He was born to dominate, and he does it well.

“You think too highly of yourself.”

“I never think too highly of myself. I’m whatever I think I am.”

“Okay.” I nod. “And now, please get out of my way or else—”

“Or else what?” He interrupts before I can complete my sentence. He has the same glint in his eyes Naomi has whenever she’s about to do something crazy.

I wonder what crazy things this man will do. Will he wrap his hand around my neck, haul me close and kiss me?

My tongue darts out and swipes over my lips. It’s only when his eyes dart to my lips I realize how seductive that was. I hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea.

“You have beautiful lips.”

The butterflies flutter in my stomach and heat caresses my cheeks.

I open my mouth, but I can’t say anything to him. I’m an idiot whenever I’m around him.

“Vincent, someone might see us.” I manage to mutter.

A fire alarm rings in the hallway. We both turn our heads to the door.

“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to push him away. He’s a solid wall and doesn’t budge, but then he moves.

“I don’t know.” His big, strong hand grasps mine. “We need to get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

I remember Naomi. She’s waiting for me inside the hall. “Wait! Naomi’s inside, we can’t just leave her.”

“She can find her way out.”

“Or not. I can’t leave her alone.” I break free from his grip and run outside, but it’s useless. There’s a sea of people racing to the stairs and some of them to the elevator. A few of them fall to the ground but no one cares to slow down or help them.

But not me, I can’t let them die. I hurry to the hallway and help a woman in her fifties to her feet. Her legs are bruised from others running over her, but she smiles and thanks me before she mixes with the crowd and vanishes from view.

I weave through the crowd trying to help more people but can’t when someone grabs me from behind and pulls me toward the other end of the hallway.

“Vincent, stop! We need to help those people.”

“You’ll die if you do.”

“I’m a nurse, I don’t care if I die. It’s my job to save lives.” All the writhing and fighting I do to break away from him are useless. His grip is tight.

More people run in our direction.

“Shit!” Vincent kicks a door open and pushes us inside. It’s very dark in here. I find my phone in my purse and bring it out, then put on the flashlight.

“Where are…” I gasp when I see the storage boxes around us. We’re in a storage room. “We need to leave. There should be an emergency exit somewhere.”

“Where?”

“We’ll find it.” I head to the door and twist the doorknob, but it doesn’t open when I pull it. I struggle with the handle. “Vincent.”

I try not to panic. The door cannot possibly be locked.