MasukBRIANI left the hockey game running and closed the space between us until her knees brushed mine on the couch. Mia held my gaze longer than most people managed. That was always her problem. She wanted distance and kept choosing the opposite.“Why?” I asked again. “Did you want something else?”Her throat moved.“I didn’t say that.”“You didn’t have to.”I took the plate from her hand and set it on the table. When she didn’t pull away, I hooked two fingers under her chin and tilted her face up. Close enough to feel her breath hitch. Close enough that any denial would have to work harder than her body already was.“Brian.”“Say stop if you mean it.”She didn’t.So I kissed her.Not soft. Not careful. I kissed her like I’d been waiting for an excuse. Her mouth opened under mine with a sound she tried to kill in her throat. I angled her head, deepened it, and tasted the leftover diet coke on her tongue as her fingers curled into the front of my shirt.I pulled her into my lap in one move
MIA[Me: Hi Felix. I'm down with a cold. Won't be coming into work today.]I hit send and shut my phone off almost immediately after. One, because I didn't want a reply. And two, because I was lying.I hadn't gotten a cold since elementary school, and even on off days, I'd shown up to work. Today was just… different. Well, in all honesty, every day's a little different when you remember you're currently target for two of the most experienced mercenaries at Lang Corp.. While all this time passed and I remained hell-bent on unraveling Matt Majors, I never gave much mind to the fact that the man was actually trying to kill me. Keyword: Kill!!So yeah, I had no plans to clock in today, or tomorrow, or even days after that. I was already starting to get the hang of living like a fugitive in my own house. Drawn curtains that didn't come up unless it was stuffy enough to kill, appliances that stayed off until I needed a charge, even the lights all around mine hadn't flickered on in day
THEOEighty-seven missed calls.Do you know how frequently, in the space of twelve hours, you’d need to call someone to leave eighty-seven missed calls?Honestly, I didn’t even need an answer to that.The bottom line was that it was hopeless.I still had no idea where Tiffany was or what happened to her after she stormed out of the restaurant last night.But as much as it hurt to admit, if she was in fact okay, then there really was no coming back from this.She didn’t want to talk to me. Worse, she probably wanted nothing to do with me either.As the hopeless, deluded idiot I was, I reached for my phone an eighty-eighth time and was halfway through dialing her number when my office door clicked open.“Hey boss!” My ever-cheery personal assistant walked right in.Mika looked like she’d had the exact opposite night I had.Well rested. Energetic. And without a single worry.“Oh.” She slowed a few feet from my workspace. “You… look like shit.”I leaned back into my ergonomic chair,
BIANCA (Fifteen Minutes Ago)I was pretty fond of making bad decisions.But considering I got kidnapped the last time I was at a party, this was probably one of my more horrible ones.And to top things off…“What do you mean you’re gonna be late?” I asked, pressing one finger into my ear so whatever excuse Stephanie was about to give would actually make it through the bass of Cardi B’s *Press*.“It’s my dumb Uber driver, hun,” she cussed, loud enough to tell me the culprit was probably close by. “The douche forgot to put air in his tyre and thought having no spare was a good idea. I’m booking another ride as we speak. I’m so, sooo sorry.”“I don’t forgive you,” I said through clenched teeth.“But Bianca—”“I don’t want to hear it. Just get here quickly or else…”I didn’t finish the sentence, mainly because I wasn’t going to do a damn thing.Of course I could always take the high road and call Max, but I wasn’t done being mad at him yet. I also wasn’t going to let things slide that—“B
JULIAFor a hot second, the room went quiet.A lump formed in my throat, then passed down and multiplied throughout my body until I couldn't even move.Flora looked at me, then back at Adrian.“Well, actually, it's—”“It's on her,” Adrian repeated, as if the first time wasn't audible enough. “And since the cork’s facing me, I get to choose if we make out here or in the closet, right?”Rhetorical question. Even I knew the answer.He didn't break his stride or slow his steps until he reached me and put out a hand.“I choose the closet. Seven minutes in heaven.”Forget the oohs and aahs that’d been ricocheting across the room the last two rounds. Right now, there was absolutely nothing. NOTHING!Harry cleared his throat, and in a bid to dispel the tension…“You're one lucky girl tonight, Julia,” he joked, then walked up to the closet. “But yeah. Seven minutes in heaven. Unless…”“Great,” Adrian cut in. His eyes didn't move from mine. His arm remained outstretched.“Our time’s ticki
JULIARule Number One.If you don’t want to stick out at a party, don’t come with your extroverted friend.I’d said “hi” to more faces than I cared to remember and faked so many smiles my cheeks hurt at the slightest twitch.But while my social battery drained, Flora’s kept soaring through the roof.Rule Number Two.There’s always a dress code for a night party. And the more skin you show, the less you stand out.I wish I’d known that.Every room we crossed seemed riddled with eyes that kept staring at me the wrong way.Halfway through the party, I was more than convinced I should’ve just stayed home.Then everything changed the moment we got upstairs.The bass from the living room was quieter here, and the people in the hallway were too busy smoking and locking tongues to notice me.“Where are we going?” I asked.“It’s a surprise,” Flora answered with a smile, holding me tighter.I wasn’t going to like this.We broke out of the hallway and stepped toward a room that seemed to have a







