the cold milk dripped from his chin onto the expensive Persian rug. H

ping the milk from his face with a trembling h

p of milk from her thumb. She looked at Daryl, a slow, mocking smir

suddenly crystal clear, stripped of all the slurred exhaustion she ha

into a loud, condescending laugh. "What? You think a junkie

She placed both hands on t

accessed last week shows the opposite-the error rate is spiking, and your 'breakthrough' is nothing but manipulated numbers. Based on the degradation curves of your sample

ckly, pale gray. His pupils dilated in sheer panic. She had just verbally dissected th

step toward him, her eyes lock

s, the micro-tremors in your hands, the excessive diaphoresis in a sixty-eight-degree room. Yo

arbage executive relying on pills to keep his heart

lunged into a suf

lightning. He stumbled backward, his e

on Daryl. He despised liars, and he despised incompetence even more. He slowly

s voice cracking. "The data just needs mino

il is keeping your heart beating. I also know you can't afford it on a standard VP salary. I tracked the bleeding accounts fro

crawled out of hell. Stripped of his corporate armor and his secrets exposed, he gr

ors swung sh

p, impenetrable gaze. She didn't look away

ave two slow, deliberate claps. The s

a predator who knew his prey had nowhere to run. He stopped directly in front of her, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact. The he

solutely clear that escape was not an option. He tilted her face up toward his, his thumb resting against th

ensity that bordered on obsession. "And that brilliance makes you dangerous. But understa

ol. She wanted to jerk her chin out of his grip, to spit something venomous in his face, but her body refused to obey. The air between them was thick with something

sked, his voice dropping to a regis

track the movement, saw the muscle in his jaw tick. A small, dark victory

ected. She waited a beat, then added, "Are you going to let go of m

moothed back into its usual impenetrable mask. He released her chin, but his fingers trailed along

l," he said, and the corner of his mouth curved into something that w

heart pounding an unsteady rhythm against her ribs. She pressed her fingers

a tool she could wield. He was a force of nature, and if sh