Chapter 3 - THE AMBER EYES
The office was a blur of screens and voices.
But Ethan couldn't focus on the data.
He kept seeing those amber eyes,
wide and full of a quiet strength.
He kept thinking about the way she looked in his arms.
He called his head of security.
“I want to know who her landlord is,”
he said.
“And I want to know who she was delivering that painting to.”
By noon,
he had the answers.
The landlord was a slumdog in Brooklyn.
The painting was for a man who didn't deserve her talent.
Ethan bought the building in Brooklyn within the hour.
He cancelled the delivery contract for the painting.
He was acting on impulse,
destroying obstacles he didn't even know existed yesterday.
He felt a strange satisfaction in it.
It was power,
but it was different.
It was power used for someone else.
He returned to the hospital at six.
He brought a bag of high-end art supplies.
He brought a dress that cost more than her studio rent.
He entered the room and found her reading.
She looked better,
some color had returned to her lips.
“You’re back,”
she said,
smiling tentatively.
“I told you I would be,”
he replied.
He set the supplies on the table.
“I thought you might be bored.”
She looked at the paints,
the brushes,
the heavy paper.
Her eyes widened,
and she reached out to touch them.
“These are...
the best.”
“Only the best,”
he said.
He sat in the chair,
watching her.
“Tell me about your art,”
he said.
And she did.
She talked about light and shadow.
She talked about the beauty in the broken parts of the city.
She talked about why she painted.
Ethan listened,
truly listened.
He realized that he had spent his life building walls,
while she spent hers breaking them down.
He felt a connection forming,
a bridge over a vast divide.
“I’ve never told anyone that,”
she said,
suddenly shy.
“I’m glad you told me,”
he said.
The silence that followed was not awkward.
It was filled with a growing tension,
a magnetic pull.
He wanted to touch her,
to trace the line of her jaw.
But he stayed in his chair.
He was Ethan Vale,
he had to be careful.
He had to stay in control.
“I’m moving you to my penthouse tomorrow,”
he said.
She froze,
the brush in her hand hovering.
“What?”
“The hospital isn't safe,”
he lied.
“The press will find you.”
“You’ll be safe with me.”
She looked at him,
searching for a motive.
“I don't even know you,”
she said.
“You know enough,”
he replied.
“You know I won't let you fall again.”
She looked at the art supplies,
then back at him.
“Okay,”
she whispered.
Ethan felt a rush of triumph.
He was bringing her into his world.
He was taking her away from the shadows.
But he didn't realize that he was the one who was being led.
May you like
He was the one entering a new world.
And the rules were about to change.
