Chapter 172
Chapter 172:
“Mr. Lloyd —” Dallas began, his voice dropping another register. Before he could continue, a man in a discreet grey suit materialized silently at Hunter’s side. Dallas’s security. “This is a private residence. Mr. Koch’s privacy policy requires a data wipe of all unauthorized recordings. Your phone, please p>
The smirk disappeared. Hunter looked from the impassive security guard to Dallas’s glacial stare and understood immediately that this was not a request. He handed over the phone. The guard worked the screen for a moment, then returned it without ceremony. “The data has been permanently erased. Have a good evening, sir p>
Dallas turned back to Anson. “Leave. If I see you near this building again, I call the police. Then my lawyers. Then the SEC p>
Anson looked past him to Eliza. “You’re choosing him? A soulless capitalist? A machine p>
Eliza stepped out from behind Dallas. She stood tall.
“I’m choosing the man who respects me,” she said. “Go, Anson p>
Anson’s eyes cut back to Dallas, cold and hollow. “You’ll get bored of her. And when you do, I’ll be there p>
He stormed out. The threat lingered in the air like smoke long after the glass doors had closed behind him.
𝗔𝘥d𝗂𝗰𝘵𝗶𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝘵оr𝗂𝖾𝘀 𝗼n
Dallas turned to Eliza. His chest was rising and falling with the effort of controlled adrenaline. He took her hands and turned them over carefully, checking her wrists.
“Are you hurt p>
“No. I’m okay,” she breathed. “You came p>
“The app sent a proximity alert while I was on my way home,” he said, his voice still tight. “The front desk called a second later. I came down from the garage p>
He steered her toward the elevator, away from the curious eyes of the lobby staff.
Inside, the silence was dense.
Dallas pressed the button for the fourth floor — his floor. His apartment. Not hers.
“You finally said it to his face,” he stated, his gaze fixed on the closed metal doors. His voice was rough.
Eliza looked at him. “What p>
“You told that bastard you love me.” He turned then, and his eyes were unguarded — stripped of their usual armor in a way she had never seen before. “I need to know it wasn’t just a weapon, Eliza. Not just something to wound him with. I need to hear you say it now, when he’s not here, when there’s no war to fight p>
Eliza understood the weight of what he was asking — the difference between a confession hurled in battle and one offered freely in the quiet. She looked at his face, at the worry there, at the man who had become her shield.
“I meant it,” she whispered.
Dallas exhaled. A shudder moved through his entire frame.
He stepped forward and backed her gently into the corner of the elevator.
“Say it again,” he said, his voice thick. “To me p>
Eliza looked up at him. “I love you, Dallas p>
He didn’t wait. He kissed her — not gently. It was possessive and desperate, a claiming. His hands tangled in her hair, his mouth fierce against hers.