LINES IN THE SAND

ELENA'S POV

My face blanched, devoid of all color at his statement. Even if the words weren't as menacing as they sounded, the look that came with it was even scarier. Bland and placid, yet deadly. And ice cold, it made hell freeze over. Don't think you wanna know. You may not live to tell the story.

He definitely killed someone.

How often did he do that? Does he pull out a Glock every time things don't go his way? I gulped, getting up as well, suddenly feeling claustrophobic being in the same room with this man. 

I have to get far away from here. I began walking away when a hand grabbed my arm, causing me to jump, yelping in fear. I turned to see Damien already behind me, his hand holding on to my arm. He suddenly looked menacing, not someone I should ever think of messing with.

"We're still talking," he said, his voice still placid and bland, but the longer I was in his immediate line of sight, the faster my heart beat from petrification.

I forced myself to blink and my lips to form a reply. "B-but you st-st-stood up first," I forced out. "I thought y-you were leaving."

He blinked at me, straightening and almost towering over me. I didn't realize he was this tall as he stood near me. Or was it the fear talking?

Get a hold of yourself, Elena.

He blinked again.

I blinked back at him.

He reached for my shoulders with both hands, holding me in place. "Elena," he said, his eyes searching mine. "Is something wrong? You're shaking like a leaf."

And just like that, the trance I was in broke. Why was I suddenly afraid of this man? I was equally as powerful as him. But he'll definitely be able to finish you off, if you so much as look at him and it rubs him the wrong way.

I most definitely knew that.

I sidestepped him, the feeling of claustrophobia rushing back, filling my head. "I_ I'm fine."

He gave me a look, like he was trying to make out was wrong, or ask. But decided against it, shoving his hands into the pocket of his pants, lips pressed to a thin line. "Well, if you're going to buy such a large amount of shares, first, you'll need to do it secretly," he started, finally speaking after a long while. 

"If you don't, they'll start getting suspicious and it would backfire on us. Secondly, you have to work to make money. As much as I'd like to throw in some money along with your trust fund, I'm not ready to give out more money to this if it's not going to produce the kind of results I want. If it's not towards getting proof they are the killers, but to your revenge plan, I'm not funding it."

I nodded, understanding perfectly what he's trying to say. "What are you suggesting?"

He smirked, like he was waiting ages for that question. "You're working for the money. For me, in my company." My face scrunched up in displeasure, ready to rebut, but one look at him shut me up.

 How did I forget how the air felt earlier so fast? "No arguments," he said. "You're working for me. You start tomorrow. You'll come with me at the start of work and leave with me when the day is over."

"I'd rather jump off a cliff or work in a barn than work for you," I let out, my lips obviously moving faster than my brain.

His eyebrows hit the roof, as if to say Oh really? "You wanna stick around to find out what I did tonight?" he said darkly, smirking, his velvety yet raspy voice that would do me ten ways to Sunday any other day yet doing anything but. If anything, it shook me to my core, my eyes widening at his remark in fear. I turned on my heels, making a beeline for my room, when he stopped me.

"By the way," he called out, a cocky look on his face. "Your body isn't the best I've seen out there, princess. Maybe ragged at best," he said, shrugging. "And I don't fuck brunettes. I won't even look twice in your direction like that. So get off your high horse. There are so many other women out there who'll drop their panties faster than you can blink at just the mention of my name. Nice view though, just nothing new."

With that, he turned and left the room. My face turned beet red in mortification the moment I was alone.

"I won't fuck you too if my life depended on it," I snapped, but my attempts to come back at him just came out weak and feeble. He wasn't even in the room anymore. I walked into my room, sinking down to the floor, the moment the door shut behind me. Your body isn't the best I've seen out there, princess. Only he could go from a zero, frosty and menacing to a hundred, fucking with my mind real quick. And I walked right into it.

I groan internally, not exactly how I planned my night to end. In my books, nothing can ever top the level of several emotions I've felt in this night alone, from snarky to mischief to fear, even to mortification. Way to go, Elena. You put yourself in this position. Every fucking time.

I have never felt so humiliated in my entire thirty years of living. I want to crawl into a hole from second-hand embarrassment and never come out. I got up and slowly walked to the bed, picking up the pillows I had hurled at him earlier. I had forgotten to place it back before I went downstairs for dinner. 

The bed was soft, fluffy, and the pillows even fluffier. I had placed my head and rested my body, tucked snug under the sheets, and I didn't realize when sleep enveloped me