CHAPTER 32 — Testing Boundaries
The rain had slowed by afternoon, but the tension in Derek's penthouse had only thickened—an invisible thread stretched tight between them. Eva sat curled on the edge of the couch, still shaken from the photo left on her balcony. Derek stood near the window, back to her, staring out at the dripping city like he was plotting war.
He probably was.
He hadn't said a word since telling her Kane had been inside her apartment. Derek's silence wasn't usual silence. It was purposeful. Contained. A storm held inside a chest that could only hold so much.
Eva watched him, feeling a flicker of something she couldn't name.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
Maybe it was the realization that Derek Blackwell—cold, controlled, untouchable—was shaken too.
"Are you going to say anything?" she finally whispered.
Derek didn't turn. "Anything I say right now would be too much."
"Too much for who?"
"For you."
He paused.
"For me."
That answer froze her.
He rarely admitted vulnerability.
He was admitting it now.
Eva stood and walked toward him, her steps soft on the polished floor. She stopped just beside him, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body, far enough not to touch him.
He finally looked at her.
His eyes were dark—storm-dark—but not angry. Something else. Something sharper than anger.
"You've been curious," he said quietly.
Eva blinked. "About what?"
"About me."
His voice dipped lower.
"My life. My business. The things I don't tell you."
Her breath caught.
He wasn't wrong.
"Yes," she whispered, unable to look away. "I want to understand you."
Derek studied her face like she was another document he needed to analyze before she could hurt him.
"And you went into my study."
It wasn't an accusation.
It was an observation—with edges.
"I had to," she said. "You're keeping things from me."
He exhaled once, slowly. "You crossed a line, Eva."
She swallowed. "I know."
His jaw tightened—not in anger, but in thought. Calculation.
"And yet," he murmured, "I'm not sure if I want to punish you for it… or see how far you'll go."
Her heart stopped.
"Derek—"
He lifted a hand, silencing her with the slightest gesture. "You're curious. You want to know me." His gaze dropped to her lips, then rose again. "But curiosity is dangerous in my world."
Dangerous how?
Emotionally?
Physically?
She wasn't sure anymore.
Derek stepped closer, slow and deliberate, until her back brushed the glass wall behind her. Rain streaked the outside; inside, heat coiled through her veins.
"You want answers," he said softly. "But you also want control."
Eva's breath trembled. "That's not true."
He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?"
His fingers brushed her wrist, feather-light but commanding. "You want the truth, Eva? Let's see how much you can handle."
A shiver ran through her.
He wasn't angry.
He was testing her.
A subtle, dangerous game.
"Tell me," he said, voice like velvet over steel. "Why did you go into my study? What were you hoping to find?"
Her lips parted. "I— I'm tired of feeling like I'm blindfolded. That I don't know what's happening around me."
"And you think knowing my secrets will protect you?"
"Yes."
"No." He leaned in, breath warm against her cheek. "Knowing them will only pull you deeper."
His thumb brushed the inside of her wrist, sending a shockwave through her.
"Do you trust me?" he whispered.
She should.
She shouldn't.
"I don't know."
That truth hit the air between them like a spark.
Derek's expression didn't change, but his eyes did—darkening, sharpening, assessing her with a kind of dangerous interest.
"Good," he murmured. "Uncertainty means you're thinking. And you'll need your mind to survive what's coming."
Her pulse spiked. "What is coming?"
Instead of answering, he tilted her chin up with his fingers, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"You're looking for my weaknesses."
She froze.
"You think you can decode me." His thumb traced her jawline. "You want to know the past I don't speak about. The enemies I've made. The parts of me that scare even myself."
Her mouth went dry.
"And maybe," he continued softly, "you're looking for something else too."
"Something like what?"
"Power," he whispered.
Eva's stomach fluttered with a mix of indignation, heat, and something she hated to admit—recognition.
"Derek, I'm not trying to control you."
"No?"
He stepped even closer.
"Then why do you look at me like you're trying to figure out the moment I'll break?"
Eva felt her breath punch out of her.
She had been studying him.
Trying to understand where he hurt.
Where he feared.
Where he softened.
Because she cared.
And because she was falling—slowly, painfully—into feelings she wasn't equipped to handle.
"I'm not trying to break you," she whispered.
His eyes softened at that—barely. "Everyone has a breaking point, Eva. Even me."
Silence pooled between them.
Then Derek shifted, letting his fingers slide down her wrist until his whole hand wrapped around hers. Not tight. Not gentle. Just decisive.
He drew her away from the window and toward the living room.
"Sit."
It wasn't a command.
It was a test.
Eva hesitated.
Not because she was defying him—
but because she finally understood the weight of that single word.
If she obeyed, she stepped deeper into his world, his rules, his boundaries.
If she refused…
Derek watched her, unblinking.
After a beat, she sat.
His expression didn't show satisfaction. Only acknowledgment. Calculation.
He sat across from her, elbows on his knees, fingers steepled.
"I will tell you one truth," he said. "One. And you will not ask for more."
Her heart thudded. "What truth?"
His eyes held hers with unbroken intensity.
"The night my father died," he said slowly, "Luther Kane was in the room."
Eva's breath stopped.
"And my father wasn't the only one he wanted dead."
Derek leaned closer.
"He came for me too."
The world tilted.
"Derek—"
"You wanted the truth," he murmured. "There it is."
Her heart pounded in her throat. "He… he tried to kill you?"
"Yes. And he wasn't working alone."
Eva felt cold all over.
"For years," Derek continued, voice low, "I pretended I didn't know who was behind it. I built an empire. I played the obedient son. I gave the world what it wanted."
He paused.
"But I didn't forget."
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
"I've been hunting them," he said simply. "Quietly. Carefully. Every deal. Every investment. Every move I make is part of the same equation."
Her breathing grew shallow. "Derek… why didn't you tell me any of this?"
He studied her carefully. Too carefully.
"Because I needed to know," he said, "if I could trust you with the first truth… before I gave you the next."
Eva stared at him, realization crashing over her.
He wasn't just testing her curiosity.
He was testing her loyalty.
Her limits.
Her ability to survive the truth of his world.
"Do you still want answers?" he asked quietly.
Her voice was barely a whisper. "Yes."
He nodded once.
"Then you'll stay here. With me. Until Kane is dealt with."
Her chest tightened. "And if I don't agree?"
A dangerous softness crossed his face.
"Then you'll die," he said gently.
Eva's breath shattered.
Derek reached out and brushed her cheek, his touch surprisingly tender.
"I won't let that happen."
Before she could speak, a sharp beep cut through the room.
Derek's phone.
His expression changed instantly—cold, sharp, lethal.
He stood and walked to the counter, picking it up. His shoulders stiffened as he read the message.
Eva rose slowly, dread twisting her stomach.
"Derek?" she whispered.
He didn't answer.
He simply turned the phone so she could see the screen.
Her blood ran cold.
A live video feed.
Of her mother's house.
A figure—blurred, dark, familiar—stood on the porch, knocking.
Eva's knees nearly buckled.
Derek's voice dropped to a whisper of pure steel.
"He's not testing me anymore."
He looked at her—dark, determined, terrifyingly calm.
"He's testing you."