Chapter 46: Valentine’s Special AU: The Intern and the CEO

AU: Modern Office Romance | Human Characters

The elevator ride to the 50th floor of the Genesis Tower was usually the longest forty seconds of Nikki Vance’s life. Today, February 14th, it felt like an eternity in purgatory.

Pressure everywhere she turned. Making her regret why on earth she was single!

Every other woman in the building was walking around with a bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates, or a smug smile that said, I have reservations at 8:00. Nikki, on the other hand, was holding a lukewarm soy latte, a stack of mergers and acquisitions files, and a dry cleaning bag containing a charcoal grey suit that cost more than an entire college tuition.

She was the Executive Assistant to Adonis, the CEO of Genesis Corp. The “Ice King.” The man who allegedly fired an intern once for breathing too loudly during a board meeting.

Nikki stepped off the elevator and marched to her desk, which was strategically placed right outside his double glass doors like a guard dog’s kennel.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to me,” she muttered, dumping the files on her desk. “My date tonight is with an Excel spreadsheet and a bottle of cheap wine.”

The intercom on her desk buzzed. A sharp, deep voice cut through the air.

“Vance. Get in here.”

Nikki sighed, smoothing down her pencil skirt. “Coming, Sir.”

She walked into the office. It was freezing, as always. Adonis was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the rainy New York skyline. He was wearing a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms that looked like they were sculpted from marble.

He turned. His blue eyes, cold, piercing, and terrifyingly beautiful, scanned her from head to toe.

“You’re late,” he stated.

“I’m three minutes early,” Nikki countered, placing his coffee on the coaster. “The dry cleaner had a line. Apparently, everyone wants to look good for their dates tonight.”

Adonis ignored the jab. He picked up his suit jacket from the chair. “Put your coat on. We’re leaving.”

Nikki blinked. “Leaving? Sir, it’s 5:00 PM. I have the quarterly reports to file, and—”

“Cancel the filing. Cancel your evening,” Adonis commanded, shrugging into his jacket. He adjusted his cuffs with lethal precision. “I have a site inspection at Le Jardin. I need you to take notes.”

Nikki’s jaw dropped. Le Jardin was the most exclusive, romantic restaurant in the city. It had a six-month waiting list. And he wanted her to go there… to take notes? On Valentine’s Day?

“You want me to work… at a restaurant… on Valentine’s Day?” Nikki asked, her voice rising an octave.

Adonis walked past her, the scent of his expensive cologne washing over her. “Is that a problem, Vance? I pay you for your time. All of it.”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He just walked out.

Nikki gritted her teeth so hard it hurt, she screamed internaly, praying internally that she could grip his neck and just twist once.

But instead she inhaled and exhaled, “Don’t worry, reign it in, you are bigger than this.”

The car ride was silent. Nikki sat in the back of the Maybach, furiously typing on her phone, texting her roommate Roxy that she was going to kill her boss. Adonis sat next to her, reading a dossier, completely ignoring the fact that she was fuming.

When they arrived at Le Jardin, the maître d’ practically tripped over himself to greet them.

“Mr. Adonis! Your usual table is ready. Right by the fireplace.”

“Good,” Adonis said, not even looking at the man. He gestured for Nikki to follow.

The restaurant was bathed in soft candlelight. Couples were holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes, whispering sweet nothings. A violinist was playing somewhere in the corner. The air smelled of truffles and roses.

So disgusting to Nikki who sat with her Boss, no enthusiasm to even say Aww~

She was clutching a notepad, trailing behind the Grim Reaper of Romance.

Adonis sat down and immediately pulled out his phone. “Sit,” he ordered, pointing to the chair opposite him.

Nikki sat. She felt ridiculous. She was wearing her work clothes, a sensible blouse and skirt, while everyone else was in cocktail dresses.

A waiter appeared. “Champagne for the couple?”

“Water,” Adonis said without looking up. “Sparkling for me. Tap for her.”

Nikki’s eye twitched. Tap?

“And bring the tasting menu,” Adonis continued. “We are in a rush.”

The waiter scurried away.

“Okay,” Adonis said, finally looking at her. “Open the file on the Kensington Property. I need you to cross-reference the square footage with the zoning laws.”

Nikki stared at him. “Now? You want me to do zoning math right now?”

“Efficiency, Vance,” Adonis snapped. “Do it.”

For the next hour, it was torture. The food came, delicate, beautiful courses of foie gras, scallops, and wagyu beef. Nikki barely tasted any of it. Every time she lifted her fork, Adonis barked an order.

“Check the email from Legal.”

“Did you schedule the groomer for my dog?” (He didn’t even have a dog).

“Wipe that sauce off your lip, it’s unprofessional.”

Nikki looked around. A couple at the next table got engaged. The woman was crying tears of joy. The man was beaming.

Nikki looked back at Adonis. He was frowning at his phone, looking bored, treating her like a piece of office furniture that he had dragged along for convenience.

“Vance,” Adonis said, holding out his empty glass. “Pour me more water.”

That was it. Nikki was fed up

Nikki didn’t pour the water. She slammed her notepad onto the table, rattling the silverware.

“No,” she said.

Adonis stopped scrolling. He looked up slowly, his eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”

“I said no!” Nikki shouted.

Heads turned. The violinist faltered.

Nikki stood up, her chair screeching against the floor. She was shaking. Six months of stress, six months of fetching his coffee, six months of being secretly in love with this emotional void of a man—it all came boiling up.

“I quit,” she announced, her voice trembling with rage.

Adonis looked stunned. “Sit down, Nikki. You are making a scene.”

“I don’t give a damn about the scene!” Nikki yelled, tears pricking her eyes. “You are an absolute ass, Adonis! Do you know that? You are a cold, heartless prick!”

Adonis stood up, his height instantly intimidating, but Nikki didn’t back down. She poked him in the chest.

“It is Valentine’s Day! Normal people are out here being happy, and you dragged me here to… to what? Humiliate me? Make me do math while you ignore me?”

“Nikki—”

“Shut up!” she screamed. “I am done! I am done running your errands! I am done picking up keys for apartments I’ll never live in! I am done choosing paint colors for your mistresses! And I am definitely done being in love with a man who thinks ’Tap Water’ is a romantic gesture!”

The restaurant was dead silent. Even the staff had stopped moving.

Nikki wiped a tear from her cheek furiously.

“I quit,” she sobbed, turning on her heel. “Have a nice life with your billions. I hope your stock market crashes and you get a rash from your expensive suit!”

She stormed toward the exit.

She didn’t make it three steps.

A hand, large, warm, and firm, clamped around her wrist.

“Nikki, stop.”

She tried to yank her arm away. “Let me go!”

Adonis didn’t let go. He pulled. Hard.

Nikki spun around, colliding with his chest. Before she could scream another curse word, Adonis’s hands were on her face, tilting her head up.

He crashed his lips onto hers.

It wasn’t a polite kiss. It was hungry. Desperate. It was the kiss of a starving man who had finally found a feast. He devoured her, his tongue sweeping into her mouth, stealing the breath from her lungs. One hand tangled in her hair, messing up her professional bun, while the other gripped her waist so tight it bruised.

Nikki melted. Her brain short-circuited. Her hands, which had been balled into fists to hit him, uncurled and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer.

Adonis broke the kiss, but he didn’t pull away. He rested his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.

“You are so loud,” he whispered, his voice rough and wrecked. “And so difficult.”

“You… you kissed me,” Nikki stammered, her eyes wide.

“I have been trying to kiss you for six months,” Adonis growled. “But you are always so busy working.”

He pulled back slightly, looking into her eyes with an intensity that made her knees weak.

“You think I brought you here to work?” Adonis asked, a dark, amused smirk playing on his lips. “Nikki, look at the file.”

“What?” Nikki blinked, dazed.

“The file,” Adonis gestured to the notepad and the folder on the table. “The Kensington Property. Look at the deed.”

Nikki looked at him, confused. She walked back to the table, her hands shaking. She opened the folder she had been ignoring.

DEED OF OWNERSHIP

PROPERTY: 142 Kensington Ave (The Penthouse with the Art Studio).

OWNER: Nikki Vance.

Nikki gasped. She flipped the page.

There was a receipt for a car, the exact vintage convertible she had pinned on her office mood board. There were receipts for paint, the “Sunset Orange” she had picked up last week, thinking it was for his office.

“I don’t understand,” Nikki whispered, looking up at him. “I picked these up. I ran these errands. I thought they were for…”

“For who?” Adonis walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “A mistress? A fiancée?”

He laughed, a low sound against her ear.

“They were for you, Nikki. Every single one.”

He turned her around in his arms.

“I have been obsessed with you from the very moment I laid eyes on you,” Adonis confessed, his blue eyes burning. “When you tripped over the copier cable on your first day. When you cursed out the printer in Russian. When you brought me coffee that tasted like battery acid but smiled like sunshine.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. The key she had picked up from the realtor yesterday.

“I bought the building because you complained about your neighbors,” he admitted shamelessly. “I bought the car because you said you liked the color. I made you run the errands because I wanted you to choose your own gifts without ruining the surprise.”

Nikki stared at him, tears spilling over again. “You… you stalker. You crazy, rich stalker.”

“Guilty,” Adonis grinned.

He wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb. The restaurant, the people, the noise, it all faded away. It was just the Intern and the CEO who had lost his mind over her.

“I’m not good at feelings, Nikki,” Adonis whispered, leaning down. “I’m cold. I’m efficient. I’m a machine in a suit. But you… you make me glitch.”

He pressed the key into her hand and kissed her nose.

“Happy Valentine’s, Kitty,” he murmured against her lips. “Can I be yours?”

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