The elevator at the Virement Apex was like a gold box. It was so quiet and fancy. Elara saw herself in the mirror. Made a face. She was twenty two years old. She was supposed to look perfect all the time. She was the face of the Montclair Virement merger. Today, she was wearing a big old hoodie and some worn out leggings. Her hair was pulled back into a bun.
She was not wearing any makeup. She was Elara.
She was trying to fix her hair when the elevator doors opened.
Alaric was standing there.
He looked really good. It was like he was trying to hurt her on purpose. Alaric stood there. He was not in the suit from the ballroom. Alaric wore a turtleneck and tailored trousers. This made Alaric look less like a CEO and more like a high end assassin who was taking a night off. Alaric stepped in. The space instantly felt five degrees colder and ten times smaller.
Elara stopped moving. Her hand was still in her hair. "You live here?" she asked.
Alaric got in. The elevator started smelling like expensive soap and rain. "I own the building, Elara " he said. "It would be weird if I lived in the basement."
He pressed the button for the floor he kept looking at her. In the light, Elara looked different. She looked real. Alaric thought she was really like this. It made him feel something he did not expect.
"You are late for your meeting with Mr Shen Yuze ", Alaric said, looking at his watch.
Elara's mouth opened. "How do you know Shen Yuze?" she asked.
"He is my tenant " Alaric said.
Elara pulled on her hoodie. She felt weird. "He is my best friend " she said. "He did not tell me his landlord was you."
Alaric leaned back. "He probably did not want you to ask many questions ", he said. He watched her fix her hair. "You do not have to do that ", he said.
"Do what?" Elara asked.
"Try to look like a Montclair " Alaric said. He took a step closer. His shadow fell on her. For a second his eyes did not look so cold. Elara saw something. She saw that he was a man who lived alone in a house.
"You are lonely ", she said. She did not mean to say it loud.
Alaric's face did not change. His jaw got tight.
The elevator stopped. "This is your floor " Alaric said. His voice was deeper. "Do not let gossip about me to your friend or I'll shut down his law firm" He smiled then It didn't reach his eyes.
"HAHA so funny " Elara said, unimpressed.
The doors shut in her face before he could see her roll her eyes, the elevator pulling him up to the penthouse. For a moment, she stood there, staring at her own reflection in the polished steel doors.
Then she exhaled "Idiot." She turned on her heel and walked out of the lobby.
Shen Yuzes' apartment was really different from the rest of the building. It was a mess. In a good way. There were computers and paintings everywhere. Stacks of law books. Shen Yuze was a study in contradictions: a famous Chinese defense attorney who had skyrocketed to fame by winning an "unwinnable" corporate fraud case at twenty-four, yet he spent his nights as a nerd, currently studying for his third Master's degree in International Law. a famous Chinese defense attorney who had skyrocketed to fame by winning an unwinnable corporate fraud case at twenty four, yet he spent his nights as a nerd, currently studying for his third Master's degree in International Law.
Shen Yuze has sharp features like a fox with a silver glass. He said to Elara, "You are late." Then he gave her a beer. "I saw Alaric's car ", he said. "Did you see him?"
Elara said, "We were in the elevator together." Then she opened her beer. Started drinking. The beer was really cold. Just what she needed.
Shen Yuze said, "That man is a black hole, Elara. I've known him for years, and even I don't know what's going on in his head. But I'll say it you two have a kind of chemistry".
He leaned back in his chair. Looked at Elara. "I am sorry I missed your engagement party with Sebastein," he said. "I was really busy with work. How was it? Was everything okay?"
Elara looked upset. "Sebastian has a secret ", she said. "He has a girl locked somewhere. He is hiding something "
Shen Yuze did not look surprised. He just looked tired. "That's the Virement way, but don't let it consume you, it's not like you like him treat him as your ATM ." By the way, he rubbed his head. "My rival, Sara Bennett, just filed a counter motion that is so legally messy it's insulting. She's wild, she's funny, and she's so damn imperfect it pisses me off. She eats noodles during depositions, Elara! Who does that? It's unprofessional and... and I can't stop thinking about how she's going to piss me off next."
Elara teased him "It sounds like you have a crush on her." her voice getting slightly slurred as she finished her second beer and reached for a third.
Shen Yuze said, "She is a pain in the neck. She is loud and messy. She wears mismatched socks with sneakers to court. But she is also really smart, and that is what bothers me."
They talked for hours. The empty beer cans piled up. Yuze started to doze off. Elara looked up at the floor above them. She was thinking about the guy who lives there the lonely demon.
"Yuze," she whispered to her sleeping friend, "I don't know why I'm so attracted to him. He's my fiancé's younger brother. He's an arrogant ass lonely who look like a Grim Reaper with his snowy pale skin but when I'm with him... I feel like I'm finally awake."
Yuze just let out a soft snore.
Elara stood up, her head spinning, "you know what i see that snowy big guy". She didn't head for the front door. She crawled back to the elevator, her fingers trembling as she pressed the button for the Penthouse.
The air in the penthouse was thick with the smell of leather and the sound of high-end servers humming. Alaric did not look at the city lights he looked at the photo on his computer screen.
It had been three years since he started searching. Three years of following rumors through shipping ports and ghost towns in the Urals. He was looking for something or someone.
Alaric picked up the phone his voice low and rough from lack of sleep. "I need to know about the Northern Sector archives " he said. "You told me three months ago we were close to finding something. What is going on with the search?"
The person on the end of the line sounded unsure. "We found a clue in a clinic near Omsk " they said. "It is not much. It is recent."
Alaric's grip on the phone got tighter. He closed his eyes. Thought back to when he was fourteen years old. He remembered a garden with lilies and a girl who was twelve years old.
He remembered a garden sweet with the scent of lilies and a girl who was only twelve. She had a face that looked like a prayer, eyes that held a light Elara's seemed to have lost.
He couldn't remember what they had said. He only remembered the feeling of his soul anchoring to hers. Aria.
"Find her," Alaric commanded, his voice trembling with a decade of yearning.
Alaric could not remember what they talked about. He remembered how he felt. He felt like his soul was connected to hers. "Find Aria ", he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "If she is alive, I want to find her. If she is hiding, I want to know why."
He hung up the phone. Looked at the photo again. If Aria was the one his soul recognized then why did he feel so drawn to Elara? Elara was the girl who was supposed to be his mate. Being near her felt like a shock to his system.
Then the intercom beeped. "Sir " his maids voice came through "Miss Montclair is at the door. She is very drunk and not in a state."
Alaric got up. Opened the door to find Elara leaning against the frame. Her eyes were blurry. They were fixed on him. "Alaric ", she said, her voice above a whisper.
She did not wait for him to invite her in. She stumbled forward. Started unbuttoning his shirt. "Why is it so cold in here?" she asked. "You live like a ghost."
Alaric caught her wrists, his pulse thundering in his ears. He looked at her this girl who carried the face of his obsession but the fire of a stranger. "Elara, stop. You've been drinking with Yuze. You don't know what you're doing."
"I know I am tired of being a business deal " she whispered, pulling him down by the collar until their breaths mingled. She smelled like bitter beer and sweet cherry. "I know I want to feel something real."
Alaric looked over her shoulder. Saw his staff standing in the hallway. "Everyone out ", he said, his voice firm. "Leave the penthouse now."
The staff quickly. The doors closed behind them. Elara did not seem to care. She leaned in. Kissed his neck. "Are we alone now?" she asked.
Alaric did not answer. He picked her up. Carried her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the silk sheets. Followed her down his body pinning hers.
For a second, he just looked at her. This girl is her brother's fiancée. This girl, who made his control feel like a lie.
"We're gonna regret " he said, his lips close to hers.
"SHUT UP i need you " she said, her hand, in his hair pulling him down.
As they kissed it felt like time stopped. Every touch was slow and deliberate. Alaric felt like he was starving. Elara was the only thing that could satisfy him. He kissed her slowly then he got aggressive like he was trying to consume her.
Alaric puller her long hair she moaned, and the world outside the penthouse disappeared.
Not because it didn't exist , but because for the first time in years
He didn't care.