LOGINAMARA'S POVSaturday are usually the one part of my week that felt entirely mine.No Lorry glaring at me over coffee or trying to make things difficult for me. No Nick teasing me into a headache before nine a.m. Just me, a duffel bag of things i bought for the children's center.Nora had already left for the salon, complaining the entire way out the door about a client who wanted "beach waves in the dead of winter." Javey had gone in even earlier, muttering something about a fabric delivery disaster. Which left me alone in my apartment, humming to myself as I grabbed my keys — right up until my phone buzzed on the counter.**Head of Security:** Princess, your car is bugged. Still working out whether it was Javey, Nora, or Nick. Don't discuss anything sensitive inside the vehicle from now on. Communicate by text only until it's swept.I stared at the message for a long moment, thumb hovering over the screen.Bugged my car? And now my friends are suspects?"It shouldn't have surprised m
The rest of the week went on well, mostly because Nick and i have been doing things together.Eating together and most of the time he spend in my office.Lorry landed back from Geneva Friday morning looking like a man who'd slept exactly four hours and regretted every minute of the flight. He walked straight into the debrief without so much as a "good morning," dropped his briefcase on the table, and said, "Show me."Nick pulled up the Locate model on the main screen without missing a beat."Fully operational," he said. "we've tested it a dozen times over past three days. Facial recognition, camera cross-referencing, live location tracking ... all working."Lorry's eyes narrowed, like he was waiting for the a but."zero technical failures," Nick said, reading his face. "It works, Lorry."One of the engineers pulled up the test logs, walking Lorry through the search radius, the location filtering, the response times. Lorry watched in silence, arms crossed, jaw tight in the specific way
Midnight in the city looked nothing like daytime. Empty streets, quiet traffic lights blinking for no one, the occasional taxi gliding past like it had somewhere important to be."You don't have to drive me," I said, buckling my seatbelt. "I can drive myself you no.""At midnight? Absolutely not." Nick pulled out of the parking garage. "Besides, I still owe you for making that breakthrough. I dont think we could have succeded without your input""You did panic near the coffee machine.""We agreed to never speak of that again."I laughed, leaning my head against the window. The city blurred past in streaks of orange streetlight, and for once, the silence between us wasn't awkward. Just tired. Comfortable."Thank you," I said quietly. "For today."Nick glanced at me. "For what? You did all the work.""For trusting me with it. Not everyone would trust an assistant with that"Something flickered across his face ,something almost soft but he covered it with a grin. "Don't get used to it. T
AMARA'S POVLorry called us both into his office on Monday morning as soon as i arrived, looking like a man about to hand over his firstborn child."I'm flying to the Hendricks meeting in Geneva," he said. "ill be gone for two days. Nick, you're in charge while I'm gone.""Cool," Nick said. "Wasn't planning on burning the building down anyway.""I'm serious." Lorry's eyes moved to me, and there it was, that flicker of doubt he hadn't quite managed to hide since the our first meeting. "The Locate model needs to be fully operational by the time I land. No excuses."I frowned. "The Locate model?""New surveillance tech," Nick explained. "Pulls footage from public street cameras, cross-references facial recognition, tracks movement patterns. If it works, half the city's police contracts are ours.""And if it doesn't?" I asked."Then I come back to a very expensive embarrassment," Lorry said. "Which is why I want both of you on it. Together."He said *together* like it physically pained h
AMARA'S POVThe rest of dinner went surprisingly well.Nick didn't ask me any more questions about his mother.Instead, we talked about the company, technology, and some of the projects they were currently working on.I was actually enjoying the conversation.Not because I was attracted to him, but because he was surprisingly easy to talk to when he wasn't acting like the notorious playboy everyone talked about.“So,” Nick said, putting his glass down, “can I ask you a random question?”I raised an eyebrow.“Sure?”“Are you single?”“Yes.”He smiled a little.“Of course you are.”“What is that supposed to mean?”“Nothing.”I shook my head.“You're annoying.”“So I've heard.”“Why are you labelled a player?”“I... I don't think I'm a player.”We both laughed.“Oh, really? Why do they call you the notorious playboy then?”“I think they just hate me.”“Hate you? Look behind us. There's two women trying so hard to get your attention. A few waitresses here can't wait for you to ask them ou
AMARA'S POVBy six thirty, I was standing in front of my bedroom mirror wondering why I had agreed to this.I have always been able to read men, and right now I believe I know what Nick wants.Men are always predictable, start with a fancy dinner, then late-night texts, and the next thing, try to get in my pants. That's the chase I always enjoy... Nick Pablo is not gonna be any different.This might make my job easier. I become friends with Nick Pablo, and maybe his brother will go soft on me. Even better, he might defend me against Lorry.I looked at my reflection and adjusted the black dress I had chosen. It wasn't too revealing, but it hugged my body perfectly. I paired it with a pair of heels and simple jewelry.I reached for my perfume when someone knocked on my bedroom door.“Come in.”Javey pushed the door open.He stopped and his mouth fell open.“Oh.”I raised an eyebrow.“What?”“Nothing.”“Javey.”He walked into the room slowly, looking me up and down.“I must say, it's gon







