บททั้งหมดของ Our Dirty Little Secret : บทที่ 131 - บทที่ 140

Ryder I held her wrists between us and stared into her eyes. The soft city light caught the wet shine in them, her eyes softened with uncertainty of what I was doing. I regretted putting her in my mess, I wished I had protected her more instead of pushing her to a mess. Every emotion I had been holding back since the moment I found that motel door rose hard and sudden in my chest. The nights spent wondering if she was still breathing. The way her body had melted against mine the second she opened the door, I could not wait another second, but there’s a lot I wanted to apologize for. I pulled her forward and crashed my mouth onto hers.Her lips parted under the pressure and a soft sound slipped from her throat straight into me. I kissed her deeper, tasting the sweetness I had been starving for. My hands left her wrists and slid up into her hair. I tilted her head and claimed more of her mouth. She pressed closer until every line of her body lined up against mine. Her fingers curled

I stayed frozen at the peephole with my pulse hammering so hard in my throat that every beat seemed to bruise the soft tissue from the inside. The tall man on the other side of the door did not move. He simply stood there filling the narrow view with that strong face and those broad shoulders, looking straight at the wood as if he had all the time in the world. The hallway light caught the hard line of his jaw and threw a faint shadow beneath his cheekbones. He did not knock again, he waited with the quiet certainty of someone who already knew how this would end.My hands trembled so violently that the phone nearly slipped from my fingers as I dragged it from my pocket. The glass felt colder than it had any right to be against the damp heat of my palm, and for a moment I could only stare at the screen while my breath came in short useless pulls that refused to fill my lungs. I forced my thumb across the glass and selected Ryder’s name, pressing harder than necessary because the urgenc

Carlos’s words still hung in the dim air between us.I ignored him and kept my eyes fixed on Nick’s lowered head, on the slow rise and fall of his bruised chest, but my mind had already left the room. Give him what he wants, but I just can't give up Bruce without having my own backup plan. The phrase settled like lead behind my ribs. I didn't know how long Nick had been working for Don, but I was sure he had already given Don plenty to hold against me. I had to tread carefully. Trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford anymore.Handing Bruce over without knowing the true heir was a dangerous move that couldn’t be undone. My fingers curled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms until the sting grounded me.I turned away from the chair and started walking. Slow circles around the metal table, boots scuffing lightly against the concrete. Each step was measured, controlled, the only thing keeping the rest of me from fracturing. The question kept looping, tight and relentless.What

DallasThe call dropped and the screen went black. The man looked at the phone, then at me, and the look held just long enough for my breath to snag. He turned and walked down the hall without another word. I stood in the open doorway with my hand still on the frame, unable to take it off, and watched him go until he reached the bend, every step stretching the hall behind him. When he disappeared, the quiet that followed felt like it had weight. My fingers were cold, colder than the wood. I pulled the door shut and locked it, and the click sounded too loud in the quiet, like it had come from inside my chest instead of the lock.Ryder’s face stayed in my head anyway, the way he had looked at me through that screen. I rested my forehead against the wood for a second, the grain pressing a thin line into my skin, and breathed slowly, the air catching halfway before I turned back into the room.Hazel was behind me with a knife in her hand, her grip shaking until she locked her wrist again

Dallas We did not wait for the man on the street to reach us. I took Hazel’s arm and we cut through the shop door, noodles still warm in the bag. Inside, the light was hard and yellow. I watched the glass until the cheerful face passed and did not come back in. Only then did I let my shoulders drop.Hazel was already on her phone.“Look at this,” she told me, turning the screen. “His name is Don Vitale Trajan. Chairman of Aurelius Pacific Holdings.”His picture stared back in a suit that made him look so gentle just like the way he was when he came to the front door before his face twisted to what I couldn’t describe, he was listed as chairman of Aurelius Pacific Holdings. The page was full of ports and warehouses and dinners where he smiled over a glass of wine. I kept scrolling until Northline Logistics came up. Hazel took the phone back so fast the bag almost slipped from my other hand.“I worked in this company in Tacoma," she muttered, staring at the logo like it had teeth. “Ne