I should have stopped.
That was the smart thing to do.
The safe thing.
The thing any sane person would do after being warned by a man like Rico Zander.
But I wasn't safe.
And I wasn't sane enough to let this go.
---
If charm didn't work…
I would just have to persist.
Carefully.
Patiently.
Until he slipped.
---
That evening, I found him in the study again.
Of course he was there.
Rico didn't seem like the kind of man who rested.
More like someone who stayed awake just to remind the world he was still in control of it.
---
I knocked softly on the door frame.
He didn't look up immediately.
"Come in," he said.
No surprise.
No emotion.
---
I stepped inside slowly.
"I thought you'd be busy," I said lightly.
"I am," he replied.
Simple.
Final.
---
I walked further into the room anyway, refusing to be dismissed so easily.
"I won't take much of your time," I said.
That made him glance at me.
Finally.
---
"Then take none," he said.
I smiled faintly.
But I didn't leave.
---
Instead, I leaned lightly against the desk across from him.
"I just want to talk," I said.
"You always say that," he replied.
"And you always listen," I shot back before I could stop myself.
A pause.
That one got him.
Just slightly.
---
His eyes lifted fully now.
Studying me again.
Like I was a problem he hadn't decided how to solve yet.
---
"You're persistent," he said.
"I've been called worse."
A faint shift in his expression.
Almost… amusement.
---
That was new.
And I noticed it immediately.
---
"So," I said softly, "what do you do when you're not being terrifying and mysterious all day?"
Silence.
Then—
"I don't stop being either."
I laughed quietly despite myself.
"Of course you don't."
---
For a moment, the room felt… less heavy.
Not safe.
Never safe.
But less sharp.
---
Then something changed.
He leaned back in his chair, watching me more openly now.
Not rejecting me.
Not inviting me.
Just… observing.
---
"You're not afraid of me," he said.
It wasn't a question.
I hesitated.
Then shrugged lightly.
"Should I be?"
A pause.
"Yes."
---
That should have ended it.
But it didn't.
Because instead of pushing me away…
He stood up.
---
Slowly.
Intentionally.
And walked toward me.
---
My breath slowed without permission.
I told myself to step back.
I didn't.
---
He stopped just in front of me.
Too close.
Close enough that I could feel the tension in his silence.
---
"You're playing a game you don't understand," he said quietly.
I tilted my head slightly.
"Then teach me."
---
That was the mistake.
I saw it in his eyes.
A flicker.
Something unstable.
Something human.
---
For a second, neither of us moved.
The air between us tightened.
Too much awareness.
Too much silence.
Too much something neither of us named.
---
"I shouldn't," he said softly.
"Shouldn't what?" I whispered.
---
He didn't answer.
Not with words.
---
His hand lifted slightly—hesitating near my face as if unsure whether to stop or continue.
And that hesitation…
Was the first crack.
---
I don't know who moved first.
Maybe me.
Maybe him.
Maybe neither of us wanted to admit it was real.
---
But suddenly—
The space between us disappeared.
---
It wasn't gentle.
It wasn't planned.
It wasn't part of any strategy.
It just happened.
A mistake.
A collision of silence and too much staring and too many unspoken rules breaking at once.
---
For a brief second—
Everything stopped.
---
Then he pulled back slightly.
Just enough to breathe.
Just enough to realize what had happened.
---
And for the first time…
I saw it.
Not control.
Not calculation.
Not coldness.
---
A flicker in his eyes.
Something sharp.
Something unsettled.
Something that made my heart stutter before I could stop it.
---
Rico Zander… had reacted.
---
Not like a man in control.
But like a man who had just lost a fraction of it.
---
And that terrified me more than anything else.
Because I wasn't sure anymore…
If I had just gotten closer to the truth.
Or dangerously closer to him.