly against the center of my throat, right above the diamond drop. "The world is a dangerous place for a girl with your inheritance and your face. I am the only thing standing between you and people who would truly hurt you."

​He leaned in, his nose brushing against mine. "Since you have so much energy for rebellion, perhaps you need a reminder of who provides the air you breathe."

​He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, sleek remote. He pressed a button, and the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the office began to frost over, turning the transparent walls into an opaque, white void. We were now completely cut off from the world outside.

​"What are you doing?"

​"I'm giving you my undivided attention," he said. He reached down and unbuckled his watch, tossing it onto my desk with a heavy clink. "You wanted to play games, Elara. You wanted to see if the leash was real. Now, you’re going to learn that every time you pull against it, I pull back twice as hard."

​He grabbed my waist and lifted me out of the chair as if I weighed nothing, setting me down on the edge of the obsidian desk. My skirt hiked up, my bare skin hitting the cold glass.

​"Julian, stop," I whispered, but my body was traitorous. The fear was there, sharp and cold, but underneath it was a heat I couldn't explain—a terrifying pull toward the man who had destroyed my life just to own it.

​"I’ll stop when you learn," he whispered, his lips ghosting over mine. "You aren't a student anymore. You aren't Danny’s girlfriend. You are the heartbeat of this building. You are mine. And tonight, when we go home, you’re going to sleep in my bed. Not the guest suite. Mine. So I can wake up and make sure you haven't dreamt of anyone else."

​He didn't kiss me. Not yet. He just stared at me, let the silence and the weight of his words sink in, until I was shaking from the sheer intensity of his stare.

​"Now," he said, stepping back just enough to let me breathe, but not enough to let me go. "Delete the draft of that other email you were writing. The one to the lawyer. And then, you’re going to sit in my lap while I finish this board meeting on speakerphone. You won't make a sound. Not a whimper. Because if you do... I’ll show everyone on that call exactly how I discipline my ward.