The air inside the penthouse was always precisely seventy degrees, but tonight, it felt freezing.
Aiden dropped his keys onto the marble console in the foyer, the sharp metallic ring echoing through the cavernous, hyper-modern space. He smoothed down the front of his shirt, his chest still tight, his lungs still carrying the phantom scent of Nia's small, shadowed bedroom. He felt fractured split entirely in two. One half of him was still trapped in the rumpled sheets of a modest mattress, while the other half was forced to step back into the blinding luxury of his actual life.
"You're late, love."
Elena's voice was smooth, cultured, and perfectly modulated.
She was sitting on the sleek white leather sofa, a tablet resting in her lap as she scrolled through a private digital catalog of rare, exotic designer handbags. She looked exactly as a billionaire's fiancé should—impeccable, composed, and radiant, even past midnight.
Aiden forced a tight smile, walking into the living area. "The acquisition meeting at the corporate office ran over, and then I had to handle some last-minute logistics down at the estate. I lost track of time."
Elena stood up, her silk robe trailing elegantly behind her as she approached him. She reached up, her manicured fingers gently brushing a stray lock of dark hair from his forehead. Her eyes, sharp and observant beneath her lashes, drifted down his arm. They lingered on his left wrist.
The bare skin where his custom Patek Philippe usually sat looked stark. Obvious.
"The office must have been frantic," Elena murmured, her tone light, almost casual. She touched his bare wrist, her thumb tracing the faint indentation the heavy platinum band usually left behind. "You left your watch behind, too? You never go anywhere without it."
Aiden didn't flinch, though a muscle jumped in his jaw. He smoothly pulled his hand back, sliding it into his pocket. "I took it off and left it on the desk in my private executive suite before the late-night briefing. My assistant will have it cleared and brought to me by morning."
"Of course," Elena said, her smile never faltering. But her eyes remained perfectly cold. "You should be more careful with it. A piece like that is... irreplaceable."
Before the silence between them could curdle, the quiet footsteps of their butler, Harrison, broke the tension. He approached carrying a silver tray bearing a single crystal glass and a freshly opened bottle of a vintage, hyper-expensive Bordeaux. Aiden's personal favorite.
"Your wine, Mr. Aiden," Harrison murmured deferentially, pouring the dark crimson liquid into the glass.
"Leave the bottle, Harrison. That'll be all for tonight," Aiden muttered, reaching for the glass and draining half of it in one heavy swallow.
He needed the burn of the alcohol to dull the edge of his panic. He needed to wash the taste of Nia off his tongue before he betrayed himself completely. "I'm going to take a shower."
Elena watched him walk down the hallway toward the master suite, her expression fading into a hard, unyielding mask the moment his back was turned.
She didn't follow him. Instead, she turned and walked out onto the expansive bedroom balcony, the cool night air whipping at her silk robe. The city stretched out below her, a glittering grid of lights that her fiancé owned a massive piece of.
She pulled a sleek, encrypted burner phone from the pocket of her robe,a device completely separate from the public network. She dialed a number she knew by heart.
The line rang once before a cold, professional voice answered.
"Miss Elena."
Elena stared out at the dark skyline, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper, entirely devoid of the warmth she gave Aiden.
"He left it at her house," she said coldly, her fingers tightening against the balcony railing. "A custom Patek. It's too loud. It's a liability."
"We are already tracking the device's GPS signal, ma'am," Marcus replied on the other end. "We have a unit in the area."
"Good," Elena commanded, her eyes narrowing as she thought of the ghost from Aiden's past trying to crawl back into his world. "Make it quick."