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Chapter 51 - Lockstep
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2025-08-01 16:05:00Marcus
Elena shows up unannounced, breezing into my office like she owns the place.
Which, to be fair, she partially does.
I didn’t expect her back so soon. She took a few days off to go to Europe. She dropped some hints about possible expansion and new investments, but I assumed she just needed a break and didn’t want to admit that even she runs out of steam sometimes.
"You look like someone who's seen a ghost," she says, smiling as she walks in, her heels clicking with practiced authority.
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ElenaThe secret to lying well is to tell the truth. Or, at least, something that looks close enough to it that no one bothers to question the shine.Which is why I let the words fall the way I do. Not harsh, not cutting. Just casual, like a sigh wrapped in silk.“Marcus?” I say to Yvette, one of our more talkative vendors, while we stand by the refreshment table after a midweek Platinum event. “Oh, he’s brilliant. Smart, steady. But between you and me, he has a temper. You know the type. Fiery, loyal, the kind of man who doesn’t let go of a grudge.”Yvette’s eyebrows lift, intrigued. Exactly the response I wanted. Curiosity is contagious, and gossip spreads faster than champagne at one of these mixers.I add the finishing touch, an artful wince, softened with a quick laugh. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s a wonderful partner to have in this business. Just… complicated. But aren’t the best men always the complicated ones?”I watch it land. Not heavy enough to bruise, but sharp enough to lin
Undercover Hearts Chapter 94 – Low Contact
MarcusSilence is a funny thing. You think you want it, until you’re staring it in the face and it’s not peace at all. It’s absence. It’s unanswered texts and calls that don’t come. It’s Sophia retreating into a version of herself I can’t reach.I tell myself it’s fine. I tell myself people get busy, that she has a life outside the orbit of mine, that not hearing from her for a day isn’t a tragedy. But I don’t believe myself. Not really.It’s not that I expect her to report in. She’s not a rogue agent, she’s a woman I’m attracted to. But the distance feels deliberate, like a door quietly being closed, and I can’t stop thinking about the coffee invite I sent. About the way she never replied.It shouldn’t matter this much. It still does.The Bureau would love this, if they knew. Gillespie in particular. She’s repeatedly made it clear I should keep things “professional.” Like I don’t know that already. Like I had a choice in the way my pulse speeds up and my heart somersaults every time
Undercover Hearts Chapter 93 — Planting Doubt
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Undercover Hearts Chapter 92 — Split Screen
SophiaBrunch at Jamie’s is one of those small domestic miracles that somehow survives the chaos of our lives.Too many pillows, a phone that only plays songs you can whistle to, and the smell of something buttered and suspiciously good coming from his tiny stove.Today it’s fluffy blueberry pancakes, the kind that fold in on themselves like tiny, happy sighs. He flips them with the theatrical precision of someone who’s been watched performing this exact motion a hundred times and knows precisely when the applause will come.“You’re here,” he says the moment I sit down, syrup already making a small, reckless arc from the decanter, “But you’re not here.”It’s soft, not a theatrical ambush. Jamie is good at being gentle without making it sound like pity. He leans on the counter, chin in hand, and squints like he’s trying to read me in the lazy light of Saturday.“Do you mean emotionally or physically?” I ask, because sarcasm is a reflex and I haven’t had my coffee yet.“Both,” he says,
Undercover Hearts Chapter 91 — Through Glass
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