Black rose

VEX POV

She throws my card at me. The number to my direct line. Not many people are given such a privilege of receiving it.

The card falls to the pavement between her and the car. My eyes narrow, a muscle ticking in my jaw.

She’s infuriating, i think to myself.

The tinted window remains down, framing me like a portrait of controlled fury. For a heartbeat, i say nothing, just watching her with an intensity that burns.

“You think walking away keeps you clean?”

My Voice is soft, almost gentle—the calm before something devastating.

“That's not how this works. Not in my city.”

I nod once to Kade, who pulls away from the curb. The Aston Martin glides into traffic.

Kade watches me in the mirror.

I break the silence.

“She Rejected me… twice. That’s not something that happens. Not even once.”

Frustrating to say the least.

Kade laughs silently under his breath. “She doesn’t seem like most women, they’re all usually throwing themselves at you.”

I glare at Kade and the amusement he finds in all this.

“Circle the block a few times, I have a feeling those men aren’t done with her yet”

BRYNN POV

I walk three blocks to my apartment. I walk in. I live alone. I shut the door locking it behind me.

My apartment feels unsafe. Something about Vex makes me feel uneasy. Sending shivers down my spine thinking about his intense stare. I need to get his cologne off me. I head to the shower.

Across the street a black Aston Martin sits in the shadows. Vex watching from the back seat.

I exit the bathroom in a towel. Searching my dresser for an over sized shirt. I slip it over myself letting the towel drop to the floor.

I check all my windows to make sure they’re locked, then the doors. I don’t notice the car in the shadows. I turn the light off… crawling into bed and drifting to sleep.

VEX POV

The Aston Martin idles across the street, Vex's silhouette barely visible through tinted windows. His phone buzzes.

Sal’s voice comes through the speaker.

“Boss, we got something on the stepsister. Jessie Mason moving product for the Mantis crew. Using daddy's properties as drop points.”

Vex’s eyes remain fixed on your darkened window.

“And our new friend?”

Sal hesitates. “Clean record. Works at Meridian Publishing. Lives alone. No connections to our world, besides her step dad, but it seems she not in on his business”

“Not part of our world…Yet.” I say

Vex ends the call, his reflection in the window revealing a rare smile—predatory, patient.

As dawn breaks, Brynn wakes up to find a single black rose on her pillow, its petals still wet with dew, and the business card tucked beneath it.

BRYNN POV

I wake up and see a flower and a black business card

“Asshole.” I think.

But a wave of anxiety washed over me. Scared to even think how he got in to my locked apartment.

I get up and throw them in the trash.

I head to my closet, dressing in a pencil skirt and a white blouse. Putting on heels on my freshly pedicured feet. Red nail polish always looks so good on me.

I throw my dark brown hair up in a high slicked back ponytail. My long hair cascading down my back.

I grab my bag and head for work.

As I enter work my assistant hands me an itinerary for the day. Meetings all morning and a presentation later in the day.

I make it to my office. My assistant walks in

Your nine o’clock is here Ms. Mason.

“Yes let them in.”

I smell the expensive cologne coming from behind the door…

Vex…