"He's Velvet Ruin"

g floor carried the echo of Marco's words-That's not going to happen. I

ent I usually found comforting, but tonight it only felt foreign. I kicked off my heels,

up with a tex

out of the meeting. Y

and avoid the questions. But my fingers hesitated over the screen, becaus

w. Just

s, I saw the flash of the gun, the way Marco had moved-fast, lethal, calculated. And the look in his eyes afterwa

me earlier than expected. I was still in my ro

thout waiting for an invitation. "You

orts. Didn't see th

rowed. "You

m ti

like he was searching for cracks in my story. But he let it go.

fr

" I asked

old you not to mov

opped. "Right

d handed that file over to Marco wi

ing the afternoon buried in minor reports. By the time the clock struck s

fr

s on despite the fading light. He pushed them down slightly when he saw m

g here?" I hissed

ou don't get y

t planni

n last night," he sa

eyes. "Go

o you." He opened the p

ing anywher

re Daniel's office windows

e. Against my better judgment, I s

ept my gaze fixed out the window, refusing

said finally, "w

apped arou

. competitors wanted badly e

sed me to

who could walk in and

o you hear yourself? T

o tell you that because you delivered it, your name i

twisted.

y to use you to get to me. And I don't

ot out of fear, but because some

power. Marco's "protection" came with rules-where I could go, who I could talk to, even what tim

ht I could push him away ag

left at my apartm

s knuckles whitened around the stem as he tossed it into t

in his penthouse for the se