Too Late For Regret: Watch Me Shine

attan private club, the vintage wall sconces casting long, distorted shadows across the heavy wallpaper. She gr

her lungs to take in a slow, deep breath, trying to push down the exhaustion that

p. The dense physical material swallowed the sound of her foot

d slightly ajar. A gap of yellow light spilled out onto the floor, accompani

d the look on Kevon's face when he opened the box and saw the antique watch she had tracked

gers made contact, the music inside the suite abruptly cut out. The sudden silen

g the lazy tone of someone half-drunk. "When are you actually going

her throat. She waited, her pulse suddenly pounding in her ears,

d from inside. The sound was p

ust a necessary transaction. The Baxter family needs a presentabl

und her ribs, stopping the blood flow. Her fingers turned to ice, hovering uselessly in

s. "She's poured everything into your career, Kev. She even signed ove

sion. She's a nobody from Brooklyn who wanted to latch onto a top-tier family. Handin

sideways, her shoulder hitting the cold, hard wall of the corridor. The plaster was rough

. "Speaking of privileges... what about Kayla? Y

ayed behind her eyes: the canceled dinners, the unreturned calls, the weekend

aced by a soft, protective warmth that made Fiona's skin crawl. "Kayla is dif

Fiona is standing right by

evaporating back into disdain. "Every time I look at her, I see

She gasped, her lungs refusing to expand. A sharp, stinging

a collector in Geneva for this watch. She had customized the engraving. She had thought it was a

moisture back into her tear ducts. She smoothed her expression, erasing every trace of vulnerability. When she looked up, her face was a mask of

placed by a freezing, absolute clarity. The grief was gone. In its place was a sharp, biting fury. Th

the console table beside the door. She shoved the box deep into the mouth of the vase, pushing it dow

across the screen, navigating to Kevon's contact. She tapped the settings, s

ecycled air of the corridor. She straightened her spine, her sh

g around the cold brass handle. She pushed the door with all her stre