Kayla’s POV
I was terrified of him.
Terrified that if he looked at me for one second too long, the foggy memory of the shivering, ruined girl he’d pulled from the road or the girl he Fucked would suddenly Flash in his mind.
So, I threw myself into my work with a desperate, sharp focus.
While the other female trainees spent their lunch breaks adjusting their makeup, whispering about the CEO’s striking looks, or finding excuses to drop off Jotter near his office door, I kept my distance.
I wore simple, professional tailored suits that comfortably hid my body.
I spoke only when spoken to, spoke with absolute, polished respect, and completed every task assigned to me thirty minutes ahead of schedule.
I thought my invisibility act was working flawlessly.
I was wrong.
It was a late Thursday afternoon, and the executive floor had mostly cleared out.
The lights flickered softly against the glass walls as I sat at the front desk, coding the weekly schedule logs for the board members.
My lower back was aching..a gentle, persistent reminder from my expanding body that I was now entering my second trimester.
I placed a hand over my stomach, offering a soft, tired smile into the quiet room.
“Miss Williams.”
A deep voice broke the silence.
I froze.
My breath hitched in my throat, and for a terrifying second, my heart stopped beating altogether.
I looked up slowly.
Standing on the other side of the high marble desk was Lucien Thorne.
He had rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white dress shirt to his elbows, revealing strong veiny forearms, and his tie was slightly loosened.
He held a thick, leather bound contract in one hand.
He smelled faintly of expensive cologne, and authority.
“Mr. Thorne,” I said, my voice remarkably steady despite the tension rising inside my chest.
I immediately stood up, smoothing down my loose beige jacket.
“How may I help you?”
Lucien didn’t answer right away.
His gray, stormy eyes locked onto mine, holding my gaze with an intensity that made my skin crawl.
He didn’t look at me the way most men in this building looked at women…there was no creepy judgment or pride in his eyes.”Instead, his dark eyes were sharp, and intensely curious.
He watched me like a chess player trying to figure out an unpredictable move.”
”The secondary projections for the European merger,” Lucien said slowly, his eyes never leaving my face.
“I need the physical files from last year’s audit.
Clara said they were archived.”
”They were archived in the basement vault two days ago, sir,” I replied smoothly, keeping my hands folded behind my back so he wouldn’t see them trembling.
“However, knowing the board meeting was coming up, I made digital backup scans and organized them into a confidential folder on your primary server this morning. The file is labeled Audit EUR 2026.”
Lucien paused.
He barely raised an eyebrow, but I caught the flash of real surprise in his eyes.
“You Uploaded them on your own initiative?” he asked, his voice low and smooth.
“It seemed like the most efficient course of action for your schedule, Mr. Thorne,” I said politely, keeping my tone strictly professional.
“I can print a physical summary for you now if you prefer.”
”No,” Lucien said, his gaze dropping briefly to the subtle curve of my jaw before rising back to my eyes.
“The server file is sufficient.”
He didn’t leave.
He stood there, leaning slightly against the edge of the desk.
In a company where every female assistant flirted shamelessly to catch his attention, and every male executive Flinched in fear of his temper, my quiet, unshakeable professionalism was clearly breaking his mental framework.
He wasn’t used to a woman who looked at him with zero interest..let alone one who actively kept her distance.”
”You’re new,” he observed quietly, his tone sounding less like a CEO and more like a man trying to solve a puzzle.
“Kayla, correct?”
“Yes, Mr. Thorne. Kayla Williams,” I murmured, taking a deliberate, quick half step backward to widen the physical distance between us.
“I am in my second week of training.”
Lucien noticed the half step.
His sharp eyes tracked my movement instantly, narrowing just a fraction.
He could sense my skin crawling just by standing near him..
It was a tiny shift, but for someone used to controlling the room, my stepping back was impossible to miss.
“You work late every night, Miss Williams,” he noted, his dark eyes looking all over my pale face, lingering for a second on the dark circles under my eyes that no amount of concealer could completely hide.
“And yet, you make a habit of vanishing whenever I step out of my office. Are you afraid of me?”
The bluntness of his question made my blood run cold.
“Of course not, sir,” I lied smoothly, forcing my lips into a polite, practiced smile while my stomach moved with anxiety.
“I simply believe in keeping out of the executive workflow unless requested. Respecting your time is part of my job description.”
Lucien stared at me in total, heavy silence for three seconds.
The tension in the air was so thick I could barely breathe air into my lungs.
“Respect,” he echoed softly, as if testing the word.
A faint smirk played at the edge of his lips, though his eyes remained intently serious.
“Or avoidance.”
Before I could form another lie, Marcus stepped out of the elevator holding a phone.
“Boss, the Tokyo director is on line, one for the emergency conference call.”
Lucien didn’t break eye contact with me for a beat, his piercing gray eyes holding mine captive.
“Tell him I’m taking it now.”
He turned on his heel, walking toward his suite.
But just before he pushed open the doors, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder at me.
“Good work on the audit files, Miss Williams,” he said quietly.
“Thank you, Mr. Thorne,” I replied, bowing my head slightly.