I returned home feeling unbearably disturbed. I was certain that I had done a great job with that damn report, and I should have just walked into Aiden Hart's office and received his praises because I sure as hell deserved to be praised! But what was I doing instead? I was on my way home, sinking in the bus seat and, for some reason, feeling miserable and pathetic."How did it go?" Emily asked before I passed the threshold of our apartment."I've done a great job, and I should be proud of myself," I mumbled flatly.She raised one brow. "Gee, you surely mastered hiding your excitement. Either what you've said is pure bullshit and you are royally screwed, or something else happened that took your joy away. I think it's the latter, so mind telling me who died?"I groaned and marched to the kitchen. "Wine," I murmured.She blocked my way. "Wine is fine, but you're clearly not."A low growl built in my chest. "Wine," I repeated, giving her a meaningful stare.Now her both brows shot up, an
I couldn't believe it. My boss cut me off. I cut myself off! It was only one damn decision! How could not bringing the documents personally result in blocking my access to the CEO's office?! I failed. I screwed up everything. I would never get any information from Agnes, Louise, or Michelle, and without any chance to get near my boss, this mission had zero chance of succeeding!I couldn't breathe. I leaned my back against the wall and sank to the floor. As my buttocks hit the ground, I thanked God that the top-floor corridor was empty. The constant high-pitched tune played in my ears, forming a pressure that felt like it could make my head explode. I raised my chin and kept biting small, insufficient chunks of air. My heart pounded at a frantic pace while I struggled to stop my attack from escalating. I splayed my hands on the floor, needing to know that it wasn't moving. I had to calm myself down fast. I couldn't let anyone see—"Hey! Are you OK?" I heard a man's voice, and I swear I
Logan's words made absolutely no sense, and that was what I told him. I explained to him that I was now at the bottom of the secretaries' food chain, and it only proved that there was nothing special about me. Who knew what Aiden Hart's reasons were when he decided to hire me? It could have been some idiotic detail… like the fact that I knew how to handle a Glock 19. But, truthfully, it didn't matter. He had, unknowingly, given me the opportunity to find out the truth behind Julienne's death, and now, I was even more determined to discover the real reason why she died.Unfortunately, for now, my determination collided with a stone wall called "no source of information." All the reports I prepared during the day were delivered to the CEO's office by Agnes, which deprived me of any chance to get close to my boss, while my dear colleagues simply decided to ignore my presence. I could summarize my second day of work in two words: complete disaster.By the time I returned home, I wanted to
Five minutes later, I was sitting in the backseat of a car worth more than my apartment. No. Scratch that. That car was probably worth more than the whole building where Emily and I were living. Aiden was sitting next to me. He was wearing a navy three-piece suit with a white shirt and a loosened blue tie. His hair was slightly ruffled, but he was just as freaking elegant and presentable as ever, and—God help me—I was doing my best not to look at him. The whole car was filled with the scent of his perfume, or perhaps what I felt were his pheromones… Either way, the scent was triggering all kinds of dangerous chemical reactions in my system, turning me into a ticking bomb. "The neighborhood where you live..." he started, and my whole body tensed. "It's not the safest area to live in." Sucking a deep breath, I faced him. "It was affordable." Something close to curiosity filled his stare. "I don't mean to be rude, but I thought that all Yale graduates land decent jobs rather quickly."
"Oh. My. Fucking. God!" Emily jumped and screamed as I told her who had given me a ride home and what had happened on the way. "And he told you that he likes you!" she shrieked, hurting my poor ears."It doesn't mean anything." I tried to rationalize. "He may simply find me… amusing." I downplayed every detail, but inwardly I screamed just as loud as Emily.Then she stopped jumping and frowned as she studied my face. "You're blushing.""I'm not blushing," I denied on impulse.Emily opened her mouth, which quickly turned into a wicked grin. "You are sooo blushing!"I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat. "All right. I might be blushing, and so what?"Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "You like him."I frowned and corrected, "I find him attractive."She gave me a look. "You find Bastian attractive. With Aiden Hart… I think it's a little more than that."I threw my hands in the air, growling in frustration. "OK! I want to get close to him, and I wouldn't mind sleeping with him! I ca
Three pairs of eyes stared at me in silence. All three pairs were wide open and filled with terror and disbelief. Caesar Hart and Mr. Stone had left minutes ago, leaving the four of us in absolute stillness and silence. "Are you out of your mind?!" Michelle finally roared, glaring at me. "Do you have any idea what this guy is capable of?!" "Michelle!" Agnes frowned at her. I narrowed my eyes. "What is he capable of?" Agnes cleared her throat. "She only meant that Caesar Hart owns a big part of this company. It's not wise to antagonize him." "That doesn't mean that he can do whatever he wants," I convinced. "As far as I know, I don't work for him, and neither do you." Michelle sighed. "Let's just… forget about it and get to work, OK?" I didn't miss the way her eyes swept over the security cameras in two corners of our workspace. I nodded and gave her a nervous smile. "Yes. Let's focus on work." We had quickly chosen our tasks and then merely spoke to one another for a few hours.
I couldn't wait to tell Emily and Bastian what I had learned from Michelle. This was the real breakthrough. We had our first suspect, a potential killer... and I had already found myself on his radar. As soon as Michelle and I finished devouring the delicacies her Aunt prepared, I was ready to return to my desk with new power and commitment."Just try not to piss off Caesar... for a while at least." Michelle sounded genuinely worried for me."I don't have a death wish. I'll be careful," I assured her as I was about to walk out of the elevator car on our floor.She grabbed my hand, pulling me to a halt. "Charlie." She lowered her voice and leaned over me. "I might be a bit paranoid, but sometimes I feel like those walls have eyes and ears. Just…" She paused, giving me a wry smile.I patted her shoulder. "I get it. I'll keep that in mind."I wanted to calm her down, but there was no one who would do the same for me. I was anything but composed until the rest of the day, and I might have
"I'm not trying to seduce my boss," I told Logan on the way up to the top floor. My voice was laced with hysteric laughter, and I doubted that I could be less convincing even if I stuck a huge "liar" sign to my forehead.The only comforting thing about our ride together was that we were alone in the elevator car, and no one else could see my growing embarrassment.Logan smirked. "If you don't want to seduce your boss, you can always seduce me. I won't mind at all."I groaned. "Could you please stop?" I felt the heat flooding my cheeks, wave after wave.Suddenly, he leaned back and raised his hands in surrender. "I hope that you don't take my dumb words as harassment at work. I'm not trying to insinuate anything improper either."I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, really? And do you know any kind of not improper seduction?"He gave me a crooked smile. "You make it sound so dirty."I huffed a chuckle. "I make it sound dirty?"He grinned. "Yes… and I love it."I rolled my eyes. "You're impossibl
Six months later I shifted slightly and felt the pair of strong arms tighten around me. A smile formed on my lips, and I debated whether or not I should open my eyes. A gentle kiss caressed the nape of my neck, and another landed on the side, an inch away from my pulse. A pleasant shiver coursed through my body, and my smile widened. The plush lips moved lower, leaving a searing trail leading to the crook of my neck. I gasped and heard the deep chuckle rumbling in his chest. I would never get tired of this. It was my favorite way to wake up. Twisting my body slowly, I turned around without freeing myself from Aiden's embrace until I could dive into the perfect blue of his irises. "I love you," I whispered. His lips were on mine in less than a second. His tongue darted out, expertly entering me with lush licks. He pushed me to my back, knocking the air out of my lungs as he moved on top of me. "You wear too many clothes," he grunted, breaking the kiss. I raised a brow. "I wear a nig
CHARLIEThirty minutes earlierA series of scorching, shallow breaths scratched my throat and windpipe, barely touching my lungs. I definitely wasn't as strong as Kastor said I was. I felt as if I could break apart at any second, and it apparently didn't take much to break me. Leaving me alone, chained to the bed for hours, was more than enough for panic to burst out. I couldn't stand waiting for the unknown, waiting to be raped, beaten, strangled, or God knew what else with no way to defend myself, no way to escape...My mouth was dry, and my stomach growled. The adrenaline kept my system satiated, but now even the hormones weren't enough to restrain my body's natural needs. I was so damn tired and terrified, I could imagine myself begging to be freed. The helplessness I felt was able to easily drive me to insanity.The brief relief that came with Kastor leaving the room just after Christopher's corpse had been removed was long gone. Now I kept staring a
AIDENMy father had another stroke. He heard about Christopher's betrayal and his crimes. It surely must have been a massive blow for him. My mother spent most of the time by his bed, and for the first time, I regretted that I couldn't be there too, but there were other, important issues I needed to take care of first.Hart Global Corporation was going down. The news about our warehouses being basically robbed and the frequent shipment to the sponsoring terrorism countries spread faster than a bolt of lightning. The bankruptcy was unavoidable, but I had no time to explain to the shareholders why my half-brother decided to screw them all over and disappear. The fact that people expected me to stand before them and apologize seriously pissed me off, but as the still-acting CEO of the dying company, I was obligated to make an official statement.I should have been elsewhere. I should have been looking for Charlie, but currently, I was about to become a source of entertainment for a large
I spent several hours alone in that windowless room, chained to the wall. Perhaps it was nighttime, but since I had no way to check, I could only judge by the fewer sounds coming through the steel door. Dominique's body had been taken away, but the sickening puddle of his blood on the concrete remained. I could only see the place where I was locked properly once Landon was gone, and even if this place was terrifying, I was relieved when everyone left, locking me in here alone. My prison was a hall, resembling the middle-sized space of an empty warehouse. Since everything inside smelled like a decaying basement, I guessed I had to be somewhere underground. My disgusting space was illuminated by several loosely hanging lightbulbs, giving merely a dim light in a few seemingly random parts of the room, leaving more than a couple of square feet sunk in the darkness. It didn't take long for my mind to craft all kinds of horrifying scenarios as I imagined what or who could be lur
*TRIGGER WARNING* The final paragraphs of this chapter contain a description of violence and physical torture.CHARLIEMy head hurt so much that I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, it might explode. My consciousness returned slowly, and a new wave of different pain reached me just several heartbeats later. I was lying on something hard. There were rough and heavy cuffs around my wrists and ankles. My feet were bare, and I was shivering from the cold. As I inhaled through my nose, I sensed something moist and rotting in the air, which made me scared to open my eyes even more.A not-so-distant rustling sound signaled someone's presence. Someone was watching me. I squeezed in a breath that came out more audible than I expected and opened my eyes. The dark, rusty-metal-like ceiling was the first thing I saw. My "bed" was made of wooden boxes that formed a row next to a dirty, black wall. The thick cuffs on my wrists and ankles were chained to a large ring, sticking out a few inches abo
AIDEN I was making my fourth mental note to punch that Murray fucker as soon as this was all over. He insisted on keeping my detainee status, so I was currently cuffed and sitting in the backseat of his car instead of driving mine at full speed. "You're OK in there?" Murray asked, and I could clearly see the smug smirk in the rearview mirror. Deller was sitting in the front passenger's seat, and, fortunately, he turned out to be more rational than his asshole partner. "Not OK at all," I hissed. "You're too slow, and perhaps you're still not aware, but there are lives on the line!" "We're doing our best, Mr. Hart." Deller glanced at me, twisting his head over his shoulder. "We still need to follow the rules, and we can't just—" "Screw the rules!" I snapped. "Those people we're against follow no rules except for the ones they create! If something happened to Charlie because we were too slow, then I swear to God—" "Shut your mouth, Hart!" Murray roared. "Don't you dare say a word ab
CHARLIESixty minutes earlierI forced myself to stop crying. I had no time to shed more tears. I needed to focus. Forcing air into my lungs, I stretched my tightened ribcage. Every inch of my insides burned, but I ground my teeth and willed my hand to lower over Kevin's cold body.I closed his lifeless eyes. It might have been the hardest thing I had ever done, but I had to. I felt like he died because of me. I brought this upon him. I pulled him into this mess. He agreed to be a part of it, but he didn't have to. It was my war, and this time I couldn't save him. I wasn't his super-girl; I was the one who had come too late and let him die.I sucked another breath that seemed too shallow and groaned. "Focus, Charlie, focus!" I pulled the phone out of my jeans pocket and cursed. The battery died. I was too absorbed in everything that had happened to notice it...I looked around and saw Kevin's cell phone lying on the floor. Faint slivers of rationality seeped through, causing me to be
AIDEN I had spent three hours in custody before that asshole, Murray, decided to bring me into the interrogation room. My hands were cuffed, and I was left in those cute bracelets for another hour before my lawyer showed up and demanded to take them off my hands. For the next fifteen or more minutes, Chandler and I were left in that room alone. Fuckers. So much for client-lawyer confidentiality. Luckily, I had nothing to hide, well, almost nothing to hide. Chandler scanned the room, a displeased grimace forming on his mouth. I couldn't blame him. Two cameras were hanging from the ceiling, gaping at us from two opposite corners with their red lights. The large one-way mirror also carried the promise of no privacy. "If anything you did is questionably legal, I suggest you keep your mouth shut," he grunted. I gave him a look. "If you want to know whether you're about to defend a guilty man, then my answer is no. Truthfully, I have no idea what the FBI was looking for or why. And yes,
CHARLIE Feeling a little paranoid, I hid in the toilet until the truck was gone, as if the driver could recognize me and drag me back into that box with machine guns. As soon as I assured myself that the coast was clear, I began to analyze my situation. I was at the gas station right outside Greenwich, Connecticut. My phone was dead—not like battery-dead but literally dead-gone-dead. It seemed like all its circuits had burned out, just like it had happened to my earpiece. Luckily, my wallet didn't suffer, and my credit cards were still in place. I drew a deep breath and stared at the mirror. I looked like I had run a marathon on heels during a desert storm. It took me fifteen or more minutes before I resembled a human being. I washed the dirt off my face and combed my hair using my fingers. I still looked like shit, but I had more urgent matters than improving my looks. I asked the clerk at the station if I could use his phone and called Kevin. He didn't answer. My stomach twisted s