The soft click of Karen's door echoed louder in Alex's head than he cared to admit.
He stood in the hallway for a second longer than necessary, jaw clenched, fists buried in the pockets of his coat. The scent of her perfume still lingered on his shirt...sweet, warm, with a hint of vanilla that made his head cloudier than any drink he'd ever had.
He took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, needing movement, distance, something to ground him.
But it didn't work.
Even as the cool night air hit his face outside, his mind was still upstairs with her tucked into that ridiculous, too-small apartment with pastel curtains and chipped furniture and a bed he hadn't stopped staring at the entire time he stood in her doorway.
He hadn't meant to follow her in. That wasn't the plan.
He had simply wanted to drop her off, say goodnight, walk away.
But Karen had a way of breaking through his carefully constructed logic without even trying.
She smiled, and he forgot the rules.
She laughed, and he forgot the world.
She looked at him like he mattered, and he forgot how to breathe.
His phone buzzed.
It was a message from Luca.
"We need to discuss the Shanghai deal first thing tomorrow. Don't disappear again."
He stared at the screen but didn't type a response.
His mind was still stuck on that moment at the gala the way Karen had looked up at him on the dance floor like she'd been daring him to take the risk.
And he had. He held her, he let the world see, let her see.
And then Bianca had appeared.
That woman had always known how to slice him open and smile while doing it. Her words tonight weren't just cruel they were calculated. And when Karen stood there, frozen and humiliated, Alex had felt something snap inside him.
He wasn't used to caring. Wasn't built for it.
But with Karen he couldn't help it.
She made him want to be something more, something better. Even when he didn't know what the hell that looked like.
Alex stopped walking and leaned against his car, dragging a hand over his face. He didn't know what this was turning into...this thing between them but it was no longer something he could ignore.
She was his employee,
A complication and a risk.
But also…
She was the only person who made him feel anything.
His gaze lifted to the apartment windows above.
"I'm going to lose control because of you," he muttered.
And deep down, a dangerous part of him didn't care.