Elena's POV
You know that strange, heavy silence that follows something unspoken?
That's what the office felt like after the hug.
We didn't talk about it.
We didn't have to.
It lingered between us — like a secret only we knew, delicate and dangerous all at once.
He went back to being Adrian Knight — polished, composed, the kind of man who could silence a room just by walking into it.
But something had changed.
His eyes.
They weren't the same.
Sometimes, when he passed by my desk, I'd feel his gaze on me — a quick flicker, sharp and searching, as if he wanted to make sure I was okay.
And other times… it felt like he was memorizing me.
I didn't know what to do with that.
So I tried to be normal. To act like the world hadn't shifted a little that night he held me.
I told myself to focus on work, to stay steady.
Which is why I said yes when Ethan from Marketing asked if I wanted to grab lunch.
It wasn't a date — not even close. Just a friendly meal after a long week.
We went to a small café near the office, the kind with plants hanging from the ceiling and mismatched chairs.
Ethan was funny, easy to talk to, and for the first time in a while, I actually laughed.
But when I turned around — he was there.
Adrian.
Standing just outside the glass wall of the café, his expression unreadable, his jaw tight.
Our eyes met — and for a heartbeat, the world just… stopped.
I could see it then.
The storm behind his calm exterior.
Possessiveness.
Jealousy.
He didn't come inside. Didn't say a word. Just looked at me — once — and then walked away.
And somehow, that hurt more than if he had shouted.
The rest of the day was unbearable.
He didn't look at me. Didn't speak unless absolutely necessary.
Every word was clipped, every glance cold.
It felt like I had done something terrible — though I didn't understand what.
By the time evening came, I couldn't take it anymore.
I went to his office, hands trembling slightly as I knocked on the glass door.
"Come in," he said, without looking up.
"Did I… do something wrong?" I asked quietly.
He paused, pen stilling in his hand.
When he finally lifted his eyes to me, the anger I'd seen earlier was gone.
What replaced it was worse — guilt.
He exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. "No. You didn't."
"Then why—"
He cut me off gently. "Because I saw you laughing with someone else and… I didn't like it."
His voice was low. Honest. Raw in a way I wasn't used to hearing from him.
"I had no right to feel that way," he continued, softer now. "You can have lunch with whoever you want, Elena. I just—" He stopped, the words catching. "I just didn't expect it to bother me so much."
I didn't know what to say.
Because hearing him admit that — the great Adrian Knight, who never lost control of anything — felt like the air had shifted again.
He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have looked at you like that. It was unprofessional."
But the way he said it…
It wasn't his usual boss-like tone.
It was low, regretful, human.
Before I could stop myself, I smiled — just a little.
"I didn't mind," I whispered.
His eyes met mine then, and something unspoken passed between us again.
Not a promise. Not yet.
But something close.
He stood, slowly, as if he wasn't sure what to do next.
For a moment, I thought he might close the distance between us.
But he didn't.
He just looked at me — quietly, intensely — and said, "You drive me insane, Elena."
And I don't know what shocked me more — the words or the way he said my name.
Like it meant something.