You Shouldn't

han ten steps before two m

o speak to yo

ll. He just looked at her l

didn't

he last thing she needed was to make a scene th

nd the main club. The bass faded, replaced by silence and the click of her he

hest

with

reg

e second she saw him. But something inside her-somethi

hed open a he

ng candles. Velvet drapes covered the windows. A bar lined the fa

stepp

shut be

a wall of monitors. Surveillance feeds. T

turn. Not

I wouldn't notice

e noticed," she repli

e said, voice still quiet. "They on

n, eyes cutti

ked. "Closure? Drama? You want m

. "I don't want a

lls

on't just walk into my club five yea

answer. S

about the life she'd built, about the fea

r. Now only a brea

ere pr

eath c

p at him sha

No message. No trace. And now you're standin

imaginin

," he echoed.

f her hair behind her ear. His fin

"Tired. A little thinner. But

on

is head. "D

retend y

and d

eve?" His tone hardene

one nigh

old. "You think it wa

it was a

re making a mistake when you

ace f

Aria? Did you come to reopen old wo

m n

r perfume wrapped around him. "Lying to me

back. "You moved on. I mov

like someone who

er are

, neither of

p knock shatter

d his head in. "Boss.

't like being interrupted.

der was ha

his eyes scanning qu

hing shifting behind his ga

dn't a

oked do

iny. Surveil

etting into a

e backseat... tw

omach

ntire bo

car i

the folder, but

you a q

"You're digging

ve done it

older on the ta

yself you were just some girl who freaked out after a wil

aid no

pieces fit. The timing. The way you're

to

they?" he ask

art st

ld. Are

d toward

ed to

top her. He d

e now

t yet. But his gut had

ad just confirmed

tching her leave like he was

dn't t

vani

g from him-somethin

w that h

op him from find

the

t

children she