Crimson contract

The elevator purred as it climbed the top floors of Vale Industries. Eira Lang stood at its center, every nerve thrumming beneath her silk blouse. She had spent the last hour in the lobby rehearsing a lie - one she'd told too many times to count.

"I just want to work."

But Eira wasn't normal. And deep down, she didn't want normal. Not really.

When the elevator doors slid open, the reception floor was empty. Silent. Clean. Cold. The walls shimmered black like obsidian, and a sculpture of twisting silver metal coiled near the entrance to the executive office - abstract, sensual, almost obscene.

She stepped forward, heels echoing on polished stone, until she stood before the dark oak doors of the CEO's office. Her hand paused just above the handle.

She hadn't expected to be nervous.

Then the door opened.

Lucien Vale stood there in a black dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tie loosened like he'd just stepped out of a war. His eyes-gray, sharp, unreadable-locked with hers. He didn't smile.

"Miss Lang," he said, voice smooth like velvet over steel. "You're late."

"I wasn't aware there was a time," she replied, surprised at her own calm.

"There always is. Come in."

She entered. The office was vast, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over a city that never looked back. Shelves lined with books in languages she couldn't read. A single glass of bourbon on his desk, untouched.

Lucien walked behind his desk and gestured for her to sit. She did. Then he stared at her for a long moment, like he already knew her secrets.

"You don't belong in admin work," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"I've read your file. Your background's too...chaotic. Too clean. It looks like it was built to distract."

Her throat tightened. "And yet you called me here."

"I did. Because I'm curious about what you're really here for."

His voice didn't accuse. It invited. Challenged.

Eira leaned forward, just enough. "What if I told you I was looking for control?"

Lucien's lips curled - not into a smile, but into something darker.

"Then you're in the wrong place," he said. "Because here, I own control."

Something inside her twisted. Desire? Fear? It didn't matter. It was already too late.

Lucien Vale was exactly what she craved - and exactly what would destroy her.