جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 100

- DESMONDI tore out of that velvet corridor quickly. My chest felt tight, the skin across my knuckles stinging where I’d slammed my hand against the wall. She was here. I could feel it in the air, but every time I reached out, I came up with nothing but a high-society stronghold.I hit the main mezzanine landing, my eyes aggressively scanning the crowd below.A sharp double-tap of static hissed in my right ear."Sir, you okay?" Nigel’s voice came through, crisp and entirely too calm for the state I was in. "I’m looking at the rear security feed right now. We’ve got a major movement.""Did you find her?" I muttered, leaning over the gilded railing, my eyes darting between the groups of foreign diplomats and oil execs."Not exactly, sir. The Figueroa entourage just cleared the private basement entrance. It’s the old man himself. Lorenzo Figueroa. He’s flanked by six suits, moving straight toward the private elevator bank.""Is Sierra with them?" I pressed, my fingers tightening on the

- DESMOND"Nigel, drop the grid," I muttered into my earpiece, turning my back on the Wellington guards and walking straight into the thick of the ballroom crowd."Sir? If I trigger the fire system, the Swiss authorities are going to look at our registration first," Nigel warned, his voice tight with sudden panic. "We’ll be blacklisted from every trade summit in Europe before sunrise.""I don't give a fuck about the summit, Nigel. Pull the trigger. Now."A three-second pocket of dead silence followed. Then, the crystal chandeliers overhead flickered once, twice, and died.The vast cavern of the Grand Théâtre plunged into an eerie, amber twilight as the emergency back-ups kicked in. A second later, a piercing, high-pitched electronic shriek tore through the air, along with the violent, rhythmic flashing of white strobe lights from the cornices."Attention. Une anomalie a été détectée," a calm, automated French voice boomed over the PA system. "Veuillez évacuer le bâtiment immédiatement

- SIERRA"You have four minutes left, Desmond," I said, leaning my spine against the cold iron gate. My fingers were locked tight behind my back so he wouldn't see them shaking. "Make it count."Desmond didn't move an inch. He stayed right there, towering over me, his shadow swallowing me whole under the bright gallery lights. "I don't need four minutes. I need you to stop playing this ridiculous game and tell me what the hell is going on.""It’s not a game," I said, forcing a smooth, detached tone into my voice. I looked right at his silk tie, refusing to meet his eyes. "I moved on. Thomas Trading offered me a position and a fresh start away from Manhattan. Away from the Zimmerman mess. It’s just business, Desmond.""Business?" Desmond let out a short, sharp laugh that sounded completely hollow. He took a half-step closer, his shoe clipping the hem of my midnight silk gown. "You vanish in the middle of the night, clear out your apartment, change your name to Scarlett Thomas, and now

- SIERRAThe car ride fell into a heavy silence. Nigel sat up front in the passenger seat, his eyes glued to the dark highway, while the driver kept us moving fast toward Cologny. I stared out my window, my reflection floating against the black glass, my pulse pounding through every vein.Desmond sat right next to me, his jaw clenched so hard the muscle throbbed. He’d finally let go of my wrist when we hit the outskirts of the city, but the space between us still felt charged, like a wire about to snap."What do you want, Desmond?"My voice broke the quiet, softer than I intended but sharp enough to cut right through the silence. I didn't turn my head. I just kept staring at the blurred trees outside. "Why go all out for this? The gun, the fire alarm, the car... you’re burning down your entire life. For what?"He turned his head. I could feel his eyes tracking the side of my face in the dim dashboard light."Because we have an unresolved matter," he said in a low, gravelly voice."An

- SIERRAThe hum of the jet engines was vibrating straight through my skull. We were somewhere over the Atlantic, the cabin dark except for the little amber reading lights over our seats. Desmond was sitting right across from me, his eyes shut, his arms crossed over his chest like he was asleep. But he wasn’t. His jaw was so tight I could see the muscle ticking every few seconds.I leaned back into the leather, staring at him. The grey sweater he’d made me put on felt heavy, suffocating. I couldn't be quiet anymore. It was eating me alive."You keep saying it," I said, my voice sounding flat, scraped hollow by the hours of staring into the dark.Desmond didn’t move for a second. Then his eyelids flicked open, those sharp eyes fixing on me instantly. He didn’t say anything. "You keep saying we need to settle things," I went on, leaning forward so I didn't have to raise my voice. "Again and again. Like there’s some grand puzzle left to solve. But I think we’re done. I really do."He le