Chapter 343: Elena’s Arrival

Terminal at the international arrival wing buzzed as a chaotic, cavernous web of echoing footfalls, the clatter of heavy rolling luggage against polished marble, and muffled PA announcements ringing off the soaring glass ceiling.

Fluorescent lighting washed over hundreds of tired travelers, frantic families, and drivers holding up black digital signboards.

Liam stood near a metal chrome barrier, leaning his hip casually against the structure.

Hands were buried deep inside the pockets of his dark grey joggers.

He had updated his look over the past couple of weeks—his dark hair was now cut into a styled, textured crop that fell with just enough intentional, rough messiness across his forehead to look completely effortless.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, flicking his thumb upward to unlock the screen and reviewing a text thread that had summoned him here in the first place.

*Elena~ Come pick me up at the airport at 6:30.*

*Liam~ Why not have your driver do it?.*

*Elena~ Because I want you.*

*Liam~Okay. I’ll be there.*

Liam stared at the glowing screen for a long, quiet second before letting out a slow, heavy exhale through his nose.

He locked the phone and slid it back into his joggers.

For the past month, his life had settled into an insanely comfortable, predictable groove.

School was straightforward, requiring just enough effort to keep his grades solid.

Nights had been evenly split between fucking Kelly, dealing with Stella’s constant shadow shenanigans around his house, and occasionally spending time with a few of the other girls who kept passing through his life.

It was a good routine. Life felt simple, controlled, and quiet.

So the second Elena’s text had popped up on his screen announcing her sudden return, he knew with absolute certainty that his peaceful little holiday had officially come to a screeching halt.

Liam raised his head, his green eyes calmly scanning a sea of people walking through sliding double doors of the customs area.

He watched a businessman in a crumpled suit frantically checking his watch, a mother chasing two toddlers with overflowing backpacks, and a group of exhausted exchange students hauling massive duffle bags. None of them were the person he was looking for.

He reached back into his pocket, his thumb hovering over the screen as he prepared to send a quick text asking where she was stuck.

Then automatic doors parted again, and she stepped through.

Ambient noise in a bustling terminal didn’t literally stop, but energy in the hallway shifted instantly.

Elena walked into an arrival hall with the kind of unhurried, razor-sharp posture that made every single person around her look like background noise.

She was wearing a floor-length, body-hugging dress made of a deep, dark ribbed knit that clung to every single curve of her figure like a second skin.

High necklines balanced a sharp, tailored silhouette that accentuated a trim narrowness of her waist while giving maximum advantage to a flush, rolling curve of her hips, her ass, and a swell of her chest with every step she took.

Liam caught her dark eyes across a crowded space. A slow, easy smirk touched his lips as he raised one hand in a calm wave.

Elena spotted him immediately.

Her neutral, distant expression melted into a small, confident smile, her eyes lighting up as she raised a manicured hand to wave back.

She walked toward him with a slow, composed stride, completely ignoring a trail of turned heads she left in her wake.

A guy hauling two oversized duffel bags almost tripped over a metal trash can because he was staring, and a married man standing near baggage claim let his eyes wander down her dress for three seconds too long until his wife landed a sharp, audible slap right against a side of his head, snapping his neck back around.

Elena didn’t even notice.

She brought a sleek, dark leather suitcase to a stop right in front of Liam, her dark eyes scanning his face from his styled hair down to his casual outfit.

"How was the flight?" Liam asked, leaning his elbows back against a chrome railing. "I wasn’t expecting you to board a commercial flight like normal people."

"It would have taken until tomorrow afternoon to arrange a private flight back from where I was," Elena said smoothly, her voice carrying that rich, completely calm tone she always had. She rested one hand on a telescoping handle of her luggage. "I didn’t feel like waiting another twenty-four hours. I just wanted to leave so I could see you. It wasn’t that bad of an experience, honestly."

Liam let out a low chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "I’m touched, actually. But don’t you have your own private jet?"

"Someone borrowed it," she replied casually, as if she were talking about a spare umbrella.

’Saying that so casually like it’s a five-dollar pair of sunglasses,’ Liam thought to himself, his jaw tightening slightly in amusement.

Elena took a half-step closer, her eyes lingering on his face with obvious satisfaction. "I’m completely exhausted from travel, but I’m really looking forward to tonight."

Liam raised an eyebrow, genuinely caught off guard. "Tonight? What’s happening tonight?"

Instead of answering, Elena simply turned around and began walking toward glass exit doors leading toward a parking pickup lane.

As she passed him, she looked back over her shoulder, flashing him a slow, wicked smile that revealed nothing and promised everything.

A sudden, faint chill brushed against a back of Liam’s neck, like a drop of ice water running down his spine.

He stood there for a beat, watching her walk away, before shaking it off and lengthening his stride to catch up with her.

"I sent you a location of where we’re going," Elena said as they stepped out into cool evening air, roar of airport traffic filling space around them.

Liam pulled his phone from his pocket, tapping open a map pin she had dropped into their private chat.

He read a name of a destination out loud. "Grand Meridian?" He tapped a preview link, letting a web page load. "GPS says it’s a five-star hotel downtown."

Just as words left his lips, Elena abruptly gasped—"Ahh!"—and came to a sudden, dead halt right on a concrete sidewalk.

Liam took a full step past her before stopping himself, spinning on his heel to look at her with a furrowed brow. "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing," Elena murmured, reaching her hand back to adjust a leather strap of a heavy designer tote bag slung over her shoulder. "I just felt a sudden tug on my bag. Like someone jerked it from behind."

Liam’s eyes instantly dropped from her face straight down to a concrete floor beneath their boots.

Bright overhead floodlights cast a long, dark shadow behind his legs.

He knew for a cold fact that Stella hadn’t physically followed him out of the house this evening, but looking at a subtle, liquid ripple pulsing along edges of his shadow on pavement, he was a hundred percent sure a crazy bitch was messing with things from a distance again.

He shifted his feet, intentionally stomping his heel directly onto a darkest part of his shadow before looking back up at Elena.

"If you’re okay, we should get going," Liam said, his voice smooth and steady. "I’ll take the bag."

Elena offered a small, polite smile, shaking her head. "You don’t have to carry it, Liam. It’s really not that heavy."

"I insist," Liam said, stepping in close and firmly taking a dark leather strap from her hands before she could argue further.

They walked out into night air where city neon lights were beginning to paint clouds above. Liam led her to his black BMW M4 parked in a short-term garage, unlocked a rear trunk with a quiet click, and placed her heavy luggage inside.

He slammed a trunk shut, walked around to open a passenger door for her, and then climbed into a driver’s seat.

A drive from an airport to a downtown financial district took roughly thirty minutes.

Engine handled a highway effortlessly, quiet hum blending with an ambient warmth of a leather interior.

Atmosphere inside a car was surprisingly relaxed, filled with low, easy conversation and occasional dry laughs as a glowing skyline pulled closer.

At a red light five miles out, Elena rested her cheek against her hand, looking over at his side profile.

"So," she began softly, her dark eyes watching his hands on a steering wheel, "how are you settling into a new place?"

Liam kept his gaze fixed on a green light ahead, his expression completely unreadable.

He wasn’t shocked for a second that she knew he had moved—Elena had resources that made privacy a joke—but a small, quiet part of his mind couldn’t help but wonder what else she had been tracking over a past month while he thought he was playing it smooth.

"It’s quiet," Liam replied simply, stepping on a gas pedal as a light turned. "I like having space."

"Good," she murmured, a subtle, sharp edge underlying her calm tone. "I’ll have to come by and see it properly sometime."

Twenty minutes later, BMW pulled up to a grand front entrance of Grand Meridian.

A building was an architectural monster of dark glass and illuminated marble columns towering into a night sky.

Uniformed valet staff immediately stepped forward to open doors, but Liam signaled them off, stepping out to grab her bags from a trunk himself.

They walked through heavy glass revolving doors into a lobby. Interior was insane—soaring vaulted ceilings, warm ambient light spilling from geometric brass chandeliers, polished travertine floors that reflected every movement, and a faint, expensive scent of cedar and fresh lilies floating in air.

They crossed a vast lobby toward a main marble reception desk.

Behind a counter stood a striking woman with a clean-shaved head, wearing dark, thick-rimmed designer glasses and a tailored charcoal blazer.

"Good evening. Welcome to Grand Meridian," a receptionist said, offering a practiced, flawless smile as they approached.

"Reservation under Elena Vance," Elena said calmly, resting one hand on a high marble counter.

A woman’s fingers danced across her keyboard for a brief moment before her posture straightened subtly, her smile becoming notably warmer. "Ah, yes, Ms. Vance. A Penthouse suite has been fully prepared according to your specifications."

A check-in process was handled with silent, elite efficiency. Two dark leather keycards were placed inside a gold-embossed sleeve and handed over without a single unnecessary question asked.

Liam and Elena walked past a main lounge to a private keycard-access elevator at a back of a ground floor.

Liam tapped a leather sleeve against a sensor, brass doors slid shut with a soft hiss, and an elevator surged smoothly upward, bypassing forty floors in a matter of seconds.

When doors slid open at a top, they stepped directly into a Penthouse suite.

A space was ridiculous. Wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling glass windows offered an uninterrupted, sweeping panoramic view of a whole lit-up city below.

Dark hardwood floors ran throughout an open-concept layout, furnished with low-profile leather couches, a private granite bar stocked with glass decanters, and a central double-sided glass fireplace glowing with warm, orange flames.

Liam walked past a main lounge area into a master bedroom suite, setting her heavy leather bags down near a base of a massive king-sized bed wrapped in crisp, high-thread-count white linens.

When he turned back around, Elena was standing right there in a doorway, blocking his exit.

She didn’t look at an incredible city view.

She didn’t comment on a room, a flight, or luggage. She simply closed a remaining distance between them, stepping directly into his personal space until her chest pressed flat against his jacket.

She reached up, wrapping both of her warm arms tightly around his neck, pulling his head down toward hers.

"Let’s start kissing," Elena whispered against his mouth, her warm breath smelling faintly of sweet mint before her lips pressed firmly against his in a deep, heavy, and completely unhurried kiss.