n a sea of red taillights. Rain hammered against the wind

in her mind. The scent. His touch on another woman's hair. It felt like a violation,

ng his fingers on the steering wheel. "One drop

ard meeting at Starlight Corporation was at 9:30. A

slowly in the right lane. Two black Esca

instinctively shrank back in her seat, pulling h

, like a gunshot, echoed f

erved, the smell of burning rubber filling the small space. Adelina was thrown forward,

or of the Rolls-Royce-before the driver managed to gui

oken only by the drumming of the rain. He got out, slamming the

rt had been forced to pull o

fail before she even began. Ignoring the downpour

through her coat. She pulled out her phone, but the screen showed only one ba

window of the P

ine of Gage's jaw. He was watching her, his silhouett

gap. "Oh, my God, do you need help?" she called out

htened. "No, than

She was shivering, strande

voice from inside the c

ove his head. He moved with an unhurried, predatory grace, his expensive leath

hing hazard lights. The sheer force of his

of the downpour. Rain immediately began to soak the shoulder of his black coat, b

rat," he said. His voic

pine hitting the wet metal of t

tone laced with a dry, mocking amusement, "Javon gets eve

. How did he know? How did he know abo

said, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "It would be a shame f

highway, he was her only option. The humiliation was a phy

d to the back of the Uber, and wre

is fingers brushing against hers for a fraction of a second. The contact was like an electri

ding it for her. It wasn't a gest

t asphalt and her own defeat. She slid into the plush leather

age with h