Chapter 14: Chapter 13 What Belongs at My Desk
My lungs flatlined.
I spun around so fast my ankles nearly snapped in those three-month-rent heels, wide, waiting for the monster from my past to rip my life apart right here on the floor.
But Helix wasn’t looking at me.
In fact, he wasn’t even facing my direction. He was twenty feet away by the entrance, surrounded by flashing cameras, laughing like the arrogant bastard he had always been. The deep voice that had called my name? It was just some random investor behind me yelling for a waitress named "Mariella."
It was all a hallucination. My own goddamn mind playing tricks on me because of fear.
I let out a shaky, pathetic breath, my hands trembling so hard I wanted to shove them into my dress pockets—except this piece-of-shit luxury gown didn’t have any.
Get it together, Mireya, I cursed myself. You are not that scared little girl from five years ago. You’re his brother’s executive assistant. You came back to Italy to secure a life, get wealthy, and eventually ruin that motherfucker’s entire existence. You can’t let the community dick scare you into a cardiac arrest before you even get a chance to take his head. Helix Monroe was a less-than-thirty-seconds man anyway. He didn’t deserve my panic.
"You look like you’re about to faint, Miss Brenner. Or did the family name finally break you?"
A large hand suddenly clamped around my bare waist. The heat of his palm against the open back of my dress was shocking, sending an electric jolt straight up my spine.
I blinked, breaking out of my trance, and looked up.
Laziel was standing right over me. His fingers didn’t just casually rest on my skin; they dug into my waist. His eyes were tracking exactly where my eyes had been staring.
Right at Helix.
"I’m... I’m fine," I stammered, trying to step back, but his grip only tightened, pulling me flush against his side. "Just lost my footing."
"Liar," Laziel chocked. slowly leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "You’ve been acting weird since his name was printed on the list. Care to tell me why you’re looking at my brother like you want to carve his heart out?"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I whispered.
His eyes darkened, "Keep telling yourself that... But look at yourself tonight, Mireya. It would be a tragedy if I had to fire you for looking too good, but it would be an even bigger crime if anyone else in this room touched what belongs at my desk."
Holy shit.
Was he claiming me in front of all these people?
Around us, the whispers started instantly.
"Is that Laziel Monroe?" a rich woman in diamonds whispered to her friend a few feet away, her eyes glued to his hand on my bare waist. "Who the hell is she? I thought he was married."
My ears perked up. Married? The dickhead was married?
I froze, a weird, unexpected sting hitting my chest. He had a wife?
Of course he did. Rich, toxic billionaires like him didn’t just walk around unattached. But why the fuck did it matter to me? It didn’t. He was a puzzle, a dangerous one, and I needed to keep my distance.
Laziel didn’t seem to hear the gossiping women. Or maybe he just didn’t care.
"Come," Laziel commanded.
Before I could argue, Laziel guided me through the ballroom with his hand still planted firmly against my waist.
Every head turned as we passed.
People stopped talking. Conversations lowered into whispers.
I could practically feel the questions burning holes into my bare back.
Who is she?
Why is Laziel Monroe touching her?
Why does he look like he wants to kill anyone who gets too close?
"I can walk by myself, Mr. Monroe," I muttered through clenched teeth, trying to squirm out of his grip.
"Then stop trying to run away every time you see my brother."
"I wasn’t—"
"You were." His thumb pressed lightly against my waist, just enough to remind me I wasn’t escaping anytime soon. "You’ve spent the last ten minutes pretending otherwise."
God, I hated how observant he was.
We stopped beside a group of investors.
The second they saw me attached to Laziel’s side, their expressions shifted. Confusion, curiosity, and thinly disguised jealousy rippled through them. But Laziel ignored all of it, completely unbothered.
"Miss Brenner reorganized the Milan shipping schedules in forty-eight hours," he said flatly. "Which is impressive, considering most people in this company struggle to organize their own calendars."
Was that...
A compliment? From the mouth of the devil himself?
One of the investors laughed nervously.
"Your new assistant seems to have survived longer than the others."
Laziel’s gaze slid toward me.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly into a dark, wicked smirk. "And I find myself strangely unwilling to get rid of her."
Heat rushed straight to my cheeks. Oh, hell no. This man was not flirting with me in front of half of Italy’s billionaire population.
Across the room, the cameras outside went crazy again near the entrance. Helix was still over there, surrounded by a new flock of high-society leeches. Still laughing. Still completely oblivious to my existence.
Good. Perfect. That was exactly what I wanted. I needed to stay invisible.
So why the fuck did a weird pinch of disappointment sting somewhere deep inside my chest?
Absolutely not, I scolded myself, wanting to slap my own brain. My revenge fantasy was supposed to happen years from now. After I had money. After I had actual power. After I wasn’t wearing a borrowed dress. the plan. I was supposed to ruin his life, not have a goddamn panic attack just because the bastard existed in the same zip code.
A waiter walked past with champagne.
I grabbed a glass without thinking and drained half of it.
"Nervous, Miss Brenner?"
Before I could force a lie out of my mouth, a stunning older woman in a silver dress approached.
Her eyes moved from me to Laziel’s hand still resting on my waist.
Then she smiled politely.
"Your wife couldn’t make it tonight?"
