LOGINPrescottI left Aurora at the apartment I kept under the company's name.Nobody knew about it. My father thought I slept in my office on late nights. The place had one couch, one bed, and a lock Grant had never seen."Stay here," I'd said. "Don't open the door for anyone.""Prescott...""I'll call you the second I know."She'd held my face and kissed me, quick and hard. "Come back."I was still holding that kiss when I walked into the house at 6:40.The foyer was dark. The whole place felt wrong. Too quiet, like a house holding its breath.Then I heard voices upstairs.Low. Tense. I recognized both.I climbed the stairs slowly, one step at a time. I stopped on the fourth from the top, where the old wood always creaked.Elena's voice drifted through the half-open guest room door."I heard him say it, Dominic. Tell her, or I will. And I heard you answer."Silence."You said you'd take it to your grave."My hand tightened on the rail.Take what to his grave?I didn't mean to listen. I to
PrescottMy phone rang and I answered before the first ring finished."Aurora.""I'm okay."Those were the first words out of her mouth. Not hi, or I’m sorry. Just I'm okay, like she'd rehearsed it.My knees nearly gave out. I leaned against my car in the garage and closed my eyes."Where are you?""Fourth and Maple. By the laundromat.""Stay there. Don't move, I’m on my way.”"Prescott...""I'm coming."I made it in eleven minutes. I broke at least three traffics rules.She was sitting on the curb with a manila folder in her lap and a baseball cap pulled low.She looked small. And untouched and so alive that I forgot how to be angry.I parked and jumped out. She stood. I crossed the sidewalk in two strides and pulled her against me in a hard hug her cap fell off."Don't ever do that again," I said into her hair."I know.""I mean it. I thought... I didn't know...""I know." Her hands gripped the back of my jacket. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I turned off the phone. You'd have stopped m
AuroraEvery part of me knew it. The street was public, the sun was out. Behind me, through the diner window, a dozen strangers were staring.But Marcus Hale was sitting in a car, patting a seat like I was a guest at his table. And I wanted to know why.I slid my hand into my hoodie pocket. Found my phone. Opened the voice memo app by feel and pressed the red button.Then I got in.The door shut with a soft, expensive click. The leather smelled like cologne and money. The driver in front never turned his head.Marcus smiled. "Thank you.""I didn't do it for you.""No. You did it because you're curious." He handed me a bottle of water. "That's your best quality. It's also going to hurt you."I didn't take the water.He didn't seem to mind."You were magnificent in there," he said."You watched?""I listened." He touched his ear, where a tiny earpiece sat. "Mia is very thorough."My stomach turned. "So you did pay them.""I didn't say that.""You didn't have to.""You really do see thin
PrescottI watched the whole video once.Then I put my phone face down on the passenger seat and didn't touch it for ten minutes.I couldn't.A girl on a kitchen floor, crying so hard her shoulders shook. A laugh behind the camera. Nobody stopping it.I'd seen Aurora face down a billionaire. I'd seen her win an argument with my father but I had never once seen her like that.And I'd never wanted to hurt anyone so badly in my life.I started the car.By 8:30, every person at Zane Enterprises had seen it.I could feel it in the lobby. In the elevator, where two women stopped talking the second I stepped in. In the hallway, where heads turned and then turned away too fast.I made it to the executive floor before I heard the laughter.It came from the break room, loud and Careless.I stopped at the door.Brent Hollis from Marketing stood by the coffee machine with three of his friends around him. He held his phone up so everyone could see the screen."Watch this part," he said. "Right whe
AuroraMia slid into the booth beside Zoe like she owned the place.She set her coffee on the table. Took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were calm, bright, and cold."You look tired," she said. "Rough morning?"I didn't answer."I'd say I'm sorry about the video." She tilted her head. "But I'm not. I thought it was well edited."Zoe flinched.I kept my hands flat on the table. If I let them move, they'd shake."Why are you here, Mia?""To watch." She smiled. "I wanted to see your face.""Then you've seen it.""Not all of it." She leaned forward. "I want to see what happens when Prescott realizes the girl he's risking everything for is the girl on that tile floor.""He already knows.""Does he?" Mia laughed softly. "Men like Prescott like the idea of you. The brave girl. The smart one. They don't like the truth.""You don't know him.""I knew him for four years.""And you lost him." The words came out before I could stop them. "How's that going?"Her smile cracked. Just for a second.The
AuroraI turned the black phone off at 1:12.My thumb hovered over Prescott's name first. One tap, and he'd pick up. One word, and he'd stop me.That was exactly why I couldn't.I put it in the nightstand drawer. Then I washed my face, pulled on a gray hoodie, and tucked my hair under a baseball cap.The connecting door was still unlocked from the night before.I crossed through 1411 without breathing. The corridor was empty. The guard by the elevator was bent over his phone.Service stairs. Same way Prescott went.By 1:40, I was in the back of a cab with my forehead against the window.The driver's eyes found me in the rearview mirror. They stayed a second too long watching me. I tugged my cap lower."Hey," he said gently. "You're the girl from the video."My stomach clenched. "Please don't.""I wasn't going to say anything bad." He looked back at the road. "My daughter's your age. Somebody did something like that to her once but she got through it."I didn't answer. I couldn't. But







