Chapter 200: At this point, it’s a reality show.
Elena Steel had learned to be flawless in her control.
She could command a room without raising her voice, make decisions that cost lives without flinching, and navigate a battlefield like a chessboard where she was always five moves ahead.
But here?
In Apex HQ, with Dominic Hale sitting across the room, pretending that last night hadn’t happened?
She was losing.
Losing a game she didn’t even want to be playing.
But there he was.
Silent. Controlled. Unshaken.
Like she hadn’t kissed him.
Like she hadn’t let herself lose control.
Like she wasn’t still feeling the heat of his hands on her waist.
And maybe—maybe that should have made it easier.
It didn’t.
It just made her want to break something.
**Dominic Had Decided to Bury It**
Because what other choice did he have?
Letting that moment mean something?
Letting himself actually feel everything he had spent years suppressing?
Not an option.
So, instead, he walked into the morning briefing with his usual deadpan expression, arms crossed, not looking in Elena’s direction.
Like he didn’t care.
Like it hadn’t gotten under his skin.
Like she wasn’t still in his damn head.
Because if there was one thing Dominic Hale was good at—
It was pretending.
James, Liam, Zayn, Damon, and Seraphina weren’t buying it.
At all.
Zayn leaned over to Liam as they watched Dominic and Elena sit through the meeting like two stoic statues, flipping through reports without so much as a glance at each other.
"You ever see two people try so hard not to make eye contact that it looks painful?" Zayn muttered.
Liam smirked. "This is the most aggressive non-interaction I’ve ever witnessed."
James, watching the two carefully, took a slow sip of his coffee.
"Oh, they’re suffering," he mused. "Beautifully."
Seraphina sighed. "You’re all children."
Damon smirked. "You say that a lot, but you’re still here."
Seraphina shot him a look. "For research."
Liam grinned. "Sure, Hale. Keep telling yourself that."
As soon as the briefing wrapped, Elena stood, smoothing out her sleeves, already moving toward the door like she had somewhere important to be.
Dominic didn’t react.
Didn’t move.
Didn’t acknowledge her at all.
Until James, being James, decided he had suffered enough.
"You two got something you wanna share?" James asked, grinning like the devil himself.
The room went silent.
Elena froze.
Dominic’s jaw tensed.
James leaned back, sipping his coffee, absolutely entertained.
"No?" he continued. "Nothing to say? Because I gotta tell you—"
"Drop it," Dominic muttered, low, dangerous.
Which, of course, only made James grin wider.
"Oh, so there is something," he teased.
Elena inhaled slowly, visibly reigning in whatever murderous thoughts were going through her head.
"James," she said, voice perfectly even, "if you value your internal organs, you will shut up now."
James smirked.
"Fair enough," he muttered.
But his eyes?
Still full of amusement.
Because he knew.
They all knew.
And that?
That was worse than the kiss itself.
Dominic knew it was only a matter of time before Elena found him.
Because if he didn’t go to her, she’d come to him.
And sure enough—
That’s exactly what happened.
She cornered him in one of the training rooms, stepping inside and shutting the door before he could leave.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then—
"This isn’t going to work," Elena said.
Dominic, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, exhaled sharply.
"Which part?" he muttered. "Ignoring it, or pretending it didn’t mean anything?"
Elena’s jaw tightened.
"You tell me."
Dominic scoffed.
"You’re the one who walked away last night," he said, his voice lower now.
Elena took a slow step closer.
"You let me," she murmured.
Dominic’s grip on his biceps tightened.
Because, yeah.
He had.
And maybe that was the problem.
Because he wasn’t sure he would do it again.
Elena inhaled deeply, watching him carefully.
She knew this version of Dominic.
Knew when he was shutting down, when he was locking himself up so nothing could get in.
And she wasn’t going to let him do that.
Not this time.
"You kissed me," she murmured.
Dominic held her gaze.
"You kissed me back."
Silence.
Then—
"This can’t happen," Elena said. "You know that, right?"
Dominic studied her for a long moment.
Then, very evenly—
"Why not?"
Elena exhaled sharply, stepping back.
"Because it’s complicated."
Dominic scoffed.
"Everything’s complicated, Steel," he muttered. "That’s not an answer."
Elena’s hands curled into fists at her sides.
"You want an answer?" she muttered. "Fine. We work together. We have a job to do. And if we—if we go down this road again—"
"You’re afraid it’ll fall apart," Dominic cut in.
Elena hesitated.
"Yeah," she admitted.
Dominic exhaled.
And this time, it was his turn to step closer.
"You think I don’t know that?" he murmured. "You think I haven’t thought about what a disaster this could be?"
Elena swallowed hard.
"But you kissed me anyway," she whispered.
Dominic tilted his head.
"And you let me," he countered.
Another beat of silence.
And then—
She turned to leave.
But just before she reached the door—
"Tell me you don’t want this," Dominic said, low, rough.
Elena froze.
Her fingers clenched at her sides.
"Tell me," he murmured, "and I’ll let you walk away."
Elena took a slow breath.
Tried to steady herself.
Tried to lie.
But she couldn’t.
Because if she turned around now—
She wasn’t sure she’d be able to leave.
Outside the training room, Liam, Zayn, James, Seraphina, and Damon were once again gathered like gossiping spies.
Liam let out a low whistle. "Anyone else feel like we should be charging admission for this drama?"
Zayn smirked. "At this point, it’s a reality show."
James grinned. "And I, for one, am enjoying every second."
Seraphina sighed.
"We should leave them alone."
Damon smirked. "We should."
Liam tilted his head. "But we won’t."
Damon nodded.
"Nope."
And as they waited to see what would happen next, one thing was certain—
Dominic and Elena had never been good at walking away from each other.
And this time?
They weren’t going to start now.