My phone is a live wire in my hand, buzzing with David's name. The message is simple, a time and a place, but it's not a suggestion. It's an order. And I knew he would give it. I knew he couldn't let it go. The thrill of it is a potent, intoxicating drug, a direct line from my hand to my heart.
"What's that?" Maya asks, looking up from her book on the couch.
I put the phone down, a forced calm in my movements. "Nothing. Just a message from a friend. They want to know what time we're going to the fundraiser."
"Oh, great!" She smiles, her eyes bright. "I can't wait. My dad loves these things. He's always so… in control."
Her words are a dagger. In control. That's what he wants everyone to believe. That's what he wants to believe himself. But I saw him that night. I saw the wildness in his eyes, the shattered mirror, the bleeding knuckles. I broke him. And a part of me, the darkest, most terrifying part, is thrilled by it.
I feel a tremor of something I can't quite name. Disgust? Jealousy? Both. It's a sickening cocktail of emotions that has been brewing in my gut since the first time I saw them together. Maya and her father. A perfect, untouched family unit. I've always been the outsider, a kid who had to work for everything, who had to earn his place. I want to rip that perfection apart, to expose the darkness I know is there.
"You've been quiet lately," Maya says, her voice a little softer now. "Is everything okay?"
I look at her, at the sweet, innocent face, and the guilt is a sharp, biting thing. "I'm fine, Maya. Just… a lot on my mind. My parents are always so focused on my studies. It's a lot of pressure." The lie is practiced, perfect, something I hide behind.
She takes my hand, her thumb tracing small circles on my palm. "I know it's hard. But you're so smart, Leo. You'll be fine. My dad says you're the most driven person he's ever met. He talks about you all the time."
My breath hitches. He talks about me. The words are a confirmation, a validation of everything I've been doing. It's a sick, twisted game of cat and mouse, and the mouse is suddenly feeling very confident.
"Does he now?" I ask, a casual tone I don't feel.
"Oh yeah," she says, her face glowing. "He thinks you have a future in his company. He says he's never met anyone so… intuitive."
Intuitive. I almost laugh. He has no idea. He thinks I'm a prodigy, a natural talent. He doesn't know I've been studying him for months, that I know his every move, his every habit, his every secret.
********
Later that night, the fundraiser is filled with flashing lights and empty smiles. Maya and I are a picture-perfect couple, laughing at jokes, dancing, talking to her father's friends. But I don't feel a part of it. I'm an outsider moving through a world I don't belong in.
I see him across the room, talking to Robert again. After the last confrontation, I thought he would avoid him. David's posture is stiff, his jaw clenched. Robert is a snake, a venomous thing. I know this. I've seen it in the documents I've gotten from Alex. I see the look in his eyes when he looks at David, a mix of jealousy and pure hatred. I hate Robert. He is a rival for David's attention, a direct threat.
Maya tugs on my arm, pulling me toward the restrooms. "I need to fix my makeup," she says, her voice a playful whisper. "Can you wait for me?"
"Of course," I say, a smile on my face that feels like a stranger's. "I'll be right here."
She disappears into the ladies' room, and I am alone. My heart is beating against my ribs. I stand there, just outside the door, the low hum of the party in the background. I feel a pull, a magnetic force I can't ignore. I need to know what's happening. I can't stop. I am a part of his world now. And there's no turning back.
A door opens behind me, and I see him. David. He is leaning against the wall, a glass of scotch in his hand, his eyes wild.
"Well, well," I say, a slow smirk spreading across my face.
He doesn't respond. He simply stares at me, his eyes full of a hundred conflicting emotions.
I take a step closer. "Lost, Mr. Petrov?"
"Don't," he says, his voice a low, warning growl.
"Don't what? Don't look at you? Don't talk to you? Don't think about you?"
"You're playing with fire, Leo."
"I'm not the one playing, David. You are." I lean in, my voice a whisper. "This isn't about a one-night stand. This is about you. You're a man who's been starving for decades. You want me. You crave this. And it terrifies you."
He flinches, the words a direct hit. He hates that I can see through his mask. He hates that I know him so well.
"You're wrong," he says, the words a raw, venomous promise. "You're a mistake. A moment of weakness. Nothing more."
"Is that what you tell yourself? Is that what you tell your reflection?" I let a slow, triumphant smirk spread across my face. "I saw your hand, David. I saw the blood on the glass. That's not a moment of weakness. That's a man losing control."
He looks at me, his eyes wide, and a flicker of something in his gaze I can't quite place. Fear? Regret? Both. He's a man on the brink, and I am the one who is going to push him over the edge.
"I have to go," he says, his voice a broken whisper. "I can't do this. I can't be here."
He turns and walks away, but I can't let him go. I grab his arm, my fingers wrapping around the thick, expensive fabric of his suit. He stops, his back to me, his body rigid.
"You can't run from this, David. You can't run from me."
He shakes my hand off, and turns to face me, his eyes burning with a cold fury. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
I step closer, my hand reaching for his face, my fingers tracing the line of his jaw. "I think I do. You're a man who is trapped in his webs. And you can't get out."
He grabs my hand, his grip tight, and a look of pure, unadulterated hatred flashes in his eyes. "You will regret this," he says, the words a raw, venomous promise.
And then, a sound from the ladies' room behind me makes my blood run cold. It's Maya's laugh. And then her voice, a low murmur.
"Leo? Are you coming?" she calls out.
I look at David, and a slow, triumphant smirk spreads across my face. He is a man on the edge, a man who is losing control. And I am the one who is going to push him over. I am a part of this world now. He is a part of mine. And there's no turning back.