I ducked out and ran to the security room, telling myself I had to do a perimeter check, but really, I just couldn’t face what I’d done. I couldn’t stand the idea of being in the same room when it all clicked together for her. When she knew what I had done.
Sticking my head into her office to warn her, my eyes connected with the dirty blond earth mage that was her second and concierge for the club. To me, he seemed too relaxed, too at home in her office, and my hand tightened on the knob before shutting the door.
It was not my place to judge, just to protect.
Van came out first, nodding to me with a smirk, then waltzed off without a care. What was that about? Did Aniyah say something about me? Or worse, could he tell I was keeping something from her?
My head was spinning with different scenarios when Aniyah came out, and I followed behind her to her apartment, cursing Van and his stupid looks.
After seeing her in her apartment, I waited outside like normal, watching and listening for intruders as well as what she was doing inside. I was so used to all the sounds of this floor that I could tell where she was purely by the clacking sound of her shoes.
It sounded like she was trying to figure out what she was going to wear tonight, then she turned up the music loud enough to drown out her steps and make the walls vibrate. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and that made me smile.
A ding of the elevator sounded, and Nova stepped out onto the floor. I immediately stood straight with my hands behind me, looking forward, as the woman who’d given me a chance at my lowest point came up and patted me on the shoulder.
Before I could speak, she put a finger to her lips, listening to the song before kicking the door in and belting right along with her little sister. Closing the door to give them the sense of privacy, I tried to ignore the ball of worry that had unfurled in my chest. She’d handle it. Aniyah would finally get serious, and we could make a plan to hunt this freak down and end it, sending a message to all the others.
After the song ended, I decided to walk the hallway, trying to give them the space to talk while my heart pounded a mile a minute. There was some yelling, but it ended just as quickly as it started.
Soon, a familiar set of heels click-clacked their way to the door, and I rushed to stand next to it, facing forward like I hadn't been worried about a thing.
Nova winked at me on her way out, with Aniyah seeing her to the elevator, and at the time, I thought it meant we were good. That she’d gotten through to her. Then Aniyah turned the corner, and my blood went cold.
She didn’t look at me. Didn’t smirk or roll her eyes or toss a flirty comment about how tight my shirt, which I wore forher, was. I wasn’t worthy of even a glance. I was nothing.
Then I figured it out. That wink?
That was awarning.
The second she stopped in front of me, all calm and poised, her eyes cutting right through me, I knew I was done for.
I opened my mouth to explain, to saysomething, anything, but she shut it down. Told me to shut the fuck up. Called me a traitor and slammed the door in my face.
That word,traitor, burned down my chest, settling in my gut like glass shards, twisting and cutting me from the inside out. This was worse than taking any injury, worse than going rounds with a bigger, better fighter. This cut me down to my soul.
The way she looked at me was like I didn’t even exist to her. No rage. No threats. No heat. Just... nothing.
She walked past me like I was air. Lookedthroughme like I was invisible, like I was never there to begin with. It was worse than any punishment she could’ve given me.
I wanted to touch her, just once. I longed to tuck that wild strand of hair behind her ear as I whispered that I was sorry, that I didn’t mean to betray her. I just… I panicked and didn’t know what else to do. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I fucked up.
I’d give anything to see those golden pink jeweled eyes look up at me with that spark again. The hunger. The trust.
Even if I could never act on it.
Even if I knew better.
Even if someone like me was never meant to have someone like her.
A few minutes later, I got a text from Nova:Keep your eyes open.It meant Aniyah had convinced her that she was right, and I was wrong. I had done all of this for nothing.
If I’d just kept my mouth shut and waited, like she said, nothing would’ve changed between us, but now that was all gone and I was left torn to pieces at her feet.
I’d been assigned to her for a little over a year—over three-hundred-sixty-five days of pure torture. She was my chaos and my command. Walking temptation in sequins and lace, answering the door in her underwear, tossing innuendos out like weapons, asking me to zip up her dresses when I knew damn well she could do it herself.
That time in the rope room… fuck.
She had staged an emergency just to see if I’d come running, and of course I did. Seeing her there, tied up, looking at me like a dare wrapped in silk... All pink lips and glittering mischief without a hint of shame, I wanted her. God, Iwantedher, but I never touched her. Never crossed that line because I knew.
