LOGINCHRISTOFFor five hours, the sheer volume of the workload had done exactly what I needed it to do. It forced my head down. Between the acquisition meeting dragging well past its deadline, a chaotic software deployment failure that required me to personally intercede, and three separate department heads trying to pass off the exact same operational blunder under different names, I hadn’t had a single second to look up.The steady pressure of responsibility had dragged my attention away from Pepa whether I wanted it there or not.But as the final department head backed out of the office and the door shut behind him, the silence in the room returned. The adrenaline cleared out, and the exhaustion hit me all at once. I’d been running on caffeine all morning, now the hollow ache in my stomach had become impossible to ignore.I dropped my pen. It hit the desk with a dull roll before stopping against the phone base.Leaning back, I felt the muscles across my shoulder blades knot tight, then
TANISHAWhen I pulled into the estate this morning, a white Range Rover was sitting right in front of the main steps with its trunk gaping open.Two of the house keepers were scurrying back and forth through the double doors, heavy leather bags clutched between them. I slowed to a crawl as I approached, watching one massive suitcase disappear into the trunk. Then another. Then a third. My brows pulled together. My first thought was that Pepa was going on a vacation. But then, these weren’t the kind of trunks you pack for a trip. They were the kind of trunks you pack when you don't intend on coming back for a season.I turned off the engine and got out. The morning air still carried some of the night’s coolness, but the sun was already hitting the driveway, forcing me to squint as I grabbed my bag.The heavy front door swung wide, and Pepa stepped outside.I paused by my car. For a second, I almost didn't recognize her. Pepa never looked unpolished, but this morning, she did. Her face
CHRISTOFMy throat felt raw, like I’d spent the night inhaling smoke.I lay there staring at the ceiling, waiting for the dull throb behind my eyes to fade. Five glasses of scotch was a stupid, amateur move, and my body was making sure I felt every single one of them.The bedroom was dark, the heavy curtains blocking out everything but a flat, gray slit of morning light. I reached out, my hand hitting the empty, cold linen on the other side of the mattress.I sat up so fast, the room lurched.“Shit.”The word tore out of my dry throat. I swung my legs out, my feet hitting the bare wood, and yanked my robe off the chair. I didn't even bother tying the belt right, just hauled the bedroom door open and walked out.The upstairs hallway was dead quiet, except for the distant, muffled whine of a vacuum cleaner somewhere down on the first floor. Pale streaks of sun cut across the floorboards from the high windows, showing all the dust floating in the air.I went straight to the guest room at
TANISHA“Thank you?”The words leaked leaked from my mouth, spraying a tiny speck of white foam onto the dark wooden frame of the bathroom mirror.I froze, the toothbrush still wedged against my back molars. I stared at my reflection, then down at the plastic handle in my grip, then back at my eyes in the glass.“Thank you?”I spat into the porcelain bowl, rinsed my mouth with cold water, and gripped the edges of the vanity. The marble felt freezing against my palms.The appalling memory from Christof’s driveway had been jeering at me all through the drive home. The way his throat had moved right before he spoke. The heavy, unnatural hesitation. The absolute wrongness of the expression on his face when the words finally broke loose: I’m sorry.My eyes squeezed shut.“Thank you,” I muttered to the empty basin. I had fucking thanked him. For what exactly? For minimizing me?The mortification I felt was relentless, hot flush behind my ears. Of all the responses available to me—after week
CHRISTOFAs I started up the stairs, the sharp, medicinal burn of peat and aged wood drifted through the foyer.My hand stayed on the banister. The scent was coming from the bar tucked under the curve of the staircase. I craned my neck over the banister and saw Pepa sitting there alone on a stool. She had a crystal glass between her fingers, and the ice inside had melted enough to water down the liquor.She hadn't just poured it.I looked at the glass, then at her. Pepa drank wine and champagne. She liked expensive bottles that came with a sommelier's recommendation. Scotch was different. She only drank it on bad days.My shoulders tensed. I let go of the banister and walked toward the bar, my shoes clicking against the marble floor.She looked up when I got close. She didn't smile. Instead, she let out a short, hollow laugh.“Hey,” I said.“Hey.”I pulled out the stool next to hers and sat down. “What are we drinking?”She lifted her glass. “Apparently scotch.”“Apparently?”“It tast
CHRISTOFThe pistachio-crusted sea bass had been a success. The lunch had been a disaster.Maybe not a disaster, but ineffective. I sat low in the back seat of the car, one arm propped heavily against the door panel, watching the faint reflection of Tanisha’s profile in the dark tint of the windshield. She was in the front passenger seat, the same square of space she occupied every morning and evening.Usually the drive back to the estate involved some form of work. A schedule adjustment. A reminder about an upcoming meeting. A problem requiring my attention before the following morning. Today, she had emptied her arsenal of work topics before the front tyres of the vehicle even cleared Midtown.Now, she just sat. Her palms rested flat on her knees. Her gaze was locked dead ahead on the road, even more focused than the driver.I forced myself to look away from her reflection, focused on the blur of the passing trees, and then found my eyes dragging right back to her silhouette two mi
Even Christof paused, brows lifting a fraction. Pepa? Requesting leftovers? In her thousand-dollar dress?She fluttered her lashes at him like she needed permission to breathe. “I’m starving,” she added brightly, “and I just adored the salmon. Didn’t you?”I pressed my lips into a fine line. What g
TANISHAThe door shut behind me, sealing me inside his office like a verdict. Christof didn’t bother sitting. He stood near the window instead, hands in his pockets, posture deceptively relaxed.He turned slowly. His flared nostrils, and cold eyes, were the only indications that he was upset.“Tell
TANISHAI stepped off the elevator, heels clicking against marble, and walked straight to my desk, everything was exactly as it should be. Phones rang softly, screens glowed, people moved with purpose. Except it wasn’t. Christof’s whereabout was unknown to me.I had pulled up to his house thirty mi
CHRISTOFIt felt like I was explaining colors to a blind person. Why was I even explaining so much, I’m pretty sure she knew how a date went. And with this new feisty personality she had just revealed, she would be able to handle herself around Roman.Her jaw tightened. She stared past me, at the w







