Chapter 1
Rain hit the pavement in sharp, steady drops, echoing through the empty parking lot like a warning Lena Carter chose to ignore.
She pulled her coat tighter around her, heels clicking faster as she rushed toward her car.
“Why did I stay late…” she muttered under her breath, fumbling with her keys.
The school had been quiet hours ago. Now the world felt… different. Too still. Too dark.
Too wrong.
A sharp sound cut through the rain.
A thud.
Lena froze.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She shouldn’t look.
Every instinct screamed at her to get in her car, lock the doors, and leave.
But she didn’t.
Slowly—against all reason—she turned.
Across the lot, near the flickering streetlight—
A man stood.
Tall.
Still.
Dressed in black like the night itself had shaped him.
At his feet—
Someone lay unmoving.
Lena’s stomach dropped.
No.
No, no, no—
Her hand slipped against her keys.
The sound echoed louder than it should have.
The man’s head lifted.
And then—
His eyes found hers.
Everything stopped.
The rain.
The noise.
Her breathing.
Those eyes—
Cold.
Controlled.
Terrifying.
He didn’t rush.
Didn’t panic.
Didn’t even look surprised.
He simply… looked at her.
Like she was already part of the problem.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
His voice carried through the rain—low, calm, and far too steady for what stood at his feet.
Lena’s lips parted, but no words came out at first.
“I—I didn’t see anything,” she finally managed, her voice barely holding together.
A lie.
A terrible one.
And they both knew it.
He stepped forward.
Slow.
Measured.
Like a predator that already knew how this would end.
The distance between them shrank, but Lena couldn’t move.
Couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
“You saw enough.”
Her heart slammed against her chest.
“I won’t say anything,” she rushed. “I swear—I don’t even know who you are—”
“That’s not the problem.”
Another step closer.
Rain clung to his dark hair, his suit untouched by the chaos around him.
He looked… clean.
Untouchable.
Like this wasn’t the first time.
Lena’s instincts finally kicked in.
Run.
She turned—
But his hand caught her wrist.
Fast.
Unbreakable.
She gasped, trying to pull away.
“Please—please don’t—”
“Look at me.”
The command wasn’t loud.
But it wasn’t something she could ignore.
Slowly… she did.
Up close, he was worse.
Sharper.
More real.
More dangerous.
There was no hesitation in him.
No doubt.
Just control.
“Tell me,” he said quietly, “what you think happens next.”
Lena’s voice shook.
“I go home… and forget this ever happened.”
A beat.
Then—
A faint smile.
Not warm.
Not kind.
But something darker.
“That would be convenient.”
Hope flickered—
Then died instantly.
His grip tightened just enough to remind her—
She wasn’t leaving.
“You were in the wrong place…”
He stepped closer.
Close enough she could feel the heat of him despite the rain.
“...at the wrong time.”
Her chest tightened.
“Please…”
His gaze didn’t soften.
Didn’t waver.
Didn’t care.
“And now,” he said quietly—
“You belong to me.”
