Archive of Our Own

Violet Fiducia woke up the morning after her seminar with a pounding headache. It took her a full minute to become aware of her surroundings, and of her own identity. She was lying in a moderately comfortable bed with rough sheets, reminding her that she was in a hotel. She fumbled across the nightstand in search of her glasses before realizing they were still sitting on her nose.

Damn. Was she so out of it that she hadn’t even noticed ? Still, something felt strange : she was completely naked.

The brunette sat up to make sure the frame wasn’t bent, as had happened before. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed something that terrified her. Another presence. She slowly turned her head and spotted a figure lying in bed beside her, a male figure, immediately ruling out the possibility that Hange had stayed with her for safety.

Violet stared at the toned, tattooed arms wrapped around a pillow as though it were being embraced. The ink stretched all the way across his back, and she wondered if she had spent the night with one of the servers she had seen during the cocktail reception.

Oh, my God. She was far too old to spend the night with some student working a summer job. She straightened abruptly in bed, which seemed to wake her companion. He grumbled softly. She instantly went pale. Though it took effort, she recognized the voice, and sweat slid down her temple as she met the piercing gaze of the asshole she worked with. Her throat tightened.
The dark-haired man stared at her blankly for a moment before he, too, grasped the horror of the situation.

“Holy fucking shit...

Nausea hit Violet as Levi quickly pulled away from her, realizing their legs were still touching. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening.
The brunette yanked the sheets up to her chest, covering her eyes with one hand to block out the vision from hell.

- What the fuck are you doing in my bed, brat ?

Her blood instantly boiled at the sound of his voice. That man could give her ulcers just by existing.

- What are you doing in mine, you pervert ?

- Four-eyes! This is my hotel room...

Silence fell. Violet tightened her grip on the sheets when she noticed all the marks covering the dark-haired man’s neck, trailing dangerously down his torso.
It had already been obvious, but there was nothing innocent about the two of them waking up completely naked in the same bed. The brunette threw the blanket aside and discovered that the bastard had left the exact same marks on her skin.

- Oh, no... Oh, no... no, no, no,” she repeated in full panic. “This can’t be happening. I’m going to wake up.

- Oh, fuck... I think I’m gonna throw up,” Levi muttered.

Violet stumbled while trying to get out of bed and noticed all her clothes scattered across the floor, confirming the scene of the crime. She crouched down quickly to gather them.

- Fuck, did you drug me or something ?

- I never drugged you, you psycho ! You’re the one who came to take advantage of me in my sleep !

The brunette shot back upright, trying to remember the night before. How had she ended up sleeping with Levi Ackerman ? The thought alone made her nauseous again. Or maybe that was still the alcohol in her system.

The dark-haired man stared at his colleague standing in the middle of his room in nothing but her underwear. For him too, the entire night was a complete blackout. Unfortunately, he recognized all too well the marks covering her body.

- You better keep your fucking mouth shut,” she threatened while hurriedly dressing herself.

- You too,” he sneered. “There’s no way people are finding out I slept with the company’s spoiled little princess.

- Asshole !

- Bitch !”

With that, Violet stormed out of the room, leaving only the lingering scent of her perfume behind. The door slammed shut, and the dark-haired man found himself alone.
He pulled back the sheets and saw his body covered in lipstick marks, even in places he hadn’t thought possible. He groaned in frustration, gripping his hair at the roots and cursing his ancestors for making him live through something so horrifying.

If there was one thing everyone knew at StartEdge Management in New York, it was that the head of strategic consulting, Levi Ackerman, and the chief financial officer, Violet Fiducia, hated each other with every fiber of their being.

It wasn’t unusual for every departmental meeting to end in an outright bloodbath. Most of the associates were forced to hide behind their chairs while the two hurled office supplies at each other’s faces along with the worst death threats imaginable.
There was a fifty-fifty chance the company parking lot would get blocked if the two unfortunate souls happened to cross paths in their cars, each determined to drive straight at the other.
Whenever Violet used the printer, it mysteriously printed “Spoiled airhead” across every page. Levi’s voice assistant answered, “No, you fucking loser,” to every request.
If one of the coffee machines was broken, it was because the other person used it. If a seminar was organized, one of the two had to be excluded.
The security guards weren’t hired to protect the building, but to stop the two directors from simply setting it on fire.

Things were pretty tense. But whenever they weren’t around each other, the company thrived, because they were both exceptional at their jobs. Violet had graduated from one of the best universities in the country, and Levi was a shark in business. SEM’s greatest deals and biggest successes existed thanks to their brilliance, and Hange Zoe, the founder, was incapable of choosing between her two favorite associates.

And yet, everything suggested they should have gotten along. They were the same age. They had been hired at the same time. They were both divorced and single. They had both come from a Manhattan insurance company. Their minds seemed to function the exact same way, at the exact same speed, which unfortunately meant they often had the same ideas, and everyone knew how dangerous that was.

Maybe it all started the day they met during a business meeting. It seemed impossible to hate someone before even speaking to them. Yet Levi had looked Violet up and down when they were introduced and simply clicked his tongue before walking away.

That was all.

And ever since then, the company had endured the endless tantrums of those two thirty-somethings.

Violet’s heart pounded violently as she returned to her own room, her throat dry and her mind completely blank. She leaned against the door before rushing into the bathroom to grab a glass of water. She drank three before finally catching her breath and staring at herself in the mirror. She looked like a corpse, with dull skin and disheveled hair.

She stared intensely into her own eyes, digging through the deepest corners of her memory. No image from the previous night came back to her. It was nothing but a black void mocking her.

How had she ended up in that depraved man’s bed ?

Probably because she hadn’t had any relationship since her divorce three years ago. But surely, she could have done better than that womanizer.
My God. She was just another girl added to his list of conquests. A long groan escaped her as she rested her forehead against the mirror.

Levi Ackerman. The name struck her like a knife twisting in her stomach.

She hated that arrogant, vulgar man, completely devoid of empathy or moral decency. The worst kind of person she had ever met. She couldn’t stand the way he yelled at his employees, nor his obsession with keeping everything perfectly tidy. Or the fact that he felt compelled to criticize absolutely everything, especially her work. And that asshole had almost certainly slept with his secretary, Petra. How could that bastard hook up with employees without an ounce of guilt ?

“Fuck,” she hissed.

No. Really... she couldn’t understand how she had ended up in his sheets.

The dark-haired man furiously crushed his third cigarette butt into the ashtray. He had promised himself he would quit smoking for the new year, but the brunette had ruined all those efforts. Grinding his teeth, he lit another cigarette and pressed his fingers against his forehead.

After his divorce, he thought he was finally done with all that bullshit. Women were far too complicated for his personality, and his nerves could no longer handle their constant chirping. Sure, he missed physical contact, but he never imagined he’d end up doing that again with that idiot of all people.

Fiducia was already a name that irritated him in the past, but finding out he’d have to work with the youngest daughter of that family of morons was beyond his strength.
Thieves. Fucking criminals. Violet was nothing more than a spoiled rich girl using her parents’ disgraceful status to build herself a career in business.

On top of that, the young woman was too clumsy, too loud, and too deaf. She cackled nonstop like a turkey with her friends in the open office space. She drove terribly, and he was convinced she was the one vandalizing his car for fun. She had already spilled burning coffee on his jacket and stomped on his loafers with her heels more times than he could count.

He kept replaying everything in his mind. The only thing he remembered was finding her alone at the hotel bar. As pathetic as she had looked, he had pitied her.

Damn it, he had showered twice and still felt filthy. He had no idea how he was going to survive the rest of the trip without losing face, especially with all the company’s top executives around them.

He tossed away his half-finished cigarette and stepped off the balcony. Still grumbling, he left his room, nervously glancing down the hallway, hoping not to run into anyone compromising.

His skin crawled again when he spotted the young woman gathered with the head of human resources, Erwin Smith, and his secretary, Petra Ral. They were all waiting outside the hotel for the bus that would take them to the day’s activity. Violet absentmindedly tapped on her phone with one hand, not even sparing the blond man a glance. She had wrapped a thick scarf around her neck, blaming the Chicago cold.

The company had organized the trip to celebrate its successful results, and it also served as a strategic retreat. This time, however, it had been impossible to separate thunder and lightning, especially since the two directors had begun seriously complaining about being excluded from company trips.

As a result, the atmosphere was unbearably tense. The two teams glared at each other without daring to speak, fully aware of the hatred their bosses felt toward one another. Everyone had chosen a side. Some preferred the carefree woman, others the obsessive neat freak. The only people without an opinion simply found the entire situation ridiculous, like watching two prideful children throwing tantrums.

The secretary handed Levi his tea, and he tried to drink it while completely ignoring his unwilling one-night stand.

Hange arrived, oblivious to the tension between the two groups, and marveled at the beautiful day ahead. Violet yawned; cultural outings only half interested her. She had an enormous workload waiting for her in New York, and these pointless activities felt like a waste of time.
She climbed onto the bus without taking her eyes off her phone, chatting with Iris about flower arrangements for her wedding.

She clenched her teeth. It was true that she had hoped to take advantage of the trip to meet someone worthwhile, not end up in the sheets of that disgusting man. She asked Petra for an aspirin for her headache and learned the ride would last an hour.
Fatigue hit her quickly, reminding her just how short her night had been. She leaned comfortably against her seat and slipped in her earbuds.

Violet leaned against the bar, eyes fixed on her phone, only to discover with horror that Benedict had already gone to bed. The two of them were supposed to go out together, and the redhead had abandoned her when it was only one in the morning, simply because she had gone to freshen up. She sighed. She had spent the entire day knocking back cocktails and honestly wondered how she was still standing.
Today’s seminar had been especially long and painfully boring, made worse by the fact that she had been placed in the same group as that idiot head of strategic consulting. The two had avoided each other like the plague all day, and the brunette had reluctantly accepted every drink offered to her just to make the hours pass faster.

That evening, they all went out again, and she was in a terrible mood. They had stopped ignoring each other only to trade insults all night long. The brunette wondered which naïve woman he would try to charm, so she kept an eye on him. The dark-haired man spent the whole evening glaring daggers at her, and she even caught him staring at her chest once.

In the end, nothing happened. Levi left alone just like she did and disappeared after the hotel bar’s afterparty was announced.

Violet knew she looked pathetic. She promised herself she would finish her drink and go to bed.

However, she felt someone sit down beside her, far too close. She didn’t even need to turn her head to know some idiot was trying to flirt with her.

“Hey there, beautiful. Want me to buy you the next one ?

The brunette looked him up and down for a moment, noticing immediately that he wasn’t from the company, unable to hide her disgust. His shirt hung half-open over a puffed-up chest that made him resemble a pigeon in mating season. Clearly trying to show off muscles that existed only in his imagination.

- No thanks,” she cut him off uncomfortably.

A greasy strand of hair fell in front of his eyes, and he brushed it aside with a gesture he probably thought looked seductive but mostly resembled a dramatic twitch.

- Oh, come on... I’m sure a pretty girl like you was taught to be polite.

He pressed himself against her shoulder, and she shivered. Since when had guys become so touchy without permission?

- Yes. But I certainly won’t be with you. Now move away. I don’t share my germs.

- Playing hard to get, huh ? I like that. Makes me want to win you over even more.

- I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice behind him interrupted. “That woman is probably the filthiest person I know.

Violet’s eyes widened, ready to grab the hand of the man trying to touch her. He pulled away to see where the voice had come from, interrupted mid-harassment. Levi sat three stools away from them, eyeing the pair sideways with a glass of whiskey in hand. He pointed lazily toward them as he continued:

- I’ve literally seen her eat dirt, get it under her nails, then bite them afterward. Though honestly, considering her parents, you can’t blame her. Intelligence clearly doesn’t run in the family...

The brunette stared at him in disbelief at the sheer nonsense he was spewing. Fortunately, the man beside her finally backed away.

- Who the hell are you ?

- One of her former victims. I’m warning you, man. This woman’s dangerous. Besides licking floors, rumor says she eats the guys she sleeps with. I barely escaped alive.

The stranger looked back and forth between Violet and Levi in complete shock before grumbling and walking away. She watched him leave the bar, still stunned, before turning toward the dark-haired man, who was finishing his drink.

- You just called me filthy,” she said indignantly.

- Have you seen the state of your office ? It’s not far from the truth.

- Asshole !

- Brat! You could at least thank me. That guy was harassing you.

- You said I eat dirt! And I was handling it perfectly fine on my own.

- Sure,” he muttered. “Would it kill you to be polite ?

- I didn’t ask for your help,” she snapped coldly.

Annoyed, the brunette ordered another drink, promising herself that this one would definitely be the last.

- Fuck, haven’t you had enough already, you alcoholic? You’ve been downing gin and tonics all day. I saw you snoring during the meeting.

- That’s because you were fucking boring. Nobody can listen to you for more than two minutes without wanting to hang themselves.

- Unlike you, I don’t go around wearing skirts that are too short just so everyone can stare at my ass !

- Asshole,” she repeated as her drink arrived, startling the bartender away. “That day, my skirt actually was too short because you put shoe polish on my chair and I had to change in an emergency.

- You’ve got no proof it was me.

- It cost me two hundred dollars !” she shot back.

- Not my problem. Go cry to your parents.”

Violet glared daggers at him as he fired back another attack. They still sat three stools apart, and strangely enough, nobody seemed willing to sit between them.

“Miss Fiducia ?

Ugh. That was one minute too many. Violet opened her eyes to find Petra leaning over her while people filed out of the bus. For a second, her mind went blank before she realized she had fallen asleep.

She sat up abruptly, startling her secretary, and followed the flow of passengers. The two women stepped off the bus first, and Violet realized they were standing beside a river. Her dark gaze met Hange’s, who was practically glowing with excitement over the upcoming cruise. She already felt terrible on solid ground with her hangover, so being out at sea...

- Petra. Could you buy me another coffee, please ?” she muttered, handing her five dollars.

She ended up standing alone, shivering slightly, wanting to avoid her coworkers, who were speaking far too loudly for her pounding headache. She pulled out her phone and noticed all the Tumblr posts Kiama had sent her about decorations. She sighed.

Had it really been a dream, or fragments of reality ? She clearly remembered going to the bar last night, and now that she thought about it, the conversation didn’t feel unfamiliar at all. Levi implying she licked floors and ate men alive didn’t sound all that unbelievable. She grumbled and glanced toward the man in question, only to realize he was staring at her.
Their eyes met, and it was the first time they had looked at each other since waking up naked in the same bed.

Violet immediately tensed, and Levi was the first to look away. They turned their backs to each other, and the brunette returned to her phone while muttering curses under her breath about him.

Then she thought.

Actually, she was lying to herself a little.

The image of his tattooed back, covered in scratches from her nails, kept replaying in her mind. She had never scratched a man in her life, and she tightened her grip on her phone, swearing not to think about it any further. What the hell had he done to make her claw him like that ?

“Looks like Miss Fiducia is boiling over,” Erd joked.

- Not surprising, considering all the cocktails she drank yesterday,” Ghunter added. “She must have one hell of a headache. I saw her sleeping the entire bus ride.

Lightweight, Levi thought while only half-listening to the conversation. He had definitely seen the brunette drooling against the window, and he regretted not taking a picture to plaster all over the company.

- Maybe she finally managed to find someone,” the blond suggested. “I heard her tell White she wouldn’t mind meeting someone during the trip. After all, she’s been single since her divorce.

- Tch. She’s almost thirty, so the expiration date’s already passed. Besides, who would want a woman willing to kill herself for work ? That’s why she got divorced, right ?

- You’re harsh, Auro,” Erd sighed. “Fiducia’s definitely not unpleasant to look at.

- Yeah, if you’re into ironing boards squeezed into skirts that are too tight.

- Shut up ! She’s a pain in the ass, but I won’t tolerate comments like that.

Everyone found it pretty bold that Levi, the very man who insulted the brunette from morning to night, was the one who had said that.

- Come on ! Let’s board !” Hange exclaimed excitedly.

The teams were greeted by servers, and Violet furiously declined the Lagoona Blue offered to her. She had managed not to throw up so far, and she wasn’t about to double the risk on a boat.

She practically whimpered with dread when they sat down for the presentation. The ship had just left the harbor, and she wondered why this meeting absolutely had to happen out at sea. The coffee her secretary handed her was received like the Holy Grail.

Everyone was supposed to take out their notebooks, but Levi forgot for the first half hour. He remained seated with his arms crossed, his attention fixed two rows ahead. He watched the brunette scribbling in her notebook, her hair still a mess and her scarf wrapped around her neck. She could have at least made a little more effort not to look suspicious. Levi even wondered if she had showered. An intrusive thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he nervously tapped his foot against the floor.

That would mean she still had traces of him on her. His scent. His marks. His ears rang when he saw her bite her pen, her lips painted deep burgundy red. She left lipstick marks everywhere. Whenever she drank coffee during meetings or ran her tongue across her lips. He knew exactly how stubborn that lipstick was now, considering he had practically scrubbed his skin raw trying to remove it.

He closed his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was already exhausted, even though the day had only just begun.

Levi sneered three times. He'd been swearing a lot since they'd entered his hotel room, as if he were dreading what was about to happen. His head slammed against the wall, and he unleashed the worst insults imaginable as Violet knelt before him.

Her mouth lingered on the line of his abs, leaving kisses here and there. The dark-haired man gritted his teeth when he heard his belt being unbuckled. She was quick, but he didn't feel he could stop her. He felt a spasm ripple through him as she pulled it down to reveal his erection, which, though he didn't dare admit it, had been hard ever since they'd been in the hallway. He heard her giggle and was about to call her a bitch, to find out what was so funny. But then he felt her mouth wrap around him, and he fell silent.

He remained speechless for a moment, staring at the wall opposite him, plunged into darkness, feeling Violet's mouth push a little further with each touch. He let out sighs that grew louder, unable to control them. She pulled away, sliding her tongue along its length, then grasped him with her hand. The sounds she made filled Levi's mind, and watching her became increasingly necessary. He gasped for air as he felt her engulf him to the core, and he wondered if he had ever felt so fulfilled.

He looked down. Seeing Violet from this height, constantly defying him, amused him ironically.

"Fucking hell. I never thought I'd be able to shut you up like this.

She glared at him, but didn't stop. Levi had his first spasm, which made him realize it was too good for him to last. The brunette's head bounced like a metronome, and he finally saw his cock covered in her lipstick right down to the base. He swooned and reached for her hair, though he didn't pull.

- Ah, fuck... You're pretty good," he admitted.

Violet hummed. She found it rather amusing to get the dark-haired man off his high horse. Well, she already did it daily, but this was a very different side of him. His voice was no longer brittle and deadpan, but gravelly and awkward. He cleared his throat before speaking and carefully chose his words. She liked how he gently pulled her hair, not forcing it, but with a firm grip. She liked how he held back his spasms, even though she could feel his hips swaying toward her each time. In fact, it was the first time she'd ever enjoyed being vulnerable in front of this individual, or at least this annoying one.

She slowly looked up. He was staring intently at her, his eyes wild, his mouth slightly open. He saw the strands of hair plastered to her forehead. He frowned slightly, and Violet suddenly felt her body heat up. She decided to slowly pull away, continuing this battle of glances. To say he was at attention was an understatement. The young woman caught her breath. Levi ran an absent finger along her lips, trying to wipe away the lipstick that had smudged. He tried to hold back his passion, having come so close to orgasm. Violet seemed unwilling to give him that chance, because she wanted more.

Levi cleared his throat and painfully straightened up in his seat. He had only dozed off for a few seconds, and yet... the presentation already seemed almost over. He slowly regained his senses, becoming aware of the world around him, and of his own condition.
He discreetly adjusted his coat over his thighs. Glancing toward his assistant, he saw him busy taking notes.

Fuck. He hoped no one had noticed him falling asleep. He had a reputation to maintain, and he wasn’t like that idiot who snored like a tractor whenever a meeting bored her. Speaking of which, Fiducia was nowhere to be seen. Her seat beside her secretary, Petra, sat empty. She hadn’t even bothered pretending to stay attentive.

Levi leaned toward his other neighbor, Ghunter, grumbling in search of information.

“Tch. Fiducia’s skipping out again.

- You didn’t see her ?” the blond replied. “She got sick and left. I think she has seasickness.

- Hm. Yeah, right. She’s probably still hungover...”

The dark-haired man groaned again as he slumped deeper into his seat. He closed his eyes for a moment. The marks covering him that morning weren’t insignificant. They had come from somewhere.

And if that dream had actually been real...

Shit.

Levi pressed his fingers against his forehead. The image of the brunette and her shining eyes kept replaying in his mind. He needed a cigarette. He suddenly stood up, not even bothering to be discreet. He pushed through the rows without apologizing, searching for the exit leading to the deck.

The wind lashed against his face. The boat was moving pretty fast. He even wondered whether he’d be able to light his cigarette. It should have been obvious, but he found the director leaning over the railing as if she had just thrown up. If that was really the case, he was fully prepared to pull out his phone and immortalize the moment.

He stopped a short distance away from her, and Violet seemed far too sick to notice him immediately. She lifted her face, cursing repeatedly while struggling with her long hair.

At last, they looked at each other, and the moment dragged on painfully. Neither of them seemed willing to speak. In truth, they were both starting to remember far too much to keep pretending that nothing had happened... even if neither of them could understand how they had ended up in that hotel room together.

"I hope you used protection, you psychopath !

- Thank goodness ! I don't want to catch your herpes, you bitch !

- Admit you spiked my drink !

- I'd rather die than touch you with a stick !

- You spat in my mouth !" she exclaimed, disgusted.

- You scratched my back until it bled," he continued.

- Motherfucker !

- Slut !"

They stopped. They stared at each other. They cursed each other.

Violet gripped the railing and felt a sudden urge to throw him overboard. He wouldn't be a great loss. She didn't. She glared at him, as usual, and turned on her heel to go back inside.

They hated realizing that this night had certainly been the most passionate of their lives.

“And why exactly would I eat men ?” the brunette shot back, crossing her arms.

The dark-haired man received his third glass of whiskey of the evening, and the bartender standing across from them was beginning to wonder whether he was witnessing a domestic dispute. The two had been sitting there for twenty minutes now, three stools apart, insulting each other nonstop. Yet neither of them seemed willing to leave.

- How should I know... Nobody knows where your ex-husband is.

- In Los Angeles, in a gorgeous house he bought with the divorce settlement money !” Violet snapped.

- Poor thing... Your parents never taught you to sign a prenup ?” he asked mockingly.

- You know nothing about me. So shut up !

- I know you’d have to be incredibly stupid not to sign a contract when your assets are worth several million dollars !

- I’m not a millionaire ! My parents are. Every dollar I have, I earned myself.

- Want a medal ?

- I want you to go fuck yourself !

- You’re awfully vulgar for a woman. No wonder your husband ran off with another chick !

- And you’re awfully short for a man !” she shot back.

The dark-haired man slowly turned toward her, and if looks could kill, the young woman would have been skewered straight through until all her flesh turned to blood.

- You filthy little...

He was interrupted by the bartender violently slamming his rag onto the counter. The man looked back and forth between them as though scolding two misbehaving children.

- I didn’t say anything at first because you’re hotel guests. But please, go recite the dictionary of misogynistic and misandrist insults somewhere else! I don’t need to learn all of them.

Violet frantically grabbed her clutch from the bar and stood up with a huff. Levi watched her in disbelief before quickly finishing his drink in one gulp. That idiot had just walked out without paying. The dark-haired man dropped a large bill beside his glass, to compensate for the bartender’s assaulted ears, and stormed out after her.

- Happy now ? We got kicked out of the bar,” Violet grumbled. “What an idiot.

Employees turned to look as the two directors continued bickering in the middle of the lobby. They had completely forgotten what kind of place they were in.

- You left without paying, moron! You owe me fifty bucks after all the drinks you downed.

- Pfft. Please,” she scoffed while calling the elevator. “So after ruining my evening, now you’re trying to steal my money too ?

- ‘Ruined your evening ?’” he repeated mockingly. “Before that asshole started bothering you, you looked so desperate you were ready to jump on anything that moved !

She glared at him, probably for the tenth time that evening. Maybe because he was right.
The brunette’s pathetic love life had kept her sitting at that bar even after her friend had gone to bed, simply hoping someone would notice her. Unfortunately, it had to be that bastard Ackerman who approached her.
She stepped into the elevator, and the dark-haired man reluctantly followed, both of them determined to finally go to bed.

Violet nervously tapped her foot while watching the floors crawl by far too slowly. The other director feigned indifference, leaning against one wall and staring straight ahead. She hated how calm and composed he always seemed, and he despised how incapable she was of staying still.

In truth, what they hated was the image the other had of them. Levi wasn’t a tyrannical, selfish, arrogant boss. Violet wasn’t some spoiled heiress with no merit.

- Why do you constantly think I’m less worthy than you ?” the brunette sniffed.

- All you have to do is look at the shady shit your parents are involved in to get your answer. Fuck... knowing you spent your whole life benefiting from their reputation makes me sick,” Levi spat.

- I’ve been working since I was eighteen, and I met Hange during a management class in college. How can you even think that ?” she asked, pale with anger.

- Sure... Let me guess, you were the poor little student juggling two jobs to pay tuition who just happened to meet the future founder of a startup,” the dark-haired man muttered sarcastically.

Silence followed. They stared at each other while Violet gradually frowned in confusion. The elevator’s soft ding interrupted her thoughts.

- Well... yes,” she replied softly, as if it were obvious.

Levi actually leaned back slightly as she stepped out of the elevator. He had to stop the doors from closing.

- What subject was she terrible at ?

The brunette turned around in the hallway, trying to understand where that question had come from. Levi looked at her seriously, as though the answer genuinely mattered. She processed the question before replying defensively :

- Marketing. She was incapable of promoting anything without turning it into harassment. But you didn’t go to that university, as far as I know. How do you know that ?

- That’s none of your business.

Violet narrowed her eyes before turning on her heel. She muttered, “Idiot,” while pulling out her keycard to open her door. Levi ran a hand through his hair irritably while digging into his own pocket for his keycard. Their rooms were several doors apart. Putting them next to each other would have been far too dangerous, they’d probably scream at each other at impossible hours and get noise complaints.

Violet grew impatient when her keycard wouldn’t work, repeatedly trying again. If it had been demagnetized, she’d look pretty stupid going back down to reception after the scene they had caused earlier.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and her blood ran cold when she recognized the idiotic man from the bar. A sly smile spread across his lips as he realized Violet was trying to enter his room in the middle of the night.

- Well, hello there, sweetheart...

A shiver of disgust ran through Violet. Good God, what was this idiot doing in her room ? Before she could even process the situation, an arm suddenly grabbed her and yanked her away from the nightmare.

- For fuck’s sake. You can’t even press the right elevator button,” Levi grumbled while pulling her away.

As they walked, she glanced past the dark-haired man’s supposed room and saw the door half-open on a barely dressed man who looked like he had been interrupted in the middle of... Oh. She had gotten off on the wrong floor because she’d been too furious with her coworker to pay attention.

The dark-haired man didn’t let go of her immediately, and Violet didn’t ask him to. While he repeatedly jabbed the elevator button to call it back, she studied his stern expression, his tight lips, and his uneven breathing. He was always like this whenever he looked at her, as if permanently on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Levi never yelled at anyone as much as he yelled at her.

She swallowed hard, and the furious glance he shot her made her entire body stiffen.

The first time she saw Levi Ackerman, Violet was electrified by his thin, so very thin eyes and their grayish irises. She hadn't even thought it possible. In the past, she'd loved blond men with blue eyes, tender and affectionate, who would shower her with flowers. She'd married a somewhat dim-witted brunette from the English countryside who smelled of old sheep's wool sweaters. For a time, she might have loved him, but the spark had faded after five years of marriage.

That same spark she felt when she saw his jet-black hair, his shaved nape, his sullen pout, his low voice. Never for a second had she imagined that this combination would give her butterflies. Perhaps Levi's attitude toward her had hurt her. He'd looked down on her from the moment they met, and knowing she was still associated with his family, almost ten years later, made her stomach churn. She was much better off hating her colleague, since all he did was spew venom at her.

Alcohol. It was one of his weaknesses. Surely it must have stirred up that old thought last night.
She'd never had a one-night stand, though she'd never been closed off to the idea. Single, then engaged far too early in life to have experienced it. It made her stomach churn, because the more she remembered it, the more the image of the dark-haired man looming over her and... ruining her made it hard to concentrate.

She dropped her third aspirin of the day into her glass of water while the whole group sat at the restaurant. Everyone had decided to leave the director alone, assuming she was still nursing her hangover. She watched the fizz spread through the glass, lost in thought as she shifted restlessly in her chair.

At the far end of the table, strategically seated as far away from her as possible by their coworkers, the dark-haired man stared at her wallowing in shame. He had little appetite himself and had chosen to smoke a cigarette to calm down instead.

One-night stands were nothing new to him. Before getting married, he had been quite the heartbreaker in college and had enjoyed it thoroughly. Women fell for him constantly, though he never understood why. Still, they usually left quickly once confronted with his awful personality.

He had given marriage a chance, only for it to leave a bitter taste in his mouth. His wife couldn’t handle his work, his business trips, his absences, his compulsive habits, or his tendency to get angry at everything that moved. She answered him with tears more often than words, and eventually he realized he had been a terrible husband.

He concluded that women simply weren’t for him. After his divorce, an emotional emptiness settled inside him, and he became completely numb to all the women trying their luck with him.

Then he met Violet Fiducia. He remembered crossing paths with those wide, bewildered eyes whose thoughts he could never quite read. A woman with tired features worn down by work, smiling brightly at the sight of him. Pure politeness. Levi had only managed to let out a strangled “Tch” before looking away.

He didn’t like brunettes. Nor bespectacled women pretending to be intellectuals. Whenever he attended one of his colleague’s presentations, he glared at her, trying to ignore her designer suits, the gorgeous curve of her ass squeezed into them, and her flawless speeches about the company’s financial health. She pretended to be proper, but she had absolutely no decency, constantly bending over to grab her coffee or looking down at people over the rim of her glasses.

He was beginning to remember how he had removed her suit jacket and told her to keep her glasses on while they...

Levi stopped himself from coughing after inhaling his cigarette smoke too sharply. Petra looked toward him with concern, but he immediately turned away.

“So, what’s the plan for this afternoon ?” Erd asked cheerfully, as always.

- It’s free time !” the founder exclaimed. “Since the beginning of the trip, we’ve spent every second together. It’s time for you all to discover Chicago on your own. Personally, I’m definitely going to the Willis Tower.

Violet merely grumbled, fidgeting with her cold glass while silently cursing her smoking coworkers for forcing everyone to eat on the outdoor terrace. Everyone else shared their plans for the afternoon, except for two people who remained conspicuously silent on the subject. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under her blankets until this nightmare trip ended. This would definitely be the last time she agreed to travel with the company.

However, as the group split up, she remembered seeing posters advertising an aquarium. She loved visiting them with Iris, her best friend, and figured she’d rather mope while staring at fish than stare at the ceiling of her hotel room. She grabbed the first taxi she could find to cross the city, promising herself she’d soon be somewhere warm.

Wrapped in her own loneliness, she discovered with horror that places like this were mostly filled with families and couples. She weaved through the crowd, surrounded by everyone else’s excitement without feeling touched by it herself. When she reached a massive room surrounded entirely by an aquarium stretching all the way to the ceiling, she sat down and spent long minutes watching the fish endlessly repeat the same route.

Suddenly, she felt far too old for this kind of thing, and a deep nostalgia washed over her. Being surrounded by all those families reminded her that she had none of her own, and unfortunately, she suspected she would never have children. She loved her work, her colleagues, and her travels, but she always came home alone. The most exciting thing that had happened to her in months was waking up beside her worst enemy. She grimaced.

“Fuck, you’ve got to be kidding me...

She turned at the sound of the voice, and the situation had become so absurd that it wasn’t even funny anymore.

- Jesus Christ. I cross the entire city, and you still somehow manage to follow me,” she sighed.

Levi nervously rubbed his eyes while standing in the middle of the giant blue-lit room. For once, he didn’t even have a comeback. They both remembered seeing the aquarium advertisement together earlier that day. Maybe it wasn’t just a coincidence. The brunette didn’t even want to think about it. She had neither the energy nor the emotional strength to deal with this gray cloud hanging over her head.

You did this on purpose, they both thought at the exact same moment.

She closed her eyes and decided to stand up. Even the fish drifting peacefully through the water failed to warm her heart. Levi watched her leave the room absentmindedly, studying the way her long hair flowed behind her. He buried his face in one hand. He was starting to hate this trip more and more.

Levi lifted Violet by the shoulders, and she swayed slightly. As he carried her to his bed, she slipped off her heels and let her hair down. She fell onto the bed first and noticed that her colleague's room was the same as hers. They stared at each other for a moment, strangely, as if unaware of what they were about to do. The dark-haired man removed his jacket as he knelt on the bed, and seeing him do so, Violet wanted to do the same.

Her breath quickened as she caught a glimpse of his collarbones and pale shoulders as he unbuttoned his shirt. My God, he was tattooed from his collarbones to his wrists. The brunette gasped. She hadn't thought the dark-haired man was into this sort of thing, him, who seemed so uptight and prim, and she'd never seen beyond his shaved nape and cufflinks. She violently resisted the urge to bite her lip as he lay half-naked in front of her. Her own fingers were still locked on the collar of his shirt, too flustered to undress.

Levi grabbed her jaw and abruptly pushed her down onto the bed. He quickly glanced at the brunette to make sure he hadn't been too hasty ; she was squirming beneath him, her ears reddening and her throat tight. Damn. This stubborn woman, who had spent all her time yelling at him, was perhaps a little more docile than he'd thought. The realization hit him hard, and his heart raced as his grip tightened around her jaw.

A finger slipped into her mouth, the one that had been sucking him just moments before, and the brunette opened her eyes to him, licking. His brain, already clouded by the alcohol and the pleasure he'd felt, told him they were about to plunge into a particularly delicious point of no return. He kissed Violet the way they'd done before on her bedroom door. His hips forced their way against hers, against her fucking pants that clung to her perfectly. Violet moaned immediately at the friction, and something clicked in his brain. He placed a finger on the top of her shirt and yanked it open, unbuttoning all the buttons. The brunette shook her head, breaking their kiss.

"Ugh ! Asshole! Do you know how much this shirt cost me ?" she snarled.

- Too much for your ugly mug," he muttered.

He pulled the top of her shirt aside slightly, running his tongue over her sternum and up her neck. She was warm, and Violet shivered. Levi's fingers were already trying to pull off her pants. He was probably tired of his erection rubbing against the fabric.

The dark-haired man had a moment of inattention as he completely removed the young woman's shirt. Besides the absence of a bra, he saw small silver beads on each breast, beads he never would have imagined. Violet was too engrossed as Levi slid his hands over her breasts, rubbing his fingers against her nipples.

Damn, they're pierced, Levi thought, unable to process the information.

A sudden urge to suckle them came over him. He realized he'd never seen piercings there before and that he certainly wouldn't have bet on Violet Fiducia having them. She shuddered and fidgeted as the dark-haired man shamelessly alternated between them. She had to beg him to stop, far too sensitive to endure his persistence. They gazed at each other, still dazed, as they unzipped his pants, their breaths short and their minds completely absorbed.

Violet wondered if he had any tattoos elsewhere. Levi wondered if she had any piercings. They were such opposites physically : he was hard and imposing like stone, his skin rough in places due to his obsessive-compulsive disorder. She was soft and melted beneath his touch, her skin as smooth as a peach.

Levi's hair slid everywhere as he licked and sucked on her skin. Violet's fingers traced her muscles, discovering the curves, the small mounds that rippled beneath her touch.

In fact, they were both discovering what they'd been imagining behind costumes for three years. But neither of them was proud enough to admit it.

For several minutes, neither spoke. So there was nothing to say about what they were doing. How Levi was pushing Violet's limits. How she was moaning so loudly she could wake the neighbors. How they had fallen for each other so quickly. And God, it felt so good.

Violet's neck was twisted, staring at the bed linens as she hyperventilated and the dark-haired man had been swirling his tongue around her clitoris for several minutes.

- C...Condom," she moaned.

Levi caught his breath, resting his head against her thigh, pausing for a moment to leave another hickey.

- I don't have one," he finally admitted.

- Me neither...

Of course they didn't have any. They'd been single for a long time. It seemed so stupid. Levi thought he could just touch her, however, Violet rolled onto the bed, desperately searching the dresser drawers. Damn it. She really wanted it. The dark-haired man couldn't help but glance down at her back and see what he'd been dreading all along. He slowly grabbed her buttocks, annoyed that such an idiot owned them.

Violet miraculously pulled out a box that seemed to have been forgotten at the bottom of one of the drawers. Levi groaned, his hands pressing harder against her skin.

- It's open. It must be empty.

He didn't want his voice to sound so disappointed. Yet, it did, and he swallowed his words.

 -There's some left," the brunette mumbled weakly.

He stared at the iris tattoo on her lower back, tracing its line down her spine. The tattoo looked a bit more recent than his own, which he'd gotten in his twenties.

- How many ?

The question seemed odd and implied that once wasn't enough. Violet bit her lip and handed the package to the dark-haired man.

- Four..."

Violet opened one eye and let out a frustrated sigh. She curled up in the rough hotel sheets, cursing the universe for giving her dreams like these while she was trying to shake the whole thing out of her head. The alarm clock read 7:36, a little too early to get up. She buried her face in her ear, and the image of her colleague, his face aghast and sweating, hit her like a slap in the face. She cursed again.

The more she remembered, the more dangerous it became. She'd known few men in her life to say she'd tried everything. The dark-haired man's large hands pressed against her skin as if he wanted to possess her. His lips marked every inch of her skin as if marking his territory.

Arthur was inexperienced, awkward, and bland. He made love as a marital duty after ten years of marriage, and most of the time, Violet was too tired to even try to enjoy it.

If she'd scratched him, if she'd left lipstick marks all over his body, it was because they'd been tossing and turning. Levi had wrapped his arms around her thighs while he shoved his face down on her as if she were a dish to be devoured. She'd insulted him two or three times while she was on top of him, digging her nails into his stupid, rounded shoulders. He'd kept pinching her breasts to hurt her. He'd pulled her hair as if to wake her up. She'd pushed her hips forward to make him go faster. He was vocal, probably from the alcohol, but it was the first time she'd heard a man moan and swear while they were probably on their fourth time.

Asshole.

She drifted off into a reverie for a little longer, her hand digging into her panties against her will. And perhaps... in the event of... possibly... it wasn't the first time she had touched herself while thinking about Levi Ackerman.

At breakfast, she buried her face in her phone screen to avoid everyone’s gaze. Acting like an irritated workaholic was usually enough to keep coworkers looking for a relaxing vacation away from her.

Ever since she started remembering too much, what she felt was no longer shame or irritation, but an intense sexual frustration. Even though she still couldn’t understand how they had ended up kissing against the dark-haired man’s door.

Today, they were heading off to another all-day training session. Naturally, the two enemies were placed in separate groups, and neither of them even noticed because they had been avoiding each other like the plague.
Levi had slept terribly and was in a foul mood. He snapped at his assistant all day and barely listened to the training. He only wanted one thing: for this trip to end. Then he could go home, sign up for one of those damn dating apps, hook up with some random woman, and wash away the memory of the brunette. Of her little strands of hair sticking to her peach-soft skin. Of the softness of her body melting beneath his fingers. Of the tiny noises she made when he used his tongue. Of… Hm. He slowly pinched the bridge of his nose.

Yes. He really needed to find someone fast.

Their coworkers were surprised that the two directors stayed deeply silent throughout the entire training session, both pale-faced and wide-eyed. And yet, they no longer had a single drop of alcohol in their systems and hadn’t even seen each other all day, normally enough to put them in a good mood.

Violet collapsed onto her bed after returning to the hotel, screaming into the sheets. She still had to go back out and join the others at the restaurant, but she no longer had the strength. Just one more day to survive after this. One.

She reluctantly got ready, pulling out her lucky red dress. She blow-dried her hair while listening to a true crime podcast to cheer herself up. Nothing lifted her spirits better than hearing horrifying stories. Slowly, she picked up her lipstick, the one that left marks everywhere. Now that she looked closely, the marks on her body had almost completely faded. The most visible ones were thankfully hidden beneath the fabric of her dress. She brushed her fingers over the faint outline of teeth marks for a moment before grumbling angrily about their owner.

Idiot.

She slammed her hotel room door shut, slipping her keycard into her purse, when another door opening nearby caught her attention. Turning around, she saw the man staying a few rooms away putting on his jacket, his keycard clenched between his teeth.
There were one or two heartbeats of silence before the brunette abruptly turned and headed toward the elevator. Unfortunately, there was no avoiding it. They were bound to cross paths.

She heard footsteps approaching behind her, and soon they stood side by side. Violet stared straight ahead while waiting for the doors to open, absently playing with the clasp of her purse.

“Didn’t it hurt ?” he suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Her lips twisted awkwardly. The question could mean several things, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know which one he meant. She turned nervously toward her neighbor, who kept a perfectly neutral expression. Pale-faced, she raised an eyebrow, and he sighed before pointing at his chest.

- That.

Instinctively, she pressed her purse against her own chest before looking away, red as a lobster.

- O...Obviously !

- You’ve seriously got to be crazy to do that,” the dark-haired man mocked.

- I didn’t get the impression you disliked it,” she shot back immediately.

The elevator doors opened onto their coworkers, and Violet instantly plastered on the fakest smile imaginable. Levi lingered awkwardly behind her for a second before deciding to step in with them. Despite themselves, they exchanged a glance. And for the first time, it wasn’t pure hatred or childish jealousy anymore, but something closer to curiosity.

Violet refused every drink containing alcohol that people tried to hand her at dinner, earning plenty of teasing over it. One mistake per trip was more than enough. The dark-haired man sat directly across from her, and she honestly wondered what the hell he was even doing there, especially since they hadn’t exchanged a single word in over an hour. Avoiding the gaze of the person sitting directly opposite her was becoming absurd. She kept her feet firmly tucked beneath her chair, terrified they might brush against his. She finally relaxed a little when he stood up to go smoke.

Stretching out slightly in her seat, she realized she had been tense since the beginning of the evening. She was afraid of revealing what was really going through her mind. Beside her, her secretary shot her a suspicious look, clearly finding her behavior strange since yesterday. The day before, her boss had been cursing at the world, avoiding all contact, and battling nausea. Today, Violet stared blankly into space, hollow-eyed and dry-throated, as though someone had stripped her of her sanity.

"Fucking rich kid...

She'd had better nicknames when she'd slept with someone. She held back an insult, her toes curling as she felt the dark-haired man penetrate her again. She fell back onto the pillows, stars beginning to rise in her head. She'd lost count. To be honest, she hadn't thought she could keep up this pace, and she wondered how two middle-aged people in their thirties could look like two teenagers discovering sex. She felt two hands hovering over her as he started moving his hips again.

She lifted her head slightly to breathe, and a moan escaped her lips. Levi could see she was on the edge of a precipice. Her cheeks were flushed from the exertion, because she'd been on top of him before and had come twice thanks to his fingers.

- You pervert," she muttered as he grabbed a handful of her hair.

- Who's the pervert here ? I've never had a woman who enjoyed pain this much.

- I don't like pain," she protested weakly. "You're the sadist. My body can't take that many times.

- Bullshit. You're completely soaked," he snarled.

The brunette was silent for a moment, probably because the dark-haired man was right. He crushed her with his full weight as he thrust deep inside her. He unintentionally pushed Violet's face against the cushions, and she slowly raised her hand to grip his elbow. He thought she was trying to pull him away, but she simply dug her nails into his skin. He watched her, lost in thought, absentmindedly kneading one of her buttocks.

Levi wasn't a bastard in bed. He had learned what women liked and what they didn't. In fact, he'd certainly been attentive and focused his whole life to maintain his reputation as a womanizer. His ex-wife didn't like it when he squeezed her wrists, and she simply lay in bed and let him do as he pleased.

Violet fought back. Violet resisted. Violet succumbed when it became too much. That was surely what it was like to sleep with someone you hated, to not care what you looked like to them, to try to push boundaries, to want to be the best.

For three years, Levi and Violet dreamed of being the perfect employee at the company, of surpassing each other in every way. No one thought they were bastards more than they did themselves. They didn't even try to make each other like them, and yet... this might have been the first time they fucked so intensely.

Levi jerked his head up from the cushions, and the brunette took a deep breath. He hadn't realized he'd been suffocating her for so long and turned her face toward him to check if she was alright. Her hazy gaze revealed nothing. Violet stared at him, quickly catching her breath.

She's pretty, he thought.

And he grabbed her face, hissing. Violet closed her eyes, panting as the rhythm quickened. She flinched as she received another smack. Her brain was turning to mush while her body warmed. The dark-haired man shoved his finger into her mouth, and soon he felt her face against his. Levi was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted. It was painfully late, and she knew she'd be aching all over tomorrow. In her peripheral vision, she could see those metallic eyes that had always captivated her.

She moaned with pleasure, writhing beneath him. The length of his dark-haired man pressed against places she didn't even know she was touching, and his fingers carelessly rubbed her clitoris. Her face contorted, and Levi felt her whole body tremble against him, tightening its grip. The brunette seemed speechless for a long second before finally muttering. The heat and shivers coursing through her body hit him, and he pulled back to get a better look at her scarlet face.

- Fuck. You just came ?" he choked out.

Violet was silent for a moment, avoiding his gaze. She was floating, sprawled against the bed, with the dark-haired man still above her.

- I...I can't take it anymore.

Levi saw a tear trickle from the corner of her eye, and a sudden doubt crept into his mind. He asked, his voice trembling :

- Did I go too far ?

Violet struggled to speak again immediately, reinforcing the man's anxieties. Perhaps he had pushed her limits without making sure the brunette could handle it. After all, it was the first time they had slept together. Her hazel, misty eyes finally turned to him, and she timidly admitted :

- No. It bothers me that it's an asshole like you who's giving me an orgasm like this.

- Tch. Idiot," he remarked, amused and relieved. "Should I pull out ?

Violet took a deep breath. She already felt a void as the dark-haired man withdrew without waiting for her answer. To be honest, she was starting to feel real pain and was exhausted, but a bitter aftertaste lingered in her mouth at the thought of Levi's climax.

She turned slowly toward him, gently pulling off the last condom. Levi discreetly pressed his lips together as he watched small hands slide over his throbbing erection. He tilted his head back when a mouth replaced them.

The worst night of his life.

He gripped the sheets tightly, his throat refusing to cooperate, letting out each moan. He wasn't far off, he knew it. A dirty thought took root in his mind. He studied the body lying before him. He slowly adjusted the glasses that had slipped down the young woman's nose. He confessed, his voice almost uncertain :

- Violet, I... Could I... ?

She looked up at him, seeing that he was admiring her breasts. It was the first time he had called her by her first name, without an insult, without an annoyed tone. She moved slightly to sit on the bed, and his eyes widened as he realized she was agreeing. He hadn't even finished his shameful request.

- Damn, you're such a..."

Again, no insults came out. He was breathless as he moved closer to her, frantically touching himself. Violet slowly pressed her breasts towards him, and he swore, his mind diabolically inhibited.

He hated her. He hated her so much.

The businessman quickly splashed water onto his face over the sink, pressing his palms against it several times. He braced himself against the edge, eyes wide as he stared at the white marble beneath him. Lifting his gaze again, droplets slid down his face.
Ever since dinner had started, he had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He could no longer look his colleague in the eye without the image of her gorgeous pierced breasts and lustful expression flashing through his mind.

He dragged a hand over his mouth, breathing heavily. It wasn’t just any woman he needed now to forget all this, it was Violet Fiducia herself. Just so he could remember perfectly. So he could memorize every reaction that... maybe... he had always wanted to see from her.

He had often wondered how the director behaved in bed. He admitted it now. Every time she crossed the open office in her navy-blue suits or delivered one of her flawless presentations. Was she really as soft-hearted as she seemed ? Or had all those years of abstinence after her divorce left her frustrated ?

Shit. When they first met, he had hated the universe for making a woman so attractive and talented belong to one of the country’s most rotten families. And now he hated knowing they were unbelievably compatible in bed while spending their lives avoiding each other like the plague.

“Fuck...", he hissed alone in the restroom.

He couldn’t stay in that restaurant another minute. He returned to the group and hurried over to Hanji to announce that he was heading back to the hotel. The founder insisted loudly enough to alert the whole table that the dark-haired man was leaving. Without meaning to, his eyes met the brunette’s at the far end of the table. She looked tense.
Though neither of them conveyed anything through their expressions, they stared at each other for too long, and she was the first to look away, cheeks flushed red.

Levi slipped away beneath his coworkers’ comments, and once he climbed into a taxi toward the hotel, a strange feeling crept over him. Maybe part of him had hoped the brunette would follow him. But she didn’t. So he spent the entire evening alone in his room, pacing restlessly. In that damn room where her scent was slowly fading from everything, except the sheets. He realized he still hadn’t asked housekeeping to change them since that night. He immediately shoved the thought aside.

Around one in the morning, he was certain the rest of the group had returned from the restaurant after hearing several coworkers talking in the hallway. He remained motionless on his bed, wrapped in his bathrobe after having been forced to take a cold shower.

Closing his eyes, he hoped he might finally fall asleep. Then tomorrow would pass quickly, and he could go home and embrace his eternal solitude. The three knocks against his door rang out like a bell toll. He didn’t even think. Frowning, he suddenly got up and threw the covers aside. He yanked the door open frantically, only to experience the greatest disappointment of his life.

There was a female silhouette standing there. Just not the one he had hoped for. As Petra’s small voice broke the awkward silence, he realized with horror that he had wanted it to be Violet. Shit…

“Um... You didn’t seem well at dinner. I...I just wanted to make sure you were feeling better, Mr. Ackerman…

The dark-haired man dragged a hand through his hair, visibly irritated that it was only the secretary.

- I was fine until you woke me up,” he lied.

The blonde took a small step back and immediately began apologizing. Levi ignored her completely, feeling no guilt whatsoever. His gaze inevitably drifted to the right, several doors down, as if he secretly hoped one of them might open. He wanted to ask the secretary whether her boss had actually gone to bed, or if she was once again sitting alone at the bar, attracting the wrong kind of attention. But asking would sound far too suspicious. So he stayed silent and shut the door in Petra’s face, just as his asshole behavior allowed him to do.

He stared at his bed lying in the darkness of the room, briefly remembering his colleague’s body stretched across it. Resting his forehead against the door, he took a deep breath to calm himself. At last, he heard Petra walk away toward her own room.

Only then did he realize his hand was still gripping the doorknob, as though part of him had been waiting for her to leave so he could slip out himself. He hesitated far too long before deciding whether to go. Thoughts raced through his head along with every possible scenario he imagined if he knocked on the brunette’s door.

Violet watched in disgust as her colleague lit a cigarette right next to her. She had always hated the smell of tobacco, as it reminded her far too much of her father. That cold-hearted man who cared nothing for his own daughter and was far more concerned with his money.
The Fiducias were certainly wealthy, but devoid of humanity and moral sense. The four children of the couple could only compare their upbringing to an empty carcass, stripped of love and care. Their parents had barely even looked them in the eye when they tried to talk about their day.

Violet had gotten into the habit of describing her daily discoveries at school to her governess, Fanny, while she tucked her in at night. In those moments, she felt like a real child. And then that woman was taken from her when she was sent to a girls’ boarding school at twelve.

She knew the dark-haired man’s childhood had been no more pleasant. They could have found common ground there. However, Levi was far too biased against her. Could she really blame him ? Before becoming a businessman, he had been poor his entire life, buried in debt because of his mother’s illness. And it was precisely rotten companies like the Fiducias’ that could exploit people like that and drain them dry.

If they had both shown a little more maturity, they might have understood each other.

Violet struggled to admit this thought as she drifted around him. Alcohol might have made her slightly more tolerant. Since she had taken the wrong floor, they had gotten a little lost in the hotel, unable to find the elevator again. They had even split up, unable to stand each other anymore, but she eventually found him smoking on one of the rooftop terraces.

They had finally managed to calm down after their argument. But Violet still refused to believe she owed him money.

“You went to the same college as Hange,” Levi realized slowly after what must have been thirty minutes of thinking.

The director simply hummed in response, which made the dark-haired man frown.

- But... she went to a public university ? What the hell were you doing there with your father’s dirty money ?

Violet huffed through her nose. She watched his dark brows as smoke left his nostrils. She was certain that kissing him would be the equivalent of making out with an ashtray, and the thought made her feel sick.

- At that time, I had cut ties with my parents. They came back into my life a few years later, but in the meantime, I worked. I met Hange in a management class, and we even did some assignments together. We got along well. Unfortunately, I lost contact with her when I got married. I only saw her again some time after she founded SEM. I left both my job and my husband when she offered me this position.

She turned and noticed the dark-haired man watching her intently, as though he was actually interested in what she was saying. She realized this was probably the first time they had spoken for so long without attacking each other.

She looked out over the sleeping city, eyelids heavy, her tone bitter.

- You’re misinformed, Ackerman. Arthur didn’t leave me for another woman. Even if he did cheat, or didn’t, for that matter, he clung to that marriage. I had a hard time getting him to sign the divorce papers, under the pretext that he had given up his life in England for me... Still, he left with half of everything I had earned since I started working,” she muttered.

- I’m not going to excuse you for marrying such an idiot. As far as I know, no one held a knife to your throat.

Of course, he had to speak up again just to spit more venom. He was too unpleasant to understand that what she was saying actually affected her. Violet grimaced, thinking she looked pathetic confiding in such an abject man. Still, she rarely talked about her divorce, and saying it out loud relieved her.

- I think... I was never in love with him. Our meeting was arranged by our parents. And for a while, I tried to convince myself it was a coincidence. If Arthur was part of the old English aristocracy, it wasn’t random, just like my parents suddenly getting back in touch. It’s not easy admitting your marriage is a failure.

The end of her sentence echoed in Levi’s mind. It made more sense to him than he wanted to admit. Seeing that she was still talking to a wall, Violet grew irritated.

- I never approved of what my parents did ! How can you think that, idiot ?

The man remained in deep silence, absentmindedly smoking down to the filter. He dropped the cigarette to the ground in annoyance and crushed it under his shoe. Violet’s face remained tense, refusing to look at him. He only heard the scrape of her sole against the gravel and a heavy sigh.

-  I didn’t sleep with your secretary,” he said. “She’s the one who’s got a thing for me and is spreading that story.

Her head turned toward her colleague. He was sitting against one of the large flower pots, hands buried in his pockets. His hair was a mess, and the information lingered in Violet’s mind a little too long.

- Why didn’t you ever deny it ?” she sighed.

- Because it annoyed you.

She let out a strained laugh, exhausted by his attitude. After a beat, she asked, stunned :

- Why have you always wanted to piss me off ?

- And you ?” he shot back.

The woman’s throat tightened. The look Levi was giving her was impossible to read. She pushed her glasses up, slightly uneasy.

- Because... you’re vulgar and selfish ! You treat your employees like trash. You’re incapable of tolerating people or feeling empathy. I don’t even know if you’ve ever loved anyone in your life.

- You’re a spoiled little bitch,” he cut in too quickly.

Violet opened her mouth, but understood he would never change his mind about her. She let it go and turned away.

- Maybe you deserve your position...

She hesitated about leaving, but that sentence stopped her. Her hands clenched. He didn’t mean a word of it, she was sure of that. She straightened her shoulders, wary.

- I had a wife, just so you know,” he said, almost mockingly. “And I think... I did love her.

She wanted to bite back, but stopped when she met his uncertain eyes. They clearly showed that beneath his nonchalance, he was far from comfortable talking about it.

- Yeah, I’m a pain,” he went on bitterly. “Impatient, obsessive, vulgar... and she couldn’t handle it.

- S...She... ?” she started.

- No. I asked for the divorce. Like you said, you have to admit when your marriage is a failure.

They were far apart, yet Violet could see his eyes narrow slightly. As if what he was saying still affected him. It almost made him human. He had loved a woman who couldn’t love him back as he was.

- This is going to sound like an excuse,” he continued, “but I didn’t have an easy life. When everything around you is rotten, you don’t exactly feel like smiling. I’m not all sweet and nice like you, so people don’t bother trying to know more. You complain about prejudice. But you’ve got them too, idiot,” he repeated.

The minute that followed felt extremely long. At least, that’s how it felt as they stared at each other. Who would’ve thought a bit, no, a lot, of alcohol would make them open up like this. If that were the case, their colleagues would’ve tried it sooner.

- Damn,” Violet murmured. “It’s like we’re calling a truce.

Levi shivered in disgust.

- Tch. That idea makes me want to puke.

She almost smiled. He was probably trying to lighten the mood. But she couldn’t respond like usual, something twisted in her stomach. Her breathing became heavier, and she assumed the alcohol was just hitting late.

Levi rubbed his teeth nervously, for once unsure what to say. One sharp remark would normally be enough, but he didn’t feel like insulting her. He watched her slowly wet her lips, still stained with lipstick. If he kissed her, he’d end up covered in it, and the thought disgusted him. Still, he swallowed.

Violet’s small voice finally broke the heavy silence between them :

- I...I think I’m going back. I’m really cold.

She moved to leave, assuming he wouldn’t answer. She grabbed the heavy door, but it was held back by him. Their eyes met again, and something in him steadied.

- Tch. Need someone to warm you up, Fiducia ?

He hadn’t meant to say it, and it came out clumsier than he intended. Especially when he saw her stunned expression, unable to process what he’d just said. The door slammed shut behind them, and they walked slowly, still locked in each other’s gaze. After what felt like an eternity, Violet admitted in a hollow voice :

- I hate the smell of cigarettes.

They exchanged another awkward look, and she quickened her pace, clearly trying to escape the situation.

- Lightweight,” he muttered.

She stopped abruptly.

- I’m not. You’re a walking ashtray. Disgusting for someone who claims to be so clean.

- I’m extremely clean,” he boasted. “Unlike someone who eats dirt…

- What ? Want a taste ?

The challenge hung in the air as much as Livai’s earlier remark. She frowned slightly, and he stepped closer, hardening his expression. They both knew they’d be the reason for each other’s wrinkles later in life. And probably heart problems, high blood pressure... and muscle aches.

Violet let out a short breath and stepped forward, grabbing his suit collar. He did the same. It was almost like they were about to come to blows, the final conclusion to all their arguments. Their breathing quickened as they stood face to face like idiots.

- Bastard !

- Bitch !”

They pulled each other in so suddenly that they kissed.

Both initially thought of pulling away in disgust, but Violet tightened her grip on his neck, and Levi slid his hands eagerly onto her hips, pulling her closer. Their bodies slammed against the door of one of the rooms. Their minds quickly turned to mush, and they were unable to separate.

Three knocks on his door startled Levi, who had finally started to doze off. He didn’t even dare look at his alarm clock to see the indecent hour he was up at or how little sleep he was getting. He got up and yanked the door open, irritated.

“Petra, go fu...

He stopped dead, expecting to come face to face with the blonde secretary, but instead met his boss’s furious glare. Violet was standing right in front of him, hair a mess, a bathrobe tied hastily around her body. Her heavy-lidded eyes suggested she was barely functioning on sleep. Levi had to blink several times to make sure he was seeing correctly.

- Holy shit,” she growled through clenched teeth. “So you’re really fucking my secretary ?

He immediately realized the misunderstanding and cursed, running a hand through his hair.

- No, I... Tch. That’s not...

He stopped himself, suddenly realizing he was trying to justify the unjustifiable.

- You remember that ?

The brunette went silent, her expression darkening.

In fact, they both probably remembered everything now, with only a few details blurred. Or maybe they had never truly forgotten it, they just hadn’t dared to admit what they had done a few days ago. It had simply been easier to bury the shameful event and pretend their lives had gone back to normal.

It had taken them two days to almost lose their minds, two days where they genuinely felt like they were going insane, like they might slit each other’s throats on the spot, or knock the other unconscious just to stop those thoughts.

Their mistake had been kissing. That had awakened three years of intense desire in them, hidden beneath baseless, doubtful hatred. After that, they had been completely unable to control themselves.

Violet glanced down the empty hallway, as if checking whether her reputation would survive this nightmare, this torment, this humiliation. She pressed a small plastic box against Levi’s chest, forcing him to take it as he immediately understood what it was. He shivered slightly.

They glared at each other.

- I hate you,” she admitted, stepping past the doorway.

- So do I,” he muttered, closing the door behind her.