The clock on the monitor hit 2:17 AM
I stopped typing. My heart started racing because I knew the sound that was coming next. The heavy bolt on the door slid back with a loud click.
Renzo walked in. He had taken off his jacket, and his white shirt was open at the neck. His sleeves were rolled up, showing the dark tattoos on his arms. He didn't look tired; he looked like a predator that had finally found his prey.
"Progress, Secretary?" he asked. His voice was low and dangerous.
"I've cracked the first layer," I said. My hands were shaking as I gripped the edge of the desk. "But the rest is-"
"I didn't come here for a report, Elara."
He walked closer until he was right in front of me. I could smell the scotch and the cold rain on him. It made my head spin.
**He grabbed my chin and tilted my head back. Then, he dragged his thumb roughly over my lower lip, forcing my mouth open. "It's 2:17 AM," he hissed. "The time my world ended. Every night at this hour… you remember it with me."**
"Renzo,"
Without warning, he grabbed my waist and lifted me onto the mahogany desk. I gasped as the papers crinkled under me. The black silk shirt felt thin against my skin.
He didn't move like the boy I once loved. He moved like a takeover.
He stepped between my knees, pinning me against the desk. His hands stayed on the wood on both sides of my hips, trapping me. The pencil skirt slid up my thighs, leaving my skin exposed to the cold air.
"You think this is just work, Little Ghost?" he whispered against my ear. "You think you can just hide behind your code? Every second in this house is a debt. And at 2:17 AM, I collect the interest."
He leaned in until his lips brushed mine.his breath a searing promise against my skin. I hated him. I hated what he had become. I wanted to push him away. But as his hand slid from the desk to the bare skin of my thigh, my body betrayed me. I arched into his touch, my fingers tangling instinctively in the hair at the back of his neck.
"Your heart is racing, Elara," he murmured. "Is it fear? Or do you realize you still belong to me?"
"I don't belong to anyone," I breathed, but my voice broke.
Renzo smirked. It was a cold, mean look. "We'll see about that. By the time I'm done with you tonight, you'll forget you ever had a name that wasn't mine."
He pulled me closer and kissed me hard, that tasted of his and obsession, claiming the interest he was owed.
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