Chapter 134: The Whole Building

The feel of Elias’s mouth seemed to remain on Liora’s lips long after she returned to her room.

She lay on her back in bed, one hand resting beside her, the other raised to her mouth. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the place he had touched, and a faint smile stayed at the corner of her lips, too calm to look like excitement and too steady to be dismissed as amusement.

He had toyed with her viciously in the end.

That should have made her angry. Liora had no shortage of temper, and she had never enjoyed being made into anyone’s prop. Yet no anger came. None at all.

Because that had been the best reward she had ever received.

Only in that moment had she understood something she had been avoiding with a discipline that now seemed almost ridiculous. At some point, without her noticing the exact turn, her interest had not only shifted away from men. It had shifted away from women, too.

There was only one person left in her head.

Elias Kane.

Elias, Elias, Elias.

Every path returned to him.

[Liora Voss favorability increased. Current: 71%.]

Since that was the case, how could she not help him properly?

Liora reached for her phone.

She did not need to search her contacts. Her memory had always been inconveniently good, especially for numbers attached to useful services. She dialed from memory and waited, expression relaxed against the pillow.

It was past the hour when ordinary businesses pretended to be civilized. That did not matter. The kind of real estate service Serena had been dealing with did not truly close. Not for women with money, not for clients whose names opened doors before their bodies arrived.

Twenty-four-hour service meant someone would answer.

Sure enough, the call connected.

The voice on the other end was drowsy, thin with forced professionalism and edged by irritation. "Hello. How can I help you?"

Liora did not mind the tone. If anything, the sleepiness on the line infected her slightly. Her lashes lowered, and her voice came out soft, almost idle.

"I want to buy property."

"Then please come in tomorrow," the sales associate said after a short pause. "We can talk in person."

A tiny scoff slipped through the line, too small to be an official response and too clear to be missed. Buying a place did not usually require a call before dawn. The woman on the other end had probably decided Liora was some overexcited buyer who had spoken with family, made a decision too late at night, and could not wait until morning to feel important.

Liora smiled into the dark.

"No," she said. "Let’s decide now."

There was another silence.

Liora continued, her tone pleasant. "And to be clear, I’m not buying a unit. I’m buying an entire building."

"I already said you should come in tomorrow, ma’am. This sort of joke really isn’t..." The voice cut off. The sales associate seemed to process the sentence a second too late. "Wait. What?"

"Liora Voss."

She gave only her name.

The call went very quiet.

When the woman spoke again, the irritation had vanished so thoroughly it almost became its own confession. "Ms. Voss, are you sure?"

"I’m sure." Liora’s smile did not change. "I’m calling ahead. I’ll come in tomorrow for the rest."

She remembered exactly which building Serena had studied for several minutes at the sales gallery. Even if she had forgotten, the answer would not have been difficult. Serena would naturally look at the best building in the complex, the one with the cleanest view, the most protected approach, the strongest privacy layout, and the kind of floor plan that turned ownership into a quiet announcement.

Then Liora would simply buy all of it.

When Serena Blackwood woke, the first thing she did was turn her head.

The other half of the bed was empty.

She had known last night that Elias had slipped away. He had probably returned to his own room. That was the reasonable answer. Still, some strange, foolish expectation had survived until morning, the kind that made her hope the first thing she saw after opening her eyes would be him.

Serena frowned.

If this had been before, the thought itself would have angered her. She would have treated it as a failure of discipline, an insult to herself, a weakness that needed to be strangled before it learned to breathe. Now, she only felt that she should not be thinking that way.

No anger followed.

No disgust.

Only the clear discomfort of something inside her having changed without permission.

Serena needed to know why.

Her hand lifted before she fully registered the movement, fingertips touching her own lips.

She had kissed him.

Not a casual kiss placed on skin. Not a passing indulgence she could dismiss as another form of possession.

Mouth to mouth.

People in love kissed like that. Serena had always believed that. She had built that belief into herself until it felt less like a thought and more like a vow.

Last night, she had broken that vow with her own hands.

Even so, Serena refused to admit she had fallen in love with Elias Kane.

Her expression tightened, and she shook her head once.

No.

She loved his body. That was all. If Elias misunderstood something because of what had happened, then she could compensate him.

The word settled her almost immediately.

Compensation was clean. Compensation had structure. Compensation meant she remained the person in control, the one who could measure the problem, decide its value, and pay what was required.

Yes.

If anything about last night had been inappropriate, she would make it up to him.

Serena picked up her phone and placed a call.

The sales manager answered quickly, and the strain in her voice was almost audible through the line. After yesterday, she likely thought Serena had called to punish her for some misstep during the viewing.

Serena did not bother with preamble.

"The best building," she said. "Seventh floor. I want one unit."

When she ended the call, she got out of bed.

Because she was in her own house, she did not bother arranging herself for public view. Her long hair fell loose over her shoulders, still slightly disordered from sleep, and she went downstairs in the softened state of a woman who had woken with indulgence still warm in her bones.

At the dining room, she found Elias and Liora eating breakfast.

They sat across from each other.

On the surface, there was nothing improper. Plates, coffee, fruit, warm breakfast, the usual household quiet. Liora looked composed, as she always did. Elias looked like Elias, which meant he looked capable of lying with his entire body while making the lie seem like everyone else’s fault.

Still, Serena sensed something off.

Not enough to name.

Enough to notice.

She did not show it.

"Where did you go last night?" Serena asked gently.

Elias and Liora both looked up.

When Elias saw Serena, he paused for a fraction of a second.

There was a soft smile on her face, and the faint laziness of having just woken still rested in her eyes. Her hair was loose and a little messy, the dark fall of it making her look warmer than she usually allowed herself to look. The effect should have been disarming.

Naturally, Elias gave her no warmth in return.

With Serena, his main principle this morning was to be difficult on purpose. He turned his face slightly away and said, "I got hungry. Went looking for food."

"Stealing a bite?" Serena asked.

Elias stilled.

Then his eyes flicked to Liora.

He winked at her.

"Yes," he said, voice dipping with a private laugh. "Stealing a bite."

Liora lowered her gaze to her coffee.

Serena walked down the last few steps toward them. "If you were hungry, you could have had the staff make you something."

Elias’s brows drew together. He turned his head and glared at her. "Other people need to sleep. Other people need to rest. Other people are human beings, Serena."

Was she exploiting household staff now, too? Serena Blackwood, human lamppost of moral hypocrisy.

Serena did not get angry at his tone. She simply came to stand in front of him and looked down at him with a patient expression.

"They are human beings," she said. "And if I wake them outside their usual hours, I pay them extra. In fact, they would probably prefer that you call when you need something."

Her gaze shifted toward the housekeeper clearing near the sideboard. "Isn’t that right?"

The housekeeper answered with immediate, careful agreement.

Elias had not expected that response.

Was this the power of love? Had Serena’s mask of tenderness been restored to its earliest, most polished setting?

Before he could decide how annoying that was, Serena sat down.

Directly beneath him.

Elias stared.

"What are you doing?"

He tried to rise, but Serena’s arm curved around his waist, firm enough to stop him without looking forceful. With one smooth motion, she settled him on her lap.

"Having breakfast," Serena said, smiling softly.

Her expression was warm. Her hand was not.

Elias relaxed at once.

There she was. That was the Serena he knew. If she had turned truly gentle overnight, he would have had to suspect she had discovered what happened with Liora.

He began struggling anyway. "I already ate. Let go."

"I haven’t." Serena’s voice stayed mild. "Feed me?"

Elias sneered. "Are you three?"

The protest was sincere. It was also useless.

After failing to free himself, he sat on Serena’s lap with visible resentment and began feeding her one bite at a time. A forkful of omelet. A piece of toast. A slice of fruit she did not need him to lift and clearly enjoyed receiving from his hand anyway.

Watching his unwilling face, Serena felt happier than she had in a very long time.

The more stubborn a person was, the sweeter obedience became after they were trained into it.

Across from them, Liora finished her breakfast and stood decisively. She had no visible interest in watching Serena enjoy herself.

Serena noticed. "Are you going out?"

Liora paused.

Then she smiled. "Yes. I have a small errand."

Serena nodded and accepted another bite from Elias without pressing. Whatever Liora wanted to do was her business.

The rest of Serena’s morning passed beautifully.

Elias was irritated, which suited him. He resisted in small ways, which made the compliance better. The house staff moved carefully around them, pretending not to look when Serena kept him within reach longer than the meal required. The entire day seemed to settle into the kind of order Serena preferred, with Elias close enough to touch and no one around her stupid enough to challenge the arrangement.

By noon, her phone rang.

Serena answered lazily. "Yes?"

The voice on the other end trembled with nerves. "Ms. Blackwood, about the unit you asked for..."

Serena’s eyes half-lowered. "What about it?"

"The entire building has already been purchased by someone else."