All Chapters of The Billionaire Who Stole My Heart: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

ClaraThe elevator speed dialed its way up to the fifty-fourth floor of Thorne Enterprises, and as we ascended, my stomach slowed and sort of sank.*Fifty-two. Fifty-three. Fifty-four.**Ding.*The doors opened silently, affording a expansive view of the space that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and was filled with glass and grey, shiny marble. The office resembled more a fortress with high-tech walls than an executive office, and it had the effect of keeping humanity at bay. Ideal for the enigmatic, cold-blooded CEO named Sebastian Thorne, whose name rocked the stock markets and sent market analysts in a panic.Smoothing my navy tailored blazer, taking a deep breath and straightening the leather portfolio under my arm. I had come here, the very pinnacle, after seven years of working my way up the corporate ladder in Manhattan. Working for the head of the multi-billion dollar luxury hotel empire is more than enough to pay off my remaining student loans and secure my future. I

​ClaraI don't know about him, but if he believed that I would be rattled after a few days by a big, cold, serious look, he was mistaken, because in seven years I became a woman of steel.With the thick leather binder in one hand and my tablet in the other, I pushed the glass doors open. As I walked in he was not looking up from his work station. The three large screens cast a blue glow on his angular face, and he looked more like a statue of marble than the boy with whom I shared a five dollar slice of lukewarm pizza on my dorm room floor.I approached his desk and set down the binder with a purposeful, heavy thud.I walked over to his desk and placed the binder with a firm, deliberate thump. As well as the 5 year projection analysis you asked me for.Finally, he raised his eyes. Those grey eyes, cool, calculating and utterly unreadable scanned my face before settling on the binder.“You took the records with you,” he said, his voice crisp and intoning. I am definitely more of a digit

​ClaraThe west wing library resembled a scene from a horror novel, with its dark, rustic oak paneling, floor-to-ceiling leather-bound books, and a roaring oak marble fireplace, which did not help warm up the room.I was sitting at a small side table, tablet at my fingertips, pen ready to go at a leather pad. Richard Vane was seated at the mahogany table. He was a man in his late fifties, with soft blue eyes, slicked-back silver hair and a predatory smile on his lips that never reached his eyes.Perfectly composed and at the head of the table, there sat Sebastian, as a waiter poured a vintage Cabernet. He didn't give any indication of tension if he had had it from our hour in the rain. The man was a vault.Sebastian looked at him, surprised. “I must say, Vane, I was surprised when you agreed to this acquisition structure; Thorne Enterprises usually likes to have total control, taking on our syndicate as minority stakeholders seems out of character.”Sebastian replied coolly, raising h

ClaraMy lips were tender still, and felt the ghostly phantom of Julian's—of Sebastian's—mouth pressed on mine.It was the first grey light of dawn over the Atlantic Ocean and I was in front of the vanity mirror in my guest room, gazing at my reflection. A navy blazer was to go the way of the dodo and be replaced by a crisp charcoal skirt suit. I smoothed down the cloth and breathed in deeply and told myself that I was ready to face the lion I was walking towards.Last night had turned all the things upside down. The wall I had erected in my anger over the past seven years was not only cracked, but was now crumbling into fine dust. He was not going to leave behind me. He's sacrificed himself, has taken on a ruthless corporate empire to keep a target off my back.He still loves me. The thought made me feel a warm, hot shiver in my body. As I pulled my hair aside and formed a neat and tidy bun, though, reality struck me! Loving each other didn't make Richard Vane any less dangerous. “No