Chapter 4 Contracts and Crossed Lines

Emery's POV

My fingers trembled around the envelope as I reread the single line for the third time:

"Don't trust Dorian. If I don't come back, find the flash drive I hid in my safe."

The words burned like ice sharp, cold, and terrifying.

What the hell had Landon gotten himself into?

The office was eerily quiet for a Monday. His door was ajar, his chair empty, and the soft hum of his computer conspicuously absent. I stepped inside like an intruder, the silence thick and unnatural. Even the city skyline through his wall of glass looked muted, like it was holding its breath.

He was gone.

Not on a call. Not in a meeting. Gone.

I sat down in his chair slowly, feeling like I'd slipped into someone else's life. The letter lay on the glass surface, stark against the cold steel and leather surroundings.

My eyes drifted to the corner where the safe was hidden cleverly tucked behind a modern art piece, the kind that looked more decorative than functional. But Landon had once mentioned it in passing when I accidentally knocked over one of his antique bookends.

"There's a biometric lock on that panel. Retinal or thumbprint. No one gets in unless I want them to."

Now, here I was someone he wanted in.

But he hadn't given me access. Had he?

I rose and walked to the panel, heart thudding. There was no keypad just a sleek black screen. When I leaned in close, it flickered to life with a faint beep and scanned my face.

My stomach twisted. No way...

Access Granted.

I nearly staggered back.

"What the?" I whispered aloud.

He'd programmed me in. At some point, without me knowing. He had planned for this.

The safe opened with a soft hydraulic hiss, revealing a velvet-lined interior and a single silver flash drive tucked beneath a thick envelope.

I reached for both with a strange sense of detachment, as if I were in a dream I couldn't quite wake up from.

The envelope had no name, but when I tore it open, I found printed documents emails, spreadsheets, photos. Names I recognized. One in particular that made my blood run cold.

Dorian Valen.

There was a photo of him shaking hands with a man I'd only seen once in passing someone Landon had refused to meet with during last week's board negotiation.

The caption beneath the photo said:

"$2.4M transfer confirmed. Classified contract acquired. Confidentiality breached."

Jesus. Dorian was selling corporate secrets.

Suddenly, the playful smirk he wore every time he appeared made sense. He wasn't just Landon's rival. He was a traitor.

And Landon... Landon knew.

But why disappear now? Why leave everything behind and throw me into the middle of this?

"God, what am I supposed to do?" I whispered.

The answer came in the form of a knock.

A soft, slow, calculated knock on Landon's office door.

I turned, the flash drive still clutched in my fist, and forced myself to look normal like I hadn't just unlocked a vault of secrets.

The door opened before I could speak.

"Emery," Dorian said smoothly, stepping inside. "I heard Landon's out this morning. Odd, isn't it?"

I straightened, hiding the flash drive behind my back like it was burning my skin.

"He had an urgent trip," I replied carefully. "Didn't tell me much."

Dorian's eyes sparkled with mock concern. "Tsk. How inconsiderate of him. Leaving his favorite assistant all alone."

He stepped farther into the room, and every instinct in me screamed get out.

"Actually," I said, moving toward the door, "I was just about to head to the design floor. There's a budget proposal I need to drop off"

"Not so fast," he interrupted, reaching past me to shut the door.

Click.

The lock sounded louder than it should've. My throat tightened.

His expression changed still smiling, but with something else underneath. Something harder.

"Do you know where he went?" he asked softly.

"No."

His gaze dropped to my hands. "What's that behind your back?"

I didn't answer.

He took another step. My back hit the wall.

He smiled wider. "Emery, Emery, Emery. You don't want to play games with men like me."

That was when I shoved past him fast. So fast, I almost dropped the flash drive. I darted for the elevator, heart pounding, breath ragged.

Behind me, I heard his calm voice call out, "You should've stayed a good little secretary."

I made it to the elevator, stabbed the button, and exhaled only when the doors slid shut in front of his face.

The drive burned in my palm like a fuse. I didn't know who I could trust. All I knew was that Landon was gone, Dorian was circling like a vulture, and whatever this was

I was in it.

Up to my throat

I slipped into my apartment hours later, double-locked the door, and placed the flash drive on the kitchen table.

Before I could breathe, my phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

One new message.

"If you want him alive, stop snooping. You've already made one mistake. Don't make another."

My blood froze.

Landon wasn't just missing.

He'd been taken.

And now... they were watching me too.