Sir, I'm All Yours

ALESSIAFour hours of smiling at men who look at you like you're something they could afford if they just kept the tab running long enough, and all I wanted was to get my heels off, count what I made, and get out the door before the night found another reason to keep me there — and at least tonight, out of all nights, the number was good. Almost five thousand. Enough to cover this month's medical bills for my mother without having to do the math three different ways and still come up short.Talia was already in the chair in front of the mirror, chin up, one leg crossed over the other, one lash on, one already off, looking like she had just stepped out of a music video instead of a shift. Her contour was still sitting perfect. Four hours in and still sitting perfect, which was honestly offensive."I killed it up there tonight," she said, mostly to her own reflection. "Pretty sure he was watching me the whole time. I could just feel it."Her neck was warm when she said it, that little c

“Go deliver your order. Come to my office when you’re done.” She was already walking away when she said it, her heels hitting the floor in a steady rhythm that faded down the corridor, and she didn’t look back. I stood there with the tray in my hands, the weight of the glasses pressing into my palms, and watched her go. Then I looked down at the tray, looked back up at the corridor, and started walking. The VIP rooms were always at the end of the east hall. I had walked this stretch a hundred times and knew every door—which ones creaked and which ones you had to pull toward you before you pushed or they caught on the frame. But tonight I stopped in front of the door without planning to, just stood there for a second with the tray balanced on my fingers and the ring sitting against my chest under my shirt, the metal warm from my skin. Something felt wrong but I had nothing to point to, so I told myself to stop overthinking and pushed the door open with my shoulder. The room was quiet

I barely slept after what happened in the hallway. Jessica's warning echoed in my head all night, that smile she gave me when she said I saw everything. She wasn't just jealous—she was threatened. And people like Jessica didn't get threatened quietly. They struck back when you least expected it. But I didn't have time to figure her out, because the next morning I was in the interrogation room at the exact time they gave me, my heart already knocking against my ribs before I even sat down. The walls were light green and the table was scratched and bolted to the floor, one wall all mirror, and the air was cold and smelled like old coffee and cleaner, sharp in my nose. I sat down and noticed the small cameras perched in the corners, their red lights blinking steady. I knew people were watching from the other side of that mirror, could almost feel their eyes on the back of my neck. ADA Miles Henderson sat across from me. Late forties, lean face, blank expression. Expensive plain suit

Her plan was crazy, but it was also the only one she had. Love and desperation will do that to you. To make it work, I had to disappear. Alessia Costa had to go away, and Kia Benett had to show up. I had to learn how to move like a guy, stand like a guy, and talk like a guy. I had to wrap my chest so flat that no one would notice anything weird. And it had to be perfect, because messing up would not just cost me the job. It would cost me my mom.I stood in front of the old mirror in my room. The girl looking back at me had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she had not slept in a week. My hands went up like someone else was controlling them. I touched my jaw, my cheek, my shoulder. Then I touched my hip, the part of me that would be hardest to hide. This was who I was. This was the body I was about to say goodbye to.And then I felt something settle in my stomach, heavy and cold. Great.To save my mother, I had to kill the girl in the mirror. No pressure.My hands did not sha