When Lovers Find Their Way Back

pte

ia's

verlook me

like a ghost from the past, softly rich and dangerously low, tightly enough to take my breath.

room. His cobalt-blue eyes jabbed through me with the fury of a thunderbolt, his crisp navy suit suited him like

able, my voice was ice. "I'm sorry, Mr.

us that my blood boiled. "Is that so?" he said, his voice cool yet with a keen edge fit

ng how much he bothered me. Your office is not this one. Since your employ

d us, the tension-charged air thick enough to suffocate. "Is it?" he said, his eyes fixed on

ery bit of hate I had been harboring. "Fate

mething flutter in his eyes-perhaps regret? But it was gon

ia," he replied, his voice chilly. "I did not

ce broke, reflecting the tempest of feelings inside of me. I berated

is fragrance, a terrible mix of cedarwood and spice, assaulted my sense

but forceful, tinged with an edge suggesting deeper tr

per, a brittle fracture in the armor I had labored so ha

slide. Though he stopped himself, folding his fingers into a tight gr

ry, Olivia," his voice bearing weight I didn't know

here and tell me I have no idea what I witnessed. E

r sprung open like a hammer cracking glass. Wide-eyed and

system merging presents a critical problem. The press is a

ace darkened and his jaw tighte

er talks run into danger. They

his breath, then turned back to me. With a low, firm voice, "

d the ghost of a guy I wasn't sure I would

ke revisiting an old wound-one I had persuaded myself had closed. But standing there, in t

ing that seemed dangerously like desire. I hated that my heart deceived me by throb

to create. This was meant to be my opportunity to show to the world and myself that I d

seems to hav

ke through my ideas. I drew it

ce

igh. Vic, right now

arply, her voice edged with desperat

the curtain aside to allow the glaring lights of

Tech. Something concerning an attack or

this?" Already afraid of

ike it or not," Victoria remarked, her voice stern

de down. "The project is not of interest to me.

. Whether or not you want to ack

via, Ethan's words rang in my head

e sense could he mean that? When I had seen everything with my own eyes-the treachery, the f

remain buried. I afford to let him reen

int chime of a new email. I opened i

GENT FOR YO

ssage had ter

rative. See me tonight at nine thirt

ice. There was no sender, no signature-just a

eone asked Alternatively someone h

ind, I gazed at the screen. When my phone buzzed once again, my fi

anybody. Esp

my ribs. Though the number was unknown, the writing clearly indic

felt less consi

fhangers: Suspens

of my consciousness. What did they want from me, and who was forwarding these messages? Though

cing and intrusive as a gunshot. Shaking han

ower. Nine o'clock. Alternatively everythin

uestions shot across my head. Safety? Sort what? Someone? Amy? In terms of

entrance of the suddenly vacant boardroom, my heart sprang into my throat. "Who

cked open, his face stormy an

y hold on my phone tightened, naturally obscuring

ething's incorrect." It was a pronouncement, not a question; it chilled me down

." My brain ran for a way out, but Ethan's magnetic

e to me. "I see it in your eyes. There is something ha

burst forth. "You're the last per

wrath as his jaw closed. His voice sharp, he replied, "Whether you like i

between the urgent threat of the present and the residual draw of

on the screen, and this

hfully. If you disagree wi

e in my grasp, and his posture changed to reflect doubt.

e if I even wanted to. I yanked it back automatically, and

oice low and lethal. Tell me

ure trembled beneath the weight of a far-off, menacing boom before I could talk, with the lights in the boa

"Stay near me," he advised, his hand extending for mine. I did no

house. The ale

k decision