Author's Preface
[Cont.]
[Annie]
The three days following the boardroom disaster move in a blurred, heavy haze.
The silence on the 16th floor is suffocating.
Every time I step out of the marketing wing, my eyes instinctively dart toward Kai’s corner office, but the glass walls remain dark, the blinds permanently drawn.
He is barely a presence in the building anymore, appearing only when corporate security escorts him to and from the lower-wing audit rooms for questioning.
And at the apartment, it’s even worse.
Our shared hallway feels completely hollow.
I spend three straight nights lying awake in the dark, straining my ears for any sign of life next door.
Every night, around three in the morning, I hear his front door open and close, followed by the faint sound of his footsteps inside.
But by the time my alarm goes off at seven, his door is locked again, and the hallway is empty.
I call him dozens of times.
Every single call goes straight to voicemail.
My text messages sit in our chat thread, marked with cold, cruel grey ticks that never turn blue.
Panic and fury take turns tearing through me.
One hour I am sick with worry, picturing him isolated under brutal legal pressure; the next, a toxic wave of doubt hits me like cold water.
Why is he hiding?
Why isn't he answering me?
Is his complete disappearance a sign of overwhelm, or is it the cold, calculated distance of someone who actually committed the breach and can't look me in the eye?
I am trapped in an agonizing loop, torn between wanting to stand by his side and wanting to tear him apart for abandoning me right when the world is falling down around us.
The only time I actually see him comes on the third afternoon.
I am standing near the end of the 14th-floor corridor, waiting for the coffee machine to fill my cup, when the private elevator doors chime open.
Two senior security officers step out first, followed by Kai.
He looks drawn, the sharp angles of his jaw tighter than usual, his shirt missing its top button as if he’s spent hours in a cramped room.
My heart slams into my ribs, my grip on the paper cup tightening so hard it crushes.
As they walk him toward the legal suite, Kai’s eyes shift across the corridor and lock onto mine.
He doesn't break his stride or even try to speak.
But as he passes, a small, faint smile touches the corner of his lips—a brief, private flash meant only for me before the officers usher him past the double doors.
That stupid smile stays burned into my retinas for the rest of the day.
[ *** ]
"Annie?"
I flinch, snapping back to reality as Amanda sets a stack of metrics reports on my desk.
Chris is leaning against the cubicle partition beside her, a cup of tea in his hand, both of them watching me with unusual caution.
"You've been staring at the same PDF for twenty minutes," he says softly, his usual sarcastic edge completely absent.
"I'm fine," I say quickly, blinking away the fog in my brain.
"Just... tired. Haven't been sleeping well with the mid-quarter audit deadlines."
Amanda swaps a hesitant look with Chris.
Normally, she’d poke fun at my coffee intake or demand to know every detail of my life, but the thick, tense atmosphere surrounding the executive suite has everyone walking on eggshells.
"If you need to hand off the regional compliance tracking to us, just say so," Amanda offers, her voice unusually gentle.
"You look like you've been carrying the whole department on your back for days. Whatever's bothering you... don't burn yourself out."
"Thanks," I murmur, keeping my head down.
"I've just got a lot on my mind. I'll finish this up and head home early."
For the first time since I started at SilverOak, neither of them pushes further.
They simply give me understanding nods and step back to their desks, leaving me alone with my chaotic, spiraling thoughts.
[ *** ]
By seven in the evening, I feel completely drained.
I let myself into my apartment like a ghost, dropping my bag by the entry table without bothering to turn on the main lights.
I kick off my heels, wash the dull grime of the office off my body, and collapse face-down onto my bed.
The silence of the room settles over me like lead.
I turn and stare at the dark ceiling, my mind running through the exact same useless questions for the hundredth time, until my eyelids grow heavy.
Exhaustion finally wins, dragging me into a restless, shallow stupor.
Beep-Beep.
The sudden chime of the doorbell shatters the quiet, startling me awake.
I sit up, my heart hammering against my chest as I rub my eyes.
I swing my legs off the bed, walk out to the hallway, and check the wall-mounted video monitor by the front door.
The screen lights up, showing Kai standing in the hallway.
He is wearing a cream, relaxed shirt, his hair slightly disheveled.
In his hands, he holds a massive, vibrant bouquet of fresh white lilies and a sleek, ribbon-tied box from my favorite bakery down the street.
And right as he looks up at the camera lens, he flashes a broad, completely unbothered smile.
A surge of pure, blinding anger spikes through my veins.
I yank the door open.
Before he can even speak, before that infuriating smile can fully form, I grab his arm, haul him across the threshold into the foyer, and slam the front door shut behind him with a loud, echoing BANG.
I turn around on my heel, stomp straight back into my bedroom, and throw myself face-down onto the mattress, wrapping my arms tight around my pillow.
In the foyer, a heavy pause falls over the room.
I sense his hesitation in the sudden silence behind me.
A few moments later, I hear his quiet, hesitant footsteps approaching the bedroom, a marked contrast to his usual confident stride.
I keep my face buried in the pillow, my body still as the bedroom door creaks open.
The mattress dips heavily beside me.
Before I can pull away, Kai leans down, sliding his arms around my waist and gathering me against his chest.
He buries his face in the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent as he holds me against his chest.
"God, I missed you," he murmurs, his voice raspy and exhausted.
I snap.
I shove against his chest with all my strength, sitting up abruptly and ripping myself out of his grip.
"Don't touch me!" I raise my voice, my throat tight with angry tears.
"Where the hell have you been, Kai? Do you have any idea how many times I called you? How many messages I sent? You ignored every single one of them! You vanish for three days, you don't say a word, and then you just waltz in here with flowers and a bakery box like nothing happened?!"
Kai doesn't interrupt.
He sits back on the edge of the bed, letting the full force of my frustration hit him.
His eyes are fixed on me, entirely patient, absorbing every sharp word without a single trace of anger.
"I was dying of worry!" I yell, my voice cracking as the exhaustion finally breaks through my anger.
"I didn't know if you were okay, if you were being framed, or if you were just lying to me this whole time!"
When my ragged breathing finally slows, he reaches out slowly.
He doesn't force me close; he simply slides his hands over mine, wrapping his long, warm fingers around my trembling wrists.
He brings my hands to his lips, kissing my knuckles before turning them over and pressing another kiss against my palms.
"I'm sorry, Annie," he says softly, his voice low and grounded. "I'm so sorry."
"That's not an answer," I snap, trying to pull my hands back, but he holds them firm against his chest.
"The audit team put a blanket hold on all executive communications," he says, looking straight into my eyes.
"Under standard compliance rules, any personal phone or personal contact I reached out to would have been flagged and subpoenaed for review. I couldn't let Lawson & Burke drag you or your personal records into the middle of this investigation."
"You could have sent one word," I whisper bitterly. "One text."
"I know. And I was wrong," he admits.
"The investigation is going fine, Annie. I promise you, things are under control. I didn't want to give you anything more to worry about."
I search his face, but I can't read the deep, guarded depths behind his eyes.
"That doesn't explain why you avoided me at night. You came back at three in the morning and left before dawn."
A faint, self-deprecating smile touches his lips.
"Because by the time the legal briefs wrapped up, it was almost four every night. I came by your apartment, but you were fast asleep, and I knew if I woke you up, we'd spend hours talking in circles while you were exhausted. I wanted to talk to you when I could actually give you my full attention, face-to-face."
I swallow hard, the tight knot in my chest loosening just a fraction, though my suspicion still lingers.
"Are you okay?" I ask, my tone softening despite myself as I look at the dark circles under his eyes.
"Are they... are they pressuring you? Stressing you out?"
Kai shakes his head slightly, his grip on my hands relaxing into a gentle caress.
"No. It's just a tedious procedure. Lots of paper, lots of redundant questions."
I lean in closer, my hands still resting against his warm chest.
I look directly into his eyes, stripping all the anger from my voice, leaving only the raw, terrifying core of what has been eating away at me for seventy-two hours.
"Be honest with me, Kai," I whisper, my heart fluttering nervously.
"Did you do it? Are you really guilty?"
He goes completely still.
The silence stretches between us, thick and heavy.
He doesn't blink or flinch.
He just holds my gaze with a calm, unreadable intensity.
"What do you believe, Annie?" he asks softly.
"I don't believe you did it," I say without missing a beat, the truth spilling out of me before I can even filter it.
"I trust you."
A genuine, breathtaking smile slowly spreads across his face, warming the cold edge of his sharp features.
"Hey—don't smile like that!" I protest, my cheeks flushing hot as I try to regain control of the conversation.
"I'm serious! If it turns out I'm wrong and you actually lied to me... you can forget about ever being with me again. I'll walk out that door and—"
Before I can finish the threat, Kai moves.
He lunges forward, catching my shoulders and pushing me back onto the mattress.
In one swift, effortless motion, he hovers over me, pinning my hands firmly above my head against the soft pillows.
He settles his weight over mine, holding me beneath him.
"Try running from me," he purrs, his dark eyes flashing with a sudden, dangerous heat.
"Go on. See how far you get."
My breath catches in my throat.
My heart hammers against my ribs—not from anger anymore, but from a sudden, dizzying wave of heat that sweeps through my lower stomach.
The heavy stress of the past three days evaporates in an instant, replaced by the overwhelming, electric pull of his proximity.
"Kai, wait—"
He doesn't let me finish.
His head dips down, and his lips crush against mine in a deep, possessive kiss.
All my lingering defenses shatter.
I gasp into his mouth, and the moment my lips part, Kai takes total control.
The kiss instantly turns hot and heavy, urgent and desperate, as if he has been starving for this exact touch for days.
He tilts my head back, his tongue sliding deep into my mouth, slick and demanding, tasting me with a fierce, possessive intensity that makes my toes curl.
A soft, helpless moan escapes my throat.
I try to pull my hands free from his grip above my head, wanting to wrap my arms around him, but he holds me pinned, deepening the kiss until I am entirely out of breath.
His tongue strokes against mine, sucking softly before diving deeper, capturing every sound I make.
Slowly, he releases my wrists, his large, warm hand sliding down the side of my face to cup my jaw, his thumb tracing my lower lip as his mouth shifts to my neck.
He drags his lips down the column of my throat, pressing hot, heavy kisses against my skin while his teeth graze softly over my collarbone.
"Kai..." I gasp, arching my back up into his body as a shiver runs down my spine.
He doesn't stop.
His hand trails lower, his fingers gliding over the slope of my neck and down across my shoulder, hooking into the neck of my soft t-shirt.
He pulls the fabric down effortlessly, exposing my bare shoulder to the cool air of the room before immediately covering it with the searing heat of his mouth.
He kisses his way along the top of my shoulder, sucking gently at the sensitive skin near my neck, marking me with a slow, deliberate rhythm that leaves me completely breathless, melting into the mattress beneath him.
Gradually, the urgency gives way to something slower.
Kai lifts his head, resting his forehead lightly against mine.
His chest rises and falls against mine, his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that makes my breath catch all over again.
His hand glides down my side, lingering delicately at the hem of my shirt, his fingers brushing the sliver of bare skin at my waist.
He leans down, his lips hovering barely a millimeter from mine, his dark gaze searching my flushed face.
"Can I?" he whispers, his voice thick, low, and completely laced with unspoken intent.
The sheer vulnerability in his tone catches me completely off guard.
We’ve made out dozens of times, lost in intense, heated moments where boundaries blurred without a second thought.
But hearing him explicitly ask permission right now—vulnerable, completely open, waiting for my sign—sends a wave of intense, sudden shyness crashing over me.
My cheeks flush as my heart thumps wildly against my ribs.
I freeze under his gaze, suddenly hypersensitive to the warmth of his hand against my waist and the heavy, intoxicating weight of his body on mine.
For the first time, I feel utterly shy under his stare, unable to hold his dark eyes without my stomach doing a nervous, fluttery flip.
I swallow hard, biting my lip as I nod softly against his forehead.
A low, satisfied hum rumbles in his chest, and before I can even process the sudden wave of nerves, Kai dips his head down and catches my lips once more, drawing me back into the kiss.
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