Chapter 106
Chapter 106:
“Checkmate, Elias,” she whispered.
She reached out. Her fingers brushed his chest.
Elias woke with a gasp.
He sat bolt upright in his king-sized bed, heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. His skin was flushed. He looked down.
The silk sheets were tangled around his legs. And…
Elias groaned, dropping his head into his hands. He was thirty-two years old. He was a billionaire. He did not have wet dreams like a hormonal teenager.
He threw the covers off and stared at the mess.
He couldn’t call the maid. The thought of Mrs. Gable, his housekeeper of twenty years, seeing this evidence was mortifying.
Elias Thorne, who controlled global markets, stripped his own bed. He bundled the sheets into a ball, hiding the shame in the center.
He walked down the hallway to the laundry room, barefoot.
He rounded the corner into the kitchen and froze.
His mother, Beatrice Thorne, was there, drinking tea. It was 6:00 AM.
She looked at him. She looked at the bundle of sheets in his arms. She looked at his flushed face. One perfectly manicured eyebrow rose.
“Spilled… water,” Elias croaked, his voice rough with sleep.
“Of course,” Beatrice said, taking a sip of her tea. She hid a smile behind the porcelain cup. “Hydration is important, dear p>
Elias fled to the laundry room. He shoved the sheets into the machine and started it on the sanitize cycle. Twice.
Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang.
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Elias was in the library, trying to focus on a merger contract. He was failing. Every time he blinked, he saw Aurora in silver armor.
“Sir,” the butler announced. “Miss Veronica is here p>
Elias sighed. Veronica. The daughter of a banking magnate. Beatrice had been trying to set them up for months. She was perfect on paper. She was also insufferable.
“Send her away,” Elias said.
“She brought… a gift, sir. For you p>
Elias paused. He adjusted his cuffs.
“Fine,” Elias muttered.
He walked out to the foyer. Veronica was standing there, looking like a page out of Vogue. She held a small, exquisitely wrapped box.
“Elias!” she cooed, stepping forward to kiss his cheek.
Elias stepped back smoothly. “Veronica. To what do I owe the pleasure p>
“I was just in the neighborhood,” she lied. She lived in Connecticut. “I brought this for you. I know you like… clean things p>
She handed him the box. He opened it carefully.
It was a bottle of hand sanitizer. Encrusted with Swarovski crystals.
Elias stared at it.