Steel & Silk

ut what if you left your heart behind in

three godd

l hits me like a slap. I take a deep breath, but the scent isn't nostalgia. It's New York. C

ardly reuniting, tourists lost in signs. I felt nothing. Not a single flicker of emotion. Except maybe irritation. My jaw flexe

eaning against a sleek black Ferrari SF90, sunglasses p

e crooked smirk th

t thirty-five?" I called out, d

man with enough sins on him to

d who I was. We high-fived like teenagers, like nothing had changed. It was both comforting and disorien

he terminal like he owned the road. "Welcome

"I didn't

e for th

d flatly. "If that's wha

e brow raised. "What

merger. A penalty for n

hing. "Still ruthless

ng into the sky. I used to rule this place. At least, I was meant to. But obligati

r up, huh?" Hunter asked, his t

well. He proposed like a trained dog. I told him

. "You think sh

think.

nd could afford. I leaned back, unbuttoned the top two buttons of my black linen shirt, and lit a ci

those?" Hunter

"Still chasing women you

uch

mbitious, desperate ants. I hated the noise. The need. The pretense. Chicago had been be

y building. I stepped out as the valet opened the door. The doorman greeted me

the top, of course. W

dn't foll

row," he said, salut

ar," I muttered,

of power, not vanity. My body was built through punishment, not aesthetics. My shirt clung to my torso, the lines of my muscles etched like

over my eyes. I didn't bother fixing it. I liked

hazel, shar

to call the

eren't

who owned it. Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched across the main living space, offering a view of a city I didn't trus

e hardwood floor. Every step was deliberate, calculated. I enjoyed kno

't lonely. I

ed them. What I didn't have was attachment. It wa

, ruthless, cold, arrogant. I

an S

one from scratch. The man who didn't play nice. The man who

ecause I missed anyone. N

raight into the mouth of a woman who'd played her hand too well

to the marble tray, wat

remember who