MasukIMOGEN’S POV“What never existed?”Silas did not flinch. Instead, he ended the call and placed his phone on the desk before turning to me.I stood by the door, holding the front of his shirt with one hand as I looked from him to the phone.“Footage from one of my clubs,” he said.“What footage?”He glanced at the screen one last time before turning it facedown on the desk. “One of my managers has been stealing from me. Pete found footage that proves it and wanted to hand it over to the police.”My eyebrows pulled together as my eyes dropped to the phone. “And you told him to wipe it?”Silas slipped one hand into his pocket, his eyes staying on mine as if we were discussing something completely normal.“I would rather deal with the man myself.”He walked over and stopped in front of me, lowering his head slightly as he looked at my face.I watched him closely, waiting for something else.A question about how long I had been standing there or how much I had heard would have made sense,
PERRY’S POVThe knock came a little after nine in the morning, while I was standing by the window with a cup of coffee I had barely touched.I had not slept properly since the news about Rossi broke. I expected the police to contact me again after they found her body, but I expected a phone call, not someone pounding on my hotel door.When I opened it, Agent Leo stood outside with two officers.I looked from him to the officers and tightened my fingers around the door handle. “What now?”“You need to come with us.”“For what?”“We have more questions about Valeria Rossi.”“Then ask them.”“Not here.”I looked past him at the officers before stepping back. “Am I under arrest?”Leo held my eyes. “You are being taken in for questioning.”“That does not answer my question.”“It answers enough of it. Get your shoes.”I stared at him for another second before walking away from the door. The fact that he was not arguing with me bothered me more than if he had.I grabbed my phone from the tab
SILAS’S POVImogen finally fell asleep sometime after midnight, still curled against me on the couch with her face pressed against my chest and one of her hands holding my shirt.I stayed there for a while, running my hand slowly over her back until her breathing became steady. She had cried herself to sleep after telling me everything about Rossi, and even after she stopped crying, she had refused to move away from me.When her fingers finally loosened around my shirt, I slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back before lifting her from the couch.She stirred against me as I carried her into the bedroom.“Silas…” she murmured, her hand tightening weakly against my shirt.“I am here,” I whispered.Her head settled against my chest again.I lowered her onto the bed carefully and pulled the duvet over her. She moved toward my side almost immediately, reaching across the empty space without opening her eyes.I watched her for another second before picking up my phone
IMOGEN'S POVI was curled against Silas on the couch with my legs tucked underneath me and a glass of red wine in my hand. His arm was loose around my shoulders and he had a stack of documents beside him that he had been working through all evening, making notes in the margins, reaching past me occasionally for his own drink without breaking his reading.The television was on low in the background. Some Italian news programme I had stopped paying attention to an hour ago.It felt good and that was the strange thing. In the middle of everything that was happening, all the chaos and the moving pieces and the war still playing out around Perry and the company and everything else, there were moments like this one that felt almost ordinary. Warm and still and easy in a way I had stopped trusting myself to hold onto too tightly.I took a sip of wine and looked at the city through the windows when the news ticker changed.BREAKING NEWS. Red letters scrolling across the bottom of the screen
SILAS'S POVPete had the address by the following morning.A serviced apartment in Prati, third floor, corner unit. She had been renting it for five days under her own name which told me either she was not afraid or she had decided that being afraid was no longer a useful way to spend her energy.Pete had stood in the front of the car with his arms folded and his jaw set and given me the look he gave me when he disagreed with a decision but had already calculated that arguing about it was not going to change anything."I will be outside the door," he argued."You will be in the car," I replied.He had not responded to that but he had moved, which was the same thing.I took the stairs when I got to the building. Not because I was trying to be quiet, I just preferred stairs. They gave you a few extra seconds and a few extra seconds were always useful before a conversation you had not had in four years.I knocked on the door of the corner unit.There was a pause. Long enough that I knew
SILAS'S POVI was in the middle of reviewing contracts when Pete came in.He did not knock. He never knocked, we had an understanding about that, if Pete was coming through a door without being called it meant something needed my attention and the polite thing to do was get to it quickly. I had trained him that way years ago and he had never once abused it.I did not look up from the papers immediately. I finished the paragraph I was reading, noted the clause I wanted amended in the margin, and then set the pen down and looked at him.He was standing just inside the doorway with his hands in front of him and his face doing the careful neutral thing it did when he had information he was not entirely sure how I was going to receive.I had seen that face many times over the years."Talk," I commanded.Pete stepped further into the room. "Perry made a move today.""What kind of move."He paused for just a fraction of a second. Long enough for me to notice it."He met with someone," Pete
Perry’s povIt’d been days since my fucking wife had left the house and had barely been back. I couldn’t care less about her whereabouts because right now, all I cared about was my company, my money, and the endless list of things that were already spiraling out of control.The reconstruction of th
Silas’s Pov“No! I told you that they do not get to leave because if they do then our plan won’t be successful,” I yelled at the phone.“But boss…” a voice came from the other end.“You don’t get to second guess my decision, and if you are not capable— I could send Pete to take over,” I shot back,
SILAS’S POVI guess I must have misjugded her by thinking she was shy, naive even, but this stunt was very intentional. My eyes forced themselves to wander as I was stuck in awe of the woman who stood in front of me unclad—her boobs were firm and round, with the nipples shooting out and I bet the
EPISODE 33IMOGEN’S POV“Me?” I shot back. Why in the world would he want me to be the one to seal the deal?Why would he want to save this company that I was happy was going under?I had to turn down this offer one way or the other because this was my chance to leave and be free.I shot him a qui







