The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 75

Chapter 68: Stuck in an elevator

Bella pov

We sat in awkward silence until the food arrived. Then I focused on my salad, grateful for something to do with my hands.

“You were brilliant in there,” Caleb said finally

“Just doing my job.”

“It was more than that, you commanded that room. Even Walsh was impressed and he’s impossible to impress.”

“Is this the part where you tell me you’re proud of me?” I set down my fork. “Because I don’t need your approval, Caleb.”

“I know you don’t, but you have it anyway.” He met my eyes. “Bella, I’m not the enemy here. We’re on the same side.”

“We’re on Tom’s side,” I corrected. “That doesn’t make us allies.”

“Doesn’t it?” He leaned back, studying me. “We just spent two hours presenting as a unified team. We’re living under the same roof, raising our son together, building a business partnership. At what point do you admit we’re more than just reluctant co-parents?”

“We’re not more,” I said firmly. “We’re two people making the best of a complicated situation.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

The certainty in his voice annoyed me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re lying to yourself if you think there’s nothing between us.” His eyes were intense, pinning me in place. “Every time I get close, your breathing changes. Every time we touch, even accidentally, you feel it too.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“Am I?” He leaned forward, voice dropping low. “Then why did you run away last night when I got too close? Why do you flinch every time I look at you like I’m looking at you right now?”

“Because you destroyed me!” The words burst out before I could stop them. “Because years ago you looked at me with disgust and now you look at me like this and I don’t know which version is real.”

The confession hung between us, raw and painful as Caleb’s expression softened. “The disgust was never real, Bella. It was poison fed to me by people who wanted to destroy you. This, what you see now, this is real.”

“I can’t trust that.” I stood abruptly. “I’m done with lunch.”

I walked out of the restaurant, needing space, needing air, needing to not be in the same room with Caleb and his intensity and his claims that what we had was real.

Chapter 68 Skin on elevator

+25 Points

The elevator arrived empty and I stepped in, purtching the button for the lobby harder than necessary. The doors started to close.

“Wait.” Caleb’s hand shot out, stopping them. He stepped in beside me.

“I want to be alone.”

“Too bad, we’re going to the same place” He punched the button for the parking garage.

The elevator started its descent, the space suddenly feeling much smaller with both of us in it.

“You can’t just say things like that and expect me to believe you,” I said, staring at the floor numbers. “You can’t rewrite history.”

“I’m not trying to rewrite it, I’m trying to explain it.” His voice was measured. “I was wrong, I was manipulated, and I destroyed the best thing I ever had. But that doesn’t mean what I feel now isn’t real.”

“And what do you feel, Caleb?” I turned to face him. “Guilt? Obligation? Some misguided sense of responsibility?”

“I feel”

The elevator lurched violently, throwing me sideways. Caleb caught me, his arms wrapping around me as the lights flickered. Then everything stopped, the normal hum of movement gone.

“What just happened?” I pulled back but Caleb’s arms stayed firm around me.

He looked up at the floor indicator, frozen between 15 and 14. “I think we’re stuck.”

“Stuck?” I tried the door button. Nothing. “No, no, no, this can’t be happening.”

Caleb pulled out his phone. No signal. He pressed the emergency call button and after a moment, static crackled through.

“Black Tower security.”

“This is Caleb Black, I’m stuck in elevator three with a passenger. What’s the status?”

More static, then: “Sir, we’re experiencing a system-wide power fluctuation. Maintenance is working on it but it could take twenty to thirty minutes.”

“Understood.” Caleb released the button and looked at me. “Looks like we’re trapped for a while.”

I leaned against the wall, trying to calm my racing heart. Twenty minutes in an elevator that was maybe 6 by 6 feet, with Caleb, after that conversation.

“Are you okay?” He moved closer, concern on his face.

“I’m fine.” I wasn’t fine, I was acutely aware of how small this space was, how warm it was getting, how close he was.

“Bella, you’re shaking.”

“I said I’m fine.” I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to maintain distance in a space that had none.

Chapter 68 Stehr an elevator

+25 Points

Galcb pulled off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders before I could protest. It smelled like him, expensive cologne and something uniquely Caleb, and the scent made my head spin.

“We’ll be out soon,” he said gently.

We stood in silence, the emergency lighting casting everything in a soft yellow glow. I tried to focus on breathing, on not thinking about how trapped we were, how alone.

“I’m sorry,” Caleb said after a while.

“For what? The elevator malfunction?”

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