PTE

ffee "s

eets sliding silkily to her waist. The room remained wrapped in darkness, save for t

ly for Manhattan to roar awake, too late for true silence. The

hallways. The silk robe waited on the chair... she slipped it on, tied the belt loosely

ready in t

etched taut across his broad shoulders and dark jeans that looked worn in all the right places..

h press into two mugs. No phone in hand. No visible weapon. Just him, mo

said without t

ade co

e that costs more

ude not t

ed beneath her breasts, watching the play of

oug

man his size, and the shadows beneath his eyes looked carved dee

e island toward her. Black.. No

team curling upward

a's f

seeped into her palms like

ry p

ong, bitter, perfec

hat steady blue gaze met hers no smile, no apology, just unflinching h

tasting the word like it

ig

his own mug, watchi

you up t

about the guy in the crowd last n

ed. "I got his face on camera. Sent it to my conta

lowly. "And

e deal

ke he already decided h

in white scar on his left temple caught the

r the first time...w

nel? Something ugl

d her mou

zed sharply o

xpression unchanging, and a

rla

er end was low, urgent, words

tened.

I'm o

set the phone down

a wa

hers. "We n

ow

There's a package at your management office.

plummeted. "

en inside this bui

d to acid on her

ay? Someone got p

to tilt. "That

they h

"You think someone'

it to find out." He

from the couch, chec

ls only. We're

he

Better sightlines,

e a shoot tomorrow. Ful

already inside your building." His voi

t a discuss

ke an order wrapped in velvet And

her bedroom, stopp

telling me

I'm telling you wha

It's

hrough her nose. "

ers, underwear, charger, the bare minimum thrown into a le

stood at the window,

ery camera feed before we roll. And Marc? Tell him to me

hun

the bag by the

tea

trust you

eople. Not

ly. "And me? Do

ed in his eyes...not ice this time... Heat. "I tru

ghed at the ab

rabbed her co

cking corners with the muscle memory of someone who had done it a thousa

opened the rear door for her, scanned the

a buzz cut and no expressio

y slide past in strea

someone close?" s

x said. "That's

im. "You sound

d

. He didn'

he bridge, Manhattan shrinking in the

phone buz

. His face went

aned ove

e first time she

just go

nd

ur robe. This morni

d turned

from across the river.

er pour coffee, talk to him, even watched the robe slip off

around hers...brie

ng this tod

ueezed

te grip she realized the r

e wanted Jax to be

burned ever

ading north. Concrete and steel gra

obby yesterday, every delivery person, every n

k of her hand once, almost

the contact

mething rea

nced a

,not the rules. Somethi

stretch. The highway h

e said finally. "We

over the left flank. I didn't see

ame you

ry d

ar on his temple aga

the mark lightly. "But Ramirez... a bullet grazed me

g, fingertips brushing the edge

y," she w

n't

, but the air between th

ng. He answered the s

long lens, probably from the rooftop across the river. The b

ed forwa

cto

napped toward

or in your father's production company. Has keys to

it harder than t

asn't just

as wa

the means to

ain...this time delibera

se. Head to the estate in the Hamptons. Production's reloca

him. "You thin

she alr

V acce

city disappea

...something neither of the

laced with hers,

lean into it, just

one lit up..s

anced

e body we

shift before sh

she wh

the screen

essage. O

his shoulder, fingers tangled with his robe s

mor

rom beh

glowed at the to

photo, fou

eady in

s flicked to the

.small, col

plans," he

behind the front seats, a glove

aight toward