Christian groans as I look down into my lap, intuiting that he’s hurt my feelings, and then he scootches closer to me. “Don’t look like that, Iris,” he murmurs, putting a warm hand on my shoulder, “you’re breaking my heart.” “I don’t want to be a burden to you, Christian,” I sigh, looking down int

I smirk a little, turning back to my work, turning the churros over as they turn a nice golden brown. “Do you have any chocolate in your room, Frankie?” I ask, knowing the answer already. “Of course I do.” “Go and get it – I’ll make a dipping sauce.” He hesitates for a second, but I laugh and

“What!?” Frankie gasps, staring at Christian now. “Boss, you can’t be serious –“ “Listen, I get it, she’s a great girl, she can cook – but I said hands off,” Christian says, jerking his head towards the door. “Ten laps around the block. Now.” Frankie’s mouth drops open as my eyes go wide. Ten la

I rush into my room, slamming the door behind me, panting a little with anxiety as I spin and stare at the doorknob. What – what the hell is happening!? I attune my ears, instinctually, towards the living room, desperate to know what is happening. Even though Christian wants to keep me away from t

Christian puts everything together in an instant – where this grate leads, what, precisely, that noise he just heard was. I give another panicked squeak and push myself away – but I’m unbalanced now and can’t quite push myself back to the dresser on my exhausted arms. I gasp, looking down at the flo