Chapter Five: Lies in Velvet

Celeste stood in the doorway like she was born to be there, red lips, matching dress, and the confident glide of a woman who never entered a room she didn’t already own.

Killian stepped forward, shoulders stiff. “What are you doing here?”

She smiled. “I missed you, darling.”

I moved beside him, unsure whether to step between them or get out of the blast radius.

“You’re not on the approved access list,” Killian said.

“Oh, I was. You just forgot,” Celeste replied, crossing the foyer slowly. “I helped design this place. Remember? Every sensor, every room… every secret.”

The tension between them crackled like static. I suddenly understood, this wasn’t just a business partner. Or an ex.

This was someone who used to matter.

She turned to me. “So this is the girl. Cute.”

“Ava Monroe,” I said flatly.

“Ah. The fiancée.”

Her eyes sparkled with something wicked.

“I didn’t realize you were such a good actor, Killian.”

“Leave,” he said.

But she laughed. “Not until I say what I came to say.”

She walked past us, heels clicking across the black stone. Every movement was calculated, dangerous.

“I know who leaked the merger documents,” she said. “And it wasn’t me.”

Killian narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

She tapped her purse. “Let me guess. You’ve been chasing shadows. Old rivals. Russian bots. But you never stopped to check your own system, did you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Celeste pulled out a flash drive and dropped it on the table between us.

“This contains the access logs of the last four breaches.”

Killian didn’t move.

She turned to me. “You might want to ask him why your name is on two of them.”

I blinked. “What?”

Killian’s jaw tightened.

“That’s not possible,” I whispered.

Celeste smiled, cruel and perfect. “Oh, sweet girl. You really thought he trusted you?”

I looked at Killian. “Tell me she’s lying.”

His silence cut me deeper than a blade ever could.

“Killian.”

Still nothing.

I stepped back, blood rushing in my ears.

“Did you use me?”

“No,” he said finally, but the word was too slow, too late.

“You tracked me. You scanned me. You tested me. And now… what? Framed me?”

“I didn’t...” He reached for me, but I stepped away.

“No,” I said. “Don’t.”

Celeste tilted her head. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Why are you even here?” I snapped. “To gloat?”

“To warn,” she said, suddenly serious. “Because this thing you’re building? It’s going to get both of you killed.”

She dropped a second drive onto the table. “I found this buried in the South Korean servers. Killian’s internal firewall didn’t catch it.”

He picked it up, eyes scanning. His face went still.

“What is it?” I asked.

But I could already tell, it was bad.

“I need a minute,” he said.

“You’ve had days,” I shot back.

I turned and stormed down the hallway, trying to breathe past the sting in my chest.

I should’ve known better.

This wasn’t love.

It was leverage.

And I’d just become collateral.

Later that night, I sat on the edge of the guest bed, staring at the blank wall. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I wasn’t sure if it was rage, heartbreak, or both.

A knock.

“Go away,” I said.

“I won’t,” Killian replied from the other side. “Not until you hear the rest.”

I didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

The door creaked open.

“I ran a second scan,” he said. “Celeste was right. Someone is framing you.”

I turned. “Someone other than you?”

He flinched.

“I was wrong to hide what I knew,” he admitted. “But I never tried to harm you. I...” He broke off.

“I don’t know how to do this, Ava. I’ve spent years keeping people at arm’s length. But with you…”

He stepped into the room.

“I wanted to let you in. I just didn’t know how.”

I stared at him. “You should’ve started with honesty.”

He stepped closer.

“I know.”

I swallowed hard. “Why me?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Finally, he said, “Because you don’t need me. And that terrifies me.”

That was the moment I realized something important.

Killian Lennox wasn’t just powerful. He was lonely. And people like him, they didn’t offer love. They offered terms.

“I’m not here to save you,” I said.

“I know.”

“I’m not here to break for you, either.”

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

Then he stepped closer. And for the second time in two days, he kissed me.

This one wasn’t a dare. Or a test.

It was a choice.

And I let myself fall, into him, against him, around him, until the ache in my chest dulled.

But when I opened my eyes, I knew the storm wasn’t over.

Because on the table beside his laptop…

Was a photo.

Me.

With someone I hadn’t seen in years.

And a date on the back.

Three weeks before I was ever contacted.

I stared at it.

Then at him.

“What is this?”

Killian looked at me, guilt flickering behind his cool mask.

And in that instant, I knew:

I wasn’t just chosen.

I was targeted.