Chapter 61 TEMPTED

Chapter 61 TEMPTED
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
GENERAL POV
Kane sat in his secret room
Dim light from the screens illuminated the room. Maps, notes and projections were spread across the large table before him. His fingers moved slowly across the pages, a pencil resting between them as he calculated, erased, and recalculated again.

Savy had proven to be more formidable than Kane expected.
At first it annoyed him.
Now it excited him.

A slow smile crept to the corner of his lips as he studied the structure of Savy's projects. The deeper he dug into them, the more complex they became.
Good.

The stronger the opponent, the sweeter the destruction.

Kane leaned back in his chair, tapping the pencil lightly against the table as his mind pieced together another angle of attack.

Destroying Savy would require patience and precision and timing.

Suddenly a soft mechanical click echoed through the hallway outside.

Kane's eyes lifted slowly toward the security monitor mounted on the wall.
The doors were unlocking.
His expression darkened instantly.

Who was disturbing him?
Very few people even knew this place existed. Fewer still had access to the outer doors.

He had made sure everything was handled before coming here. Micky was comfortable in her room, surrounded by her toys and Samantha. She was safe.

Though her attachment to Samantha bothered him. He hated it, but not this night

Yet there was a part of him that grudgingly accepted it. Micky had never adored anyone the way she seemed to adore Samantha. The girl laughed more. Slept easier.

That alone was enough for Kane to tolerate the situation.Still, he watched them carefully through the cameras.

If Samantha ever tried anything stupid, she would pay for it with her life.
Another click sounded.
The final lock disengaged.
Kane's eyes narrowed.
The door began to open.

“I didn't ask you to come in,” he said coldly, not even looking up yet. “Abel, get out.”
The words stopped halfway through his sentence.
Because the figure standing at the entrance was not Abel.

Kane looked up.
And for the first time that night, his pencil stopped moving.
Eliana stood before him.Completely naked.
From head to toe.

She did not attempt to hide herself. She did not even look embarrassed. Her body stood under the soft lights like something deliberately displayed, every curve outlined, every movement confident.

Kane stared at her.Not shocked.
Not flustered.
Just… observing.

His gaze moved slowly over her figure once, taking in every detail with the calm eyes of a man who had seen far too much in his life to be easily impressed.

Then he lowered his head again.And returned to his work.
Eliana blinked.

For a moment she simply stood there, surprised.

Men usually reacted very differently to her presence.Most stared.Some stuttered.
Others practically threw themselves at her feet.

But Kane?
He looked bored.
A small smile curled onto Eliana's lips.
Interesting.
She stepped forward slowly, her bare feet silent against the floor.
Her perfume filled the air as she moved closer to him, soft and intoxicating.

Kane said nothing but continued writing.

Eliana reached the table and leaned slightly forward, examining the pages spread before him.
Her fingers touched the edge of the book.
Slowly.She traced the page from top to bottom as though studying it, though her attention was clearly not on the writing.

Still Kane said nothing.
She continued moving her finger across the lines until she reached the pencil in his hand.
Then she gently pulled it away from him.
Only then did Kane look up.
His eyes were cold.

“This place is a secret,” he said calmly. “Away from everyone. Entering it might cause your death.”
Eliana tilted her head slightly.
Her smile deepened.

“Maybe,” she replied softly, “if you take your eyes off whatever you are so focused on, you might realize that what I have here is not worthy of death.”

Kane slowly lifted his gaze.
He looked at her again.
For several long seconds the room remained silent.Then he spoke.

“Get out.”
Eliana blinked.

“What?”

“I said get out.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“You must be joking.”

Kane's voice dropped lower.

“I might kill you and bury you in this room if you don't stop this.”
There was no humour in his tone.
No hesitation either.
Eliana studied his face carefully.
Most men threatened but very few meant it.

Kane meant it.

But instead of fear, excitement flashed through her eyes.

“So it really is because of her,” she said quietly.

Kane's expression darkened slightly.

“Samantha.”

Eliana folded her arms slowly across her chest.

“You will get yourself killed for this,” she continued. “You know that, right?”
Kane's jaw tightened.

“The odds are against you, Kane. You should be careful.”
Still he said nothing.
She took another step closer.

“The Widow Collector already warned you. If he comes again, you are a dead man.”
The reaction was immediate.
Kane moved before she could even finish the sentence.
His hand reached to the side.
The gun appeared in his grip.
And the next second he fired.
The gunshot exploded through the room.
Eliana's body reacted on instinct. She jumped sideways, narrowly avoiding the bullet as it struck the wall behind her.
Her heart slammed violently in her chest as she turned back toward him.

“What the hell!” she shouted, breathing hard.
Kane sat there calmly, the gun still aimed in her direction.
His face was ice.

“I don't care who you are,” he said quietly.

“The only reason you are still alive right now is because you saved me once.”
His finger remained on the trigger.

“No one walks into my place and talks nonsense.”
His eyes burned into hers.

“Get out.”

For a moment the room remained silent except for Eliana's breathing.
Then slowly…
She began to smile.
A dark, dangerous smile.

“Well,” she said softly, “this is interesting.”
She picked up the clothes she had dropped near the door but made no attempt to wear them yet.

“You rejecting me makes me want you even more, Kane.”
She began walking toward the exit.

“It will be either me,” she added quietly, glancing over her shoulder, “or no one.”
Her smile lingered.
“Wake up.”

Then she left.
The door closed behind her.
Silence returned.
Kane lowered the gun slowly.His anger simmered beneath the surface, heavy and dangerous.He leaned back in his chair and stared at the door long after she was gone.
They all thought the same thing.

That Samantha had power over him.That she was affecting him.That he was losing control.
Kane scoffed quietly.

No one controlled him.
No one.
He was Kane.

And he did not care who Eliana was, where she came from, or what power she believed she had.
But one thought kept pressing against his mind.He needed to prove it.He needed to prove that Samantha meant nothing.

That she held nothing over him.
Kane looked down at the unfinished plans on the table, he could not focus on them.
And that irritated him more than anything else.