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
After my rather nerve-wracking morning, I spent some time sort of relaxing and drinking coffee in my boss's office. I didn't make the coffee—Logan did, and now the three of us casually enjoyed the drink, filling our systems with caffeine.Perhaps Aiden was trying to reward my loyalty that way, or for some reason, he decided to promote me into his "inner circle." Whatever it was, it was a good thing… or so I hoped. If I wanted to find out what happened to Julienne, I needed to stay close to Aiden. Now, all I needed to do was learn how to handle his good looks.Today he was wearing a charcoal three-piece suit with a black shirt. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the collar as he drank his coffee, and I bit the inner side of my cheek to stop myself from imagining he continued the process with all the other buttons. His black hair looked as if he just combed it with his fingers as soon as he got up from the bed, yet every strand seemed to lay at a perfect angle. I could hate him for it.
My Fairy Godmothers—and Fairy Godfathers—left a few minutes before eight. I tried to steady my breath while my heart hammered against my poor ribcage. I slowly walked down the stairs, hopelessly pretending to be composed as my legs wobbled in the pair of Louboutins. Surprisingly, the shoes didn't hurt my feet, which made me hope that I would survive this night without having a strong desire to walk barefoot.The black Bentley was already waiting for me as I exited the building. Philip stood by the car wearing an impeccable suit uniform and a chauffeur's hat. He gave me a little bow as soon as he saw me. I nodded toward him, tightened the grip on my purse, and forced myself to breathe out the stress. I took a few cautious steps but instantly halted as the backseat door opened. Aiden got out of the car and smoothed his jacket. He wore a black suit, a white shirt, and a black tie, and he made it look like a few million dollars at least. He oozed power and authority and surely could have
I needed a drink. I was desperate for a drink. I needed anything that could calm down my frantic brain cells and force me to think before I act. Aiden was my boss. Aiden most likely had a girlfriend, and the fact that he had no problem casually embracing me should turn on all kinds of alarms inside me. And yet, I just let it happen. I allowed myself to feel the tingling feeling in my stomach and the pleasant shivers washing over my body over and over again. Perhaps I missed that kind of attention for so long that I welcomed it, even knowing it was just for the sake of "pretending."A lot of people wanted to talk with Aiden, and I was always by his side. Strangely, I didn't feel as awkward as I initially assumed. The people talking to Aiden were polite and effortlessly engaged me in their small talk. It made me feel more relaxed before the actual dinner began…We were seated at a round table with six other people. Mr. and Mrs. Kameda and Mr. Blaxhall, one of Aiden's potential clients,
My heart pounded hectically even three hours after Aiden and I parted. It felt like pure madness. The words he told me left me confused but, at the same time, foolishly hopeful. I should have been wiser. I shouldn't have felt this way. I was supposed to focus on finding Julienne's killer, not consider engaging in a romantic relationship with my boss!"Don't fool yourself, Charlie. You are falling fast." I knew I could always count on Emily's brutal honesty. She was waiting for me to return as if she was anticipating Santa on Christmas Day. Certainly, I was then forced to give her a full and detailed report about my not-date with Aiden Hart.I slumped on our sofa and showed her my trembling hands. "I don't know what I'm doing. I feel strange around him, out of control. I'm beginning to want things I haven't thought about in a long time. I feel butterflies in my stomach for absolutely no reason, and I'm turning into a complete idiot!" I groaned and tilted my head back.Emily sighed and
"I lied to him," I groaned, hiding my face in my hands.Emily rubbed my back. "You are doing the right thing."My hands fell to my sides, and I looked at her with my misery-filled eyes. "So why do I feel so guilty?""Because you know that someone will get hurt in the end, but it doesn't change the fact that bringing in the authorities is the right thing to do," she assured me. "Supposedly, you find out that Caesar IS the killer. What do you think Aiden will do about it?"I exhaled through my clenched teeth. "He will try to cover it all up for the sake of the company. He almost told me he would do exactly that.""And could you live with that? Could you sit quietly knowing that someone responsible for Julienne's death walks freely and the only punishment he receives is taking away some of his toys?"Emily knew that I would never allow that to happen. Not after my brother's death, and not after... I didn't want any more injustice around me. Julienne's killer deserved to be properly punis
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