Chapter 28 Personal

Chapter 28 Personal
Zoey

I shut the door, and I felt the familiar unease crawl back into my chest. Leo stayed seated, his gaze fixed on the papers in front of him. “You were quite distracted in the meeting,” he said without looking up.

The bossy demeanor was back and I knew better than to mess with it.

. “I’ve had… a few unexpected interruptions, that’s all.”

He set the papers aside and finally met my eyes. “You think you can afford distractions here?”

“No, sir.”

“Then act like it.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.

He studied me for a long moment, then leaned back in his chair. “Good. I’d hate to think last night’s hospitality made you forget where you stand.”

That one hurt, but I bit my tongue. “No, Mr. Thorne. I haven’t forgotten.”

He gave a slow, approving nod. “See that you don’t.”

For a second, neither of us moved. The silence pulsed between us, then he said, almost casually, “You may go.”

I turned to leave, relief already washing over me, until his voice stopped me at the door.

“Oh, and Zoey?”

“Yes, sir?”

His eyes darted briefly to my wrist, where the faintest trace of perfume clung from the night before,  his cologne. “You might want to change that before anyone asks questions.”

I suddenly forgot how to breathe. “Understood.”

He didn’t smile this time. “Good.”

I stepped out into the hallway, heart pounding like I’d just escaped something dangerous , or maybe walked right into it.

Ethan was waiting near the elevators. He gave me a small, careful smile when he saw my expression. “Rough meeting?”

I nodded faintly. “Something like that.”

He handed me a coffee cup, still warm. “Then you’ll need this.”

I took it, managing a tired smile. “Thanks.”

As the elevator doors closed and we started descending, I caught my reflection in the mirrored panel flushed cheeks, tense shoulders, eyes too wide. Somewhere between last night and this morning, I’d crossed an invisible line.

And I wasn’t sure I could go back.

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, and the faint hum of office chatter greeted us. The scent of freshly brewed coffee and printer ink filled the air, oddly comforting, considering how suffocating the morning had been.

Ethan walked beside me, his hands in his pockets, it wasn’t the first time he’d done that, slowed down to match my pace, lowered his tone to something gentler when he spoke to me. But today, it felt different.

“So,” he said, glancing sideways at me as we stepped into the hallway, “are you going to tell me what that was all about earlier?”

I nearly tripped. “What?”

He gave me a look, that infuriatingly calm, knowing one he’d perfected over the years. “The look on your face when you left Leo’s office. You seemed like you’d just walked out of a battlefield.”

I forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Just… a conversation.”

“Zoey,” he said, “if he’s crossing a line—”

“He’s not.” The words left my mouth too fast. Too defensive.

Ethan raised a brow.

I sighed. “He’s just… intense.”

He chuckled, though the sound didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s one word for it.”

We reached my office door, and he leaned against the frame, watching me like he was trying to read between the lines of a book I hadn’t given him permission to open.

“I meant what I said earlier,” he murmured. “Don’t lose that fire of yours trying to survive in here. You’re better when you bite back.”

I looked up at him, laughter under my breath. “Noted.”

He winked, then straightened. “See you in the boardroom at three.”

When he left, the air seemed to thin out, leaving me alone with my thought, and the unmistakable echo of his words. Don’t lose that fire.

I sat down at my desk, trying to focus on my work, but my mind was already wandering, not to Ethan this time, but to Leo. Every word he’d said this morning replayed in my head.

It wasn’t just a warning. It was a reminder that the man I was working for, the one who could unravel me with a look, wasn’t safe. And yet… part of me didn’t care anyway.

The door opened slightly, breaking my thoughts. I looked up and there he was. Leo Thorne, leaning against the doorframe like he owned the world. Which, in a way, he did.

“Busy?” he asked, his tone deceptively casual.

I straightened in my chair. “Always, sir.”

He stepped in, the door closing softly behind him. “Good. You’ll need to stay that way.”

“Excuse me?”

He placed a folder on my desk, big, sealed, confidential.

“I need you to run through the names in there,” he said. “Background checks. Discreetly.”

My blank expression was replaced by the irritation in my voice. “That’s not exactly in my job description.”

He smirked faintly. “Consider it… an adjustment.”

I hesitated, glancing at the folder again. “Why me?”

“Because I trust you,” he said simply. Then, after a beat, “And because I can’t trust anyone else.”

He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell that same cologne again. the one that had clung to my skin this morning.

“Leo— Mr. Thorne,” I corrected quickly, “what is this about?”

“Protection,” he said, his eyes locking onto mine. “Yours, mostly.”

The room tilted for a second. “Mine?”

He didn’t answer. Just gave me that unreadable look that both infuriated and fascinated me. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

Before I could ask anything else, there was a knock on the door. We both turned as Ethan walked in, holding a tablet. His gaze flicked between us, first to Leo standing too close, then to me gripping the edge of my desk like I was hanging onto gravity.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, his voice was calm, but his eyes said otherwise.

Leo didn’t even flinch. “Not at all. Miss Zoey, was just receiving her new assignment.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Assignment?”

“Confidential work. Need-to-know basis.”

For a moment, the silence stretched like a wire about to snap. Then Ethan spoke again. “Funny. I thought all confidential tasks went through me first.”

Leo’s eyes hardened. “Not this one.”

I felt like I’d been reduced to background noise in a conversation way above my pay grade.

“I’ll handle it,” I said quickly, trying to diffuse whatever was brewing between them.

Leo’s gaze lingered on me for a beat longer before he finally nodded. “Good.” He turned to leave, pausing at the doorway just long enough to add, “Don’t discuss this with anyone.”

When he was gone, Ethan exhaled sharply and turned toward me.

“What’s going on, Zoey?”

“I… don’t know,” I admitted, my fingers brushing the sealed folder. “He said it’s for my protection.”

Ethan frowned. “Leo Thorne doesn’t do protection. He does control.”

I met his gaze, and something in his voice made my stomach twist. “Then why do I feel like he’s both?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he walked closer, placing a hand lightly on my desk. “Whatever he’s pulling you into, be careful. He doesn’t play fair.”

This wasn’t just about work anymore.
This was personal.
And whatever game Leo and Ethan were playing, I was right in the middle of it.