“Care to explain why you’re in my office after hours, Miss Commbs?”

Jake’s voice was low, terrifying in its calm. Zara froze, her hand still on the folder. Her father’s name C. Commbs stared up at her like an accusation.

“I..” Her throat was dry. “I was just organizing files for tomorrow.”

“Were you?” He stepped inside, closing the door with a soft click. No shouting. No visible anger. Somehow that was worse.

He stopped at the edge of the desk, gaze flicking to the folder, then back to her. “Finish what you were looking for,” he said softly.

“What?” Her voice wavered.

“You came for something. Finish.” He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, watching her with unnerving stillness. “I’m curious what you think you’ll find.”

Every nerve screamed trap. Zara forced herself to slide the folder back into place. “There’s nothing here I need.”

“Interesting.” His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly before he snatched the folder, flicked through it, and locked it away. “Go home, Miss Commbs. Get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

Her pulse spiked at the implication. “For what?”

He didn’t answer. His phone buzzed; whatever he read darkened his expression. “Now,” he said, dismissing her.

She fled, heart hammering. He should have fired her. Instead, he’d let her go with a warning that felt like a loaded gun.

***

At home, Zara found Liam sprawled on the couch, headphones in, oblivious. She managed a tight smile, ruffled his hair, and shut herself in her room.

A hot shower didn’t wash away the memory of Jake’s gaze or the disturbing weight of his words. She was toweling her hair dry when her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number:

Leave Stark Industries if you want your brother to live.

The message stole her breath. She read it again. And again.

Jake? No, his threats were precise, not sloppy. She dialed back. Disconnected.

A second text followed:

You’re already on their radar. Walk away while you can.

Zara’s chest heaved. She backed against the wall, staring at Liam’s door, mind ricocheting between flight and fury. She almost called Jake almost but the thought of putting her brother in his hands burned. Instead, she tore her SIM out, snapped it in two, and shoved the pieces in the trash. For tonight, she would watch. And wait. Sleep was out of the question.

***

Morning brought no relief. Stark Industries felt different colder. Whispers stopped when she entered. Eyes lingered too long.

Damian Cole leaned against her desk, holding two coffees. “Triple shot,” he said, offering one with a smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “You look… tense.”

“Long night,” she said evenly.

He lowered his voice. “Family’s a soft spot, Zara. Dangerous thing in this building.”

Her fingers went rigid on the cup. “Is that a threat?”

“Of course not.” His grin widened, almost boyish. “Friendly advice. Besides…” He leaned closer, cedar and danger in his scent, “…if someone wanted to hurt you, you wouldn’t see it coming.”

Then the easygoing billionaire facade snapped back into place, and he strolled toward Jake’s office like nothing had happened.

***

By afternoon, Zara’s chance arrived. Jake and Damian were locked in a tense board meeting. The top floor was deserted.

She slipped into the restricted archive, Jake’s keycard borrowed hours earlier granting access. Cold air, rows of steel cabinets. She rifled through files until one label stopped her cold:

C. Commbs.

Her father’s face stared up from a clipped photo. Beneath it: contracts, reports, and a sealed envelope marked CONFIDENTIAL.

She pressed play on the recorder inside.

Her father’s voice, raw with guilt:

“I made a deal I couldn’t break. The Starks weren’t the enemy… I was. If you’re hearing this, I failed. Protect your mother. Protect Liam. Don’t trust anyone.”

Her knees buckled. Digging deeper, she found another file a list of over a hundred names. Next to each, a single word: RELOCATED.

The infamous firings. Jake hadn’t destroyed them. He’d saved them.

A piercing beep shattered her thoughts. Security alarm.

The door creaked open.

Damian leaned against the frame, his smile edged with steel. “You really should be more careful, Zara. Secrets like these… can get you killed.”

He walked out, closing the door with a deliberate click.

**

Zara barely made it home. Her father’s voice, Damian’s warning, the file she hadn’t dared take they all churned in her mind.

She had just checked on Liam when her phone buzzed.

Unknown Number:

Leave Stark Industries if you want your brother to live.

“Liam?” she called, panic rising.

No answer.

The window shattered. Masked men flooded the room.

“Where’s the file?” one growled, grabbing her arm.

“I...I don’t have it!”

A blow knocked the air from her lungs. They were dragging her toward the door when a gunshot cracked the air.

Jake Stark stood there, dark coat flaring, eyes like carved obsidian. “Let her go.”

Two of the men turned toward him and didn’t get a second chance. His team swept in, fast and brutal. Thirty seconds later, the room was littered with unconscious bodies.

Zara clung to Liam, who had been shoved into the closet, shaking but alive.

Jake stepped closer, fury radiating from him in cold waves. He tilted her chin up, his thumb grazing the edge of her jaw. Fear and something hotter coiled in her stomach, treacherous and unbidden.

“You just made yourself a target, Miss Commbs,” he said quietly. “And they won’t stop until they get what they came for.”

“I don’t…”

“Save it.” His grip lingered a beat too long before he dropped his hand. “Stark Industries has protocols for situations like this. A target this exposed doesn’t walk free. You sign the emergency security agreement, or I release you… and the next time, my people won’t be there first.”

He held out a sleek folder, her name already printed. “It’s standard procedure,” he added, softer, “but for you… it’s personal.”

One of Jake’s men spoke quietly into his earpiece.

“Sweep’s clear. Kill order confirmed. Apartment’s cleared. We’re moving them to Safety.”

Zara’s stomach dropped. Kill order. There was nowhere she could run where they wouldn’t find her. What had she gotten into. why does this look bigger than she imagined. Who would want her dead? Why did Jake save her. Her mind raced in different directions.

Jake’s gaze cut to her, cold and unreadable. “You think I’m offering you a choice? Without my security, you and your brother won’t last the night. Sign, or take your chances alone.”

Zara shoved the folder back at him, fury flashing through the tremor in her hands.

“You think this makes you my savior? Liam’s life is in danger because of you.”

Jake didn’t flinch. “Hate me later. For now, you’ll live because of me.”

She was quiet for a minute, then she picked up the pen.

Her hand trembled as she signed. A faint creak came from the hallway. Liam stood barefoot by the doorway, wide-eyed, his face pale.

“Liam...” she started, but Jake’s gaze flicked to him, unreadable.

“He needs to know only one thing,” Jake said. “He’s safe as long as you do exactly what I say.”

Jake leaned in close enough that his breath brushed her temple.

“From now on,” he said, voice like a verdict, “you answer to me. No one else.”