CHAPTER THREE: Collision Course
The echo of Julian's words still rang in her ears as Aria strode down the marble corridor, each step pounding with a mix of fury and something far more complicated—something that felt like a tether tightening around her throat.
They always come back.
She hated that he was right.
Her phone buzzed sharply in her pocket. She pulled it out, heart hammering.
A message from an unknown number:
"You were impressive today. But this is just the beginning."
Her breath hitched.
Before she could think, another message popped up:
"Dinner. 7 PM. No excuses."
Aria's fingers trembled as she typed a reply:
"I don't do dinner with threats."
The reply was instant:
"Neither do I. It's an invitation."
She dropped her phone on the polished surface of a nearby table and ran a hand through her hair. How had everything spiraled so fast? One reckless night had unraveled her carefully constructed world — and Julian was the thread pulling it apart.
That Evening — 7:00 PM
The restaurant was dark, sleek, and exclusive—the kind of place where whispered deals and dangerous secrets came wrapped in velvet tones and clinking glasses.
Aria arrived early, her heels clicking confidently on the marble floor. Her dress was sharp, professional, but with just enough edge to say she wasn't afraid of the game she was stepping into.
Julian was already there, waiting at a corner table, the low light casting half his face in shadow. When he looked up, his eyes caught hers—intense, unreadable, and terrifyingly magnetic.
"On time," he said smoothly, gesturing to the seat opposite him.
She sat, refusing to let her nerves show. "Why are we here, Julian? What do you want?"
He smiled, slow and dangerous. "To understand you better. To know if you're really as controlled as you pretend."
Aria's laugh was bitter. "I don't pretend."
"Do you want me to believe that?" His eyes bored into hers. "Because from where I'm standing, you're a tightly wound storm. You just haven't let yourself go yet."
She met his challenge, heart pounding. "Maybe I don't want to lose control with you."
Julian's smile deepened. "Maybe I don't want you to."
The tension between them was a live wire. Words hung unsaid but screamed in every glance, every inch of space closing.
Outside, the city lights blurred, but inside that small, dark room, the world narrowed down to two — predator and prey, enemy and accomplice, the truth and the lie.
Aria realized then that the game Julian was playing wasn't just about power or control.
It was about something far more dangerous.
Desire.
As their dinner progressed, conversations laced with double meanings and veiled threats, Aria knew one thing for sure:
This was no longer just about surviving the office.
It was about surviving Julian Roth.
And maybe, just maybe, about finding out if she wanted to.