LOGINHis eyes moved from my hair, to my neck, to the dress I had thrown on all wrong.Slowly.Too slowly.Like he had all the time in the world to enjoy every piece of evidence that last night had not been a dream.“That dress looks better now,” he said.I picked up one of my heels from the floor. “If you finish that sentence, I will make sure you can’t have children ever again.”He chuckled.I hated that the sound still had the same effect as a warning light in a chemistry lab.Danger. Do not touch. Do not inhale for too long.“You’re sexier than you were five years ago,” he said.My heel flew.Unfortunately, his reflexes were still very good. Zach caught the shoe an inch before it hit his face. The bastard didn’t even look surprised. He only looked at the heel in his hand, then back at me.Right. Damn overachieving MIT jock with a superiority complex.“I see your aim has gotten worse.”“I’m hungover. Don’t get arrogant.”“You’ve always looked good when you’re mad.”“I’ll look even better
My head was heavy.Not regular heavy. Not the kind of heavy you got from not sleeping enough or sitting through too many meetings with corporate people who treated “urgent” like a lifestyle choice. This was the kind of heavy that felt like someone had poured wet cement into my skull and left it there overnight to harden.My body, on the other hand, felt too light.Strange. Unfair. Deeply suspicious.I opened my eyes slowly, and for the first few seconds, everything was just gray. A dark ceiling. Morning light slipping through the gap in the curtains. The smell of clean linen. Expensive wood. The smell of—I froze.Cologne.This was cologne my brain recognized in a humiliating way. Dark, clean, expensive, like someone could buy every moral law in existence and then burn it in a fireplace.No.No, no, no.I lowered my gaze to my own body and immediately glared.A white blanket covered me up to my chest, but underneath it, my skin was touching fabric directly. No dress. No bra. Nothing b
The world went dark slowly, like someone lowering thick curtains over my eyes. I felt my body floating... or maybe Zach was carrying me.Then there was nothing but the distant bass from the club and the sound of his breathing, close and steady.When I opened my eyes again, the light that greeted me wasn’t the club’s.My head throbbed with a dull rhythm, like a little man knocking from the inside. I tried to sit up, but the bed beneath me was too big, too soft, and definitely not mine.The room was dark, lit only by a small bedside lamp in the corner casting a warm, golden glow. Dark wood walls, tall windows with heavy drapes, the scent of expensive cologne that felt way too familiar mixed with clean linen. This wasn’t my place back in Oregon. It wasn’t some cheap hotel room either.I stared at the ceiling. “Where am I—”His lips were on mine again. Soft at first, brushing my mouth like a question. Then deeper when I didn’t pull away as fast as I should have.Zach.He was over me, one
Zach let out a slow breath. His eyes dropped to my face, to the glass of water in front of me, to the dance floor, then back to me.“Drunk.”“Brilliant.” I slapped the table once, except my hand landed on a napkin. “Did Casa de Sanctis acquire observational skills too?”He smirked.“What are you doing here, Zach?”“Picking you up.”I laughed. “No. Try again. You are not picking me up. I’m not a Northlake package, not some rogue service account, not one of the little red dots on your arrogant map.”His gaze moved behind me.I turned to follow it too quickly. The world swayed with me. Near the bar, two men who had been standing by the edge of the dance floor earlier were now looking toward our booth. One of them immediately looked away the second Zach’s eyes landed on him.Oh.Interesting.Or it should have been interesting. My brain only filed it away like a wet sticky note: men looking. Zach angry. Zach pretending not to be.“I’m fine,” I said.“You almost called the weather app.”“I
I told them everything.Not in any pretty order, because apparently my life had never been given that courtesy.I told them about Northlake, Casa de Sanctis, Zach walking into that conference room like he owned my fate, the black package, the photos from Nathan’s yard, Issa’s hair clip, the message about Fiona, the security plan I accepted because I wasn’t stupid enough to let my ego babysit my children.I even told them about Karl. About him standing in the rain, his face bruised, still calm enough to make me want to scream. About Zach calling Max and Issa his children in a voice that made the floor under me feel crooked.Sienna didn’t interrupt much. She just sat there, spine straight, the warmth slowly draining from her face every time I added another piece.Arianna, on the other hand, reacted like she was watching a season finale written by someone who hated women. She kept opening her mouth, closing it, raising a hand, lowering it again, until finally she said, “I seriously need
Sienna blinked once. Arianna stared at me like she was waiting for the next word. They both knew that name. Of course they knew that name. They had seen me at MIT when Zach still came to the lab in a leather jacket, his hair wet from Boston rain, his blue eyes making smart women suddenly want to believe in stupid things.They had been there when I stopped saying his name. They had been there when I came home from Boston with my face carefully arranged, too little luggage, and a body already hiding two small lives.“In Colombia,” Arianna repeated.I nodded. “At Fiona’s engagement party.”Sienna took in a small breath.I smiled. Not well. I could feel it in the way I was holding my napkin too neatly. “Because he’s her fiancé.”Arianna’s mouth opened.Sienna did not blink.I took another fry because I was an adult woman and tragedy should not be allowed to interfere with my salt intake.“Sorry,” Arianna said at last, her voice flat in a way that was very unlike Arianna. “I think I just h
The chicken piccata came. Coffee. Water. The waitress also brought extra bread because clearly she wanted us to live long enough to pay the check.I started eating with the discipline of a woman choosing carbs over murder.“Mommy,” Max said, stabbing his carrot like a political enemy. “Uncle Shiny l
Oregon rain made every car look slightly guilty.The windshield wipers moved left and right in front of me, sweeping water off the glass with a soft sound far too patient for a morning like this. The road to Lake Oswego was wet, the pine trees on the left standing dark like spectators who had no int
No.UNKNOWN: Arabella.No.UNKNOWN: Ms. Gómez.I held myself back from smiling.Failed a little.Very little.Not enough to count as a reaction.Maybe just a muscle movement caused by hatred.UNKNOWN: CEO mode?UNKNOWN: Understood.UNKNOWN: I’ll be formal.UNKNOWN: Dear Ms. Gómez. Following our rec
I went to the office in Theo’s car.Not my finest aesthetic choice, because Theo’s car smelled like expensive coffee, new leather, and the decisions of a man who bought things too often just because “the engine is interesting.” But my car was still God knew where, and I had two small children to dr







