Chapter nineteen
Sebastian heard the elevator chime, the metallic echo slinking into his office like a warning. He leaned back in his chair, lips curved in that lazy smirk he wore whenever he was about to enjoy breaking someone down. The footsteps drew closer, deliberate but light, and then the knob turned.
The door opened.
Sebastian froze.
For a split second, his breath caught because the "fine stranger" he'd spotted with Julian that morning, the one he'd already marked in his mind as a new indulgence, was standing right there. Kairen.
The recognition was a punch to the gut. Heat crawled up his neck, not desire this time but shame shame at himself, at what he'd almost wanted. Anger followed fast, twisting through his chest like barbed wire.
You've got to be kidding me. That little bitch?
Kairen, oblivious to the storm inside Sebastian, stood a few steps away with a calmness he had fought hard to build. He was smiling faintly, not out of arrogance but because today he felt ready. Ready to stand his ground. Ready to remind himself that Sebastian wasn't truly his boss, not the way Victor was.
To Sebastian, though, that smile was salt in the wound. It looked like mockery, like Kairen somehow knew the shame clawing at him.
Sebastian's eyes snapped open fully, his jaw tight. "What's funny?" His voice was low, sharp, cutting through the silence like a blade.
Kairen blinked once, then dipped his head politely, his tone smooth. "Good morning, boss."
The words hung between them politeness layered with quiet defiance. And for the first time, Sebastian felt that dangerous pull again, one he couldn't control, one he would sooner destroy than admit.
Sebastian's voice cut through the room like a whip.
"What's funny?" he asked again, his hazel eyes narrowing.
Kairen had only meant to greet him, but instead he stood taller, refusing to let the smirk fade. "Good morning, boss."
Sebastian tilted his head, jaw tightening. "What's good about the morning? Shut your damn mouth."
The words burned, but Kairen muttered, low but clear, "Don't talk to me like that."
Sebastian froze. His ears rang at the audacity. "What did you just say?"
Kairen smiled wider, almost playfully. "Nothing."
That smile. That damned smile. Sebastian's blood heated as though Kairen had just slapped him. He slammed his palm against the desk. "Then why the hell are you smiling like that? Or is this you trying to make me forget you stained my trousers?"
Kairen brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "I don't want to waste time. Let's run through your schedule for today."
For the first time in years, Sebastian was speechless. This boy, this weakling was standing in front of him, dictating the flow of the conversation like he wasn't in his office. He forced a laugh, low and dangerous. "Didn't you hear me?"
"I did," Kairen replied smoothly, flipping open the folder in his hands. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm here to do my job. And my job is to schedule today for you."
Sebastian stood, his tall frame casting a shadow across the desk. "You're not talking to me like that."
Kairen scoffed. "Come off that high horse, Sebastian." His voice grew steadier with every word. "I read the rule book. You're not my direct boss. Victor Cross is. Which means you're not a king here, you're a client. I don't answer to your tantrums. And if you push it, I'll report you to the higher chiefs of this company… or straight to Victor himself."
For a long second, the only sound in the office was the faint tick of the clock. Then Sebastian's lips curved into a smirk. Finally—he understood what gave Kairen this nerve. The damn rule book. The false safety net. If only the boy knew.
Kairen, oblivious to the storm building in those hazel eyes, closed the folder. "Seems you don't want me to do my job. Fine. I'll find someone who can set the records straight."
He turned to the door, pausing just long enough to glance over his shoulder. "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about the rule book. Can you even read?"
And with that, Kairen left, heels tapping against the polished floor.
Sebastian stood rooted, fists clenched so tight the veins in his forearm bulged. His chest rose and fell with dangerous calm. He wanted to explode, to tear the boy apart right here. But no—no, this would be sweeter. He would let Kairen walk straight into humiliation. He would make him the biggest fool in this building.
The smirk returned, sharper this time.
The game had just begun.
---
Minutes crawled by after Kairen's stormy exit. Sebastian sat alone in his office, flipping lazily through a file he wasn't really reading. The scratch of his pen across the page was sharp, deliberate, like he was marking time itself. Every tick of the clock only wound his anticipation tighter.
The elevator finally chimed. Footsteps echoed closer, crisp against the polished floor. Sebastian didn't look up immediately he knew who it was. His smirk curved slowly, sharpened with the thrill of what was coming.
The door opened.
Kairen stepped in first, shoulders squared, arms folded in a dramatic stance like a man ready to deliver judgment. His chin tilted proudly, almost smug, as if the world had already tilted in his favor. Behind him followed a woman in a neat suit Asian, sharp eyed, clipboard in hand, her expression as professional as a mask.
Sebastian's eyes flicked to her, then back to Kairen. He closed the folder in front of him with one hand, covering it deliberately, as though concealing secrets. Their gazes clashed across the room, electric, a silent duel of stubborn wills.
The air was so taut with silence that Kairen broke it himself.
"Ms. Cho, you see? Mr. Cross refuses to let me do my job. He sets me on humiliating errands—coffee runs, outrageous demands—tasks that don't belong anywhere near my duties. He—"
He faltered. The woman wasn't reacting at all. No nod, no sympathy, no judgment—just that same flat mask.
"Do you even understand what I'm saying?" Kairen asked, his confidence stumbling for the first time.
She turned toward him with perfect composure.
"Mr. Noel, perhaps you weren't briefed. With Mr. Victor Cross out of the country on an extended business trip, Mr. Sebastian Cross is acting head of Maison de la Croix." She bowed slightly toward Sebastian. "I apologize for not informing you sooner."
The words fell like iron bars slamming shut.
Kairen froze. His arms dropped uselessly to his sides, the proud stance unraveling. His chest tightened, breath shallow. His thoughts stuttered to a halt, replaced only by the raw pulse in his ears. The confidence he'd built on the rule book crumbled in an instant.
Sebastian hadn't moved. He simply leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, gaze locked on Kairen with the slow, satisfied savor of a predator watching prey realize the trap was already sprung.
The woman bowed again, oblivious to the silent war. "I'll leave you both to proceed." She excused herself and slipped out, the door shutting behind her with a sound that rang far too final.
The room was quiet again. Stifling.
Kairen's body screamed to run, but his legs wouldn't obey. He stood suspended between disbelief and dread, his pulse hammering.
Sebastian finally broke the silence, his voice smooth, low, cruelly calm.
"Well," he drawled, tilting his head, that smirk cutting deeper. "Now… where were we?"
Kairen tried to play it off, a stiff bow paired with a mumbled, "I'll just… step out for a moment." His voice was too light, too shaky to convince anyone, least of all Sebastian. He turned, hand twitching toward the doorknob.
"Oh, oh…" Sebastian's voice cut through the room like a blade dragged across glass. "You're going nowhere."
Kairen froze. The air shifted, heavy and sharp.
Sebastian rose from behind his desk, every movement slow, deliberate. He didn't rush; he didn't need to. His presence filled the room as though the walls bent inward to make space for him. Hazel eyes caught Kairen like a snare, and that faint curl of his lips carried no warmth, only danger.
Step by step, he advanced. And with each step, Kairen found himself retreating, instinct overriding thought. Backward, backward, until the smooth surface of the wall pressed against his spine. His breath caught, shallow and fast, the polished office suddenly too small to contain them both.
Sebastian stopped a hair's breadth away, tilting his head as if inspecting prey. "What happened to all that nerve?" His tone dripped with venomous amusement. "Didn't you have so much to say just now? I'd love to hear it. All the rubbish."
Kairen's lips parted, but only fragments stumbled out. "I… I didn't mean— I only thought"
The words tripped over themselves, crumbling under the weight of Sebastian's stare.
Sebastian leaned closer, enough that Kairen could see the flecks of gold burning in his hazel eyes. "What's that?" he murmured, low and mocking. "I can't hear you."
Kairen's chest rose and fell too quickly, panic thrumming through his veins. He tried again, the apology trembling out. "I'm sorry— I didn't know"
Now they stood face to face, so close the heat of Sebastian's body pressed against Kairen's composure, stripping it away piece by piece. The silence thickened, electric, every second stretching like wire pulled taut.
Sebastian didn't touch him, not yet. He didn't need to. The wall, the air, and his own towering presence were enough to trap Kairen where he stood cornered, exposed, and utterly at Sebastian's mercy.