Lahat ng Kabanata ng Tastes Like Damn Chocolate : Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 140

CHAPTER 132The café was nearly empty at this hour. Nikolai sat in the same corner booth as before, back to the wall, eyes on the entrance. His third black coffee had gone cold in front of him.The bell above the door chimed, and Locke McNeil entered with the same unremarkable efficiency that made him so effective. He scanned the café, then made his way to Nikolai's booth."Mr. Toriaga." McNeil slid into the seat opposite, setting a brown manila envelope on the table between them."You have something for me," Nikolai said."Everything you need is right there." McNeil tapped the envelope with one finger. "Background check on Jaden Cole, surveillance reports on Miss Selma, timeline analysis, relationship mapping. It's comprehensive."Nikolai didn't reach for it immediately. He studied McNeil's face instead, looking for tells, for signs of what the contents might reveal. The investigator's expression remained neutral, but something flickered in his eyes."Tell me," Nikolai said. "Before

CHAPTER 134 Nikolai decided to go to the penthouse rather than the residence when he returned from his trip.The penthouse felt different after days away. Nikolai dropped his luggage immediately he stepped out the elevator and loosened his tie, fatigue from the conference and cross-country flight settling into his bones. "You're back!" Indy appeared from the bedroom wearing one of his shirts, the hem hitting mid-thigh, her hair tousled in that calculated way that was supposed to look effortless. She crossed the living room with a model's grace. "I missed you," she murmured, sliding her arms around his neck and pressing against him. "You finally returned." Nikolai returned the embrace automatically, his body going through motions his mind had disconnected from. She smelled like expensive perfume and ambition, and when she tilted her face up for a kiss, he gave it to her. "How was your trip?" she asked, leading him toward the couch, her fingers working at the buttons of his shirt.

Chapter 136 Tiana tried to move, to assess the damage, but her body wouldn't cooperate. Her legs, both of them now, refused to respond to her commands. She could feel them there, could feel the pain radiating from them, but they wouldn't move. The phone. She needed the phone. She craned her neck, searching, and saw it through tear-blurred vision, still upstairs where it had fallen, its screen glowing uselessly twenty feet above her. No. No, there had to be another way. Think. Think through the pain and the fear and think. Nikolai had broken every traffic law getting there. He'd called Tiana's number seventeen times during the drive but there was no answer. He'd tried the house phone but it just rang and rang. He'd pushed the Range Rover to speeds that made the engine scream, running red lights, taking corners so hard the tires left rubber on the asphalt. Sandy had called him back once to say she was stuck in traffic, wasn't going to make it in time, that he needed to get there

Chapter 138 The elevator carried her up to the third floor, and she found the room easily. She knocked softly before entering. Tiana looked impossibly small in the hospital bed, surrounded by monitors and IV lines and the antiseptic sterility of medical equipment. Her left leg was elevated and immobilized in a cast and brace. Her torso was wrapped to support the broken ribs. A bandage covered the gash above her eyebrow, and bruises were already blooming across her visible skin in violent shades of purple and blue. But her eyes were open. Alert. Alive. "Hey," Sandy said softly from the doorway, her voice thick with emotion she couldn't quite control. Tiana's head turned slightly, and something like relief crossed her battered face. "You're here." "Of course I'm here." Sandy crossed to the bedside, pulling up a chair with trembling hands. "Where else would I be?" "I don't know. Back at the house with Nikolai?" Tiana's voice was hoarse, probably from screaming during the fall. "He

CHAPTER 140 Nikolai's attention sharpened. "You did what?" " He's here in Velmore. Staying at the Darlton Motel on Third Street." McNeil pulled out his phone, showed Nikolai a photo." "Why would you bring him here?" "Because he deserves to know the truth too," McNeil said simply. "He's been in prison for three years, got out believing he has a child somewhere, and Indy's been stringing him along while secretly planning to cut him off entirely. He should know what she did. What she's capable of." Nikolai rubbed his temples, feeling a headache building behind his eyes. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" "That's up to you. But he's here. Room 247. And he's expecting someone to tell him what the hell is going on with the woman he went to prison for." McNeil stood, and headed for the door. "McNeil," Nikolai called after him. “Let’s go see him.” Nikolai had received information that changed everything and solved nothing. Indy had lied. Had manipulated him for months