Chapter 64

[ 1,125 words ]

Katia’s POV

I slowed just enough, the bike screaming in protest as I held it at the absolute limit of traction. I tapped the transmitter on my wrist, the interface glowing blue through my glove.

“Uploading now,” I whispered.

The SUVs were closing in, the roar of their engines vibrating through the bridge’s metal grating. They were trying to box me in. I saw the lead vehicle veer toward my front tire, intending to force me into a skid. I waited until the very last second, then kicked the bike into a higher gear. The front wheel lifted off the pavement as I surged forward, the truck missing my tail by less than an inch.

“Upload at sixty percent… eighty… Katia, move p>

“Done!” Sam yelled. “The tracking software is flatlining. I’m feeding them a looped signal. According to their map, you just drove straight off the bridge and into the East River p>

I didn’t slow down. I pushed the Ducati to its absolute limit, screaming across the bridge and diving into the labyrinth of the DUMBO industrial district. I doubled back, weaving through narrow alleys and under construction scaffolding until I was certain the physical pursuit had lost the tail in the maze of brick and shadows.

I pulled into a secondary, secret garage three blocks from my apartment, one Julian didn’t know existed. I shut off the engine, the sudden silence ringing in my ears like a physical weight. I pulled off the helmet, my hair matted with sweat, my breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps.

I looked at my reflection in the darkened visor. My eyes were wide, glowing with the dangerous high of the hunt. I had won this round. I had blinded him.

But as I walked back toward my apartment, the cool night air hitting my face, I felt a tremor in my hands. Julian wasn’t just looking for a racer anymore. He was using his entire empire as a weapon to find the woman who had dared to walk away from his control.

I reached my front door and checked the time. It was 3:00 AM.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from an unknown number.

That was a hell of a dive into the river, Katia. I hope the water wasn’t too cold for you.

I froze, the blood draining from my face. It was Julian.

I’ll see you in the boardroom at 9:00 AM. Don’t be late. We have a lot to discuss regarding your… ’technical difficulties p>

I leaned against the door, my heart nearly stopping. He didn’t have proof, not yet, but he was letting me know he was right behind me. He was playing with me, waiting for me to make a mistake that would finally put me in his hands.

I wasn’t just his partner or his sister-in-law anymore. I was his mark.

The digital clock on my dashboard flickered to 2:14 AM. The city was a graveyard of steel and glass at this hour, yet the Windsor Building glowed like a beacon of restless power. I shouldn’t have been here. I should have been in bed, trying to scrub the smell of adrenaline and high-octane fuel from my skin, but Julian’s “emergency” summons had been impossible to ignore. A legal technicality regarding the WEG-IG merger required a physical signature on a series of notary papers that apparently couldn’t wait until dawn.

I knew it was a power play. A test to see if I was still rattled after the chase on the bridge.

The lobby was empty, the marble floors echoing with the sharp click of my boots. The security guards didn’t even stop me; they simply tapped their hats, their eyes fixed on the monitors. I was a “partner” now, but as the elevator rose upwards, I felt more like a gladiator entering an arena.

The doors hissed open to the executive floor. The lights were dimmed, casting long shadows across the open-plan office. I made my way toward the corner suite, pushing the heavy glass doors open without knocking.

The room was silent save for the low hum of the server banks. Julian wasn’t behind his desk. I scanned the room, my eyes landing on the leather sofa in the corner. He was sprawled there, his tie discarded on the coffee table, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and even.

For a heartbeat, I stopped.

Without the armor of his cold gaze, Julian looked… human and, somehow, looked like Aiden. The harsh lines of his face were softened by sleep, and the predatory edge that usually defined his presence had vanished, replaced by an exhaustion so deep it seemed to pull at the air around him. The “Great Ice King” was vulnerable, a lion sleeping in a den he had built out of glass and secrets.

I moved closer, my footsteps silent on the thick carpet. I stood over him, my heart doing a strange, fluttering dance in my chest. This was the man who had tried to tag my bike. This was the man who was currently trying to dismantle my life. And yet, looking at him now, I felt a pull that had nothing to do with the war we were fighting. I reached out, my fingers hovering just inches from his forehead, wanting to smooth the faint crease of worry that remained even in sleep.

Then, his eyes snapped open.

There was no transition from sleep to wakefulness. One second he was out, and the next, he was pinning me with a gaze so intense it felt like a physical weight. He didn’t move, didn’t flinch. He just watched me, his pupils blown wide in the dim light.

“You’re late, Katia,” he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that sent a shiver straight down my spine.

“It’s two in the morning, Julian. I’m actually quite early for a “notary emergency,” I countered, stepping back to put some distance between us. I needed the air. I needed to remember why I was here. “Where are the papers p>

He sat up slowly, rubbing a hand over his face, the movement pulling the fabric of his shirt tight across his chest. “On the desk. Sign them and leave. I have a board meeting at seven p>

I walked over to the desk, my hands trembling slightly as I picked up the pen. The documents were standard and boring, even. There was no emergency here, just a demand for my presence. I signed my name in sharp, jagged strokes, the ink bleeding into the heavy bond paper.

“Why am I really here, Julian?” I asked, not looking at him. “You didn’t bring me across the bridge at this hour for a signature p>

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