eral scent of expensive water filtration systems. She was lying on something soft th
ened h
he scent of unfamiliar, high-thread-count sheets registered, and the memory of Kevon's cold smile in the car flooded back, churning in her stomach. This wasn't her apartment. This wasn't a dream. A chandelier hung in
months ago, when Kevon had first brought her to meet his mother. She'd spille
steady herself. Kevon's jacket slid from her shoulders into her lap. She wa
her eyes and saw the frosted glass door of the bathroom, light glowing behind i
hing for the water glass on the coffee
n she saw
, lying face-up on the marble tabletop. The screen was lit, unlocked,
rnia coastline. And in the center,
an address she recognize
tails that didn't make sense until they suddenly, horribly did. A trail of red breadcrumbs leading nor
. The cliff. The moment s
ter sh
n't fall, but the sound of it rocking against the marble was loud a
on the coffee table, on the phone, on the evidence of something she
she'd traced with her fingers a hundred times. He was drying his hair with another towel, eyes finding her
screen that was still glowing with her location, her moveme
sed the side button to darken the screen. The motion was casual, u
art and selected a bottle. Ice clinke
bourbon into a glass. Her hands were sh
gh, sleep-rough and fear-rough.
d, the room held its breath. Then the bourbon spl
, the one that had graced the cover
h glasses, and settled onto the sofa beside her. The cushions comp
e second glass. S
t say tracking. Couldn't say spy. Couldn't say t
ching along the back of the sofa behind her shoulders. His skin was still warm from t
ign concept to a difficult client. "I had it installed in your car's computer six months ago. A
assed, hating herself for needing rescue. He'd arrived in twenty minutes with ju
worried," she whi
with practiced ease. "I am worried. That car is a death trap, Karley. The electrical syst
r hand away and demand he explain why he'd tracked her to the cliff, why he'd lied
"So I installed the GPS. Not to spy on you. Never that." He laughed, a soft sound tha
away from
n't meant to say them. They'd escaped l
t slightly, and something darker showed through. His
oing?" His voice dropped
This is all so fast, and you're so-" She gestured helplessly at the room, at him, at the
architecture, gravity, weather. "You're mine, Kar
sing gently at her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes. They we
umbs traced her cheekbones. "When I checked the app and saw you
d, trapped in his
rformance she'd ever witnessed. "I felt like someone had reached into my chest and torn out something essential. I drove ninety mi
ers. His breath was warm,
d. "Say you're still mine
oiled in her stomach, but it was tangled now with something else-g
"I'm so sorry. I didn't m
th foun
her face to her waist, pulling her across the sofa cushions until she was pressed against
body knew him, responded to him, even as her mi
hone
elt it more than heard it, her senses overwhelmed by Kevon, by his hands slidi
e the notification preview, the name that app
there tomorrow? I'm so worried. Any ki
n sa
rified her. For a fraction of a second, something cold and calculating moved b
r dress, and his mouth moved to h
ove her head, the phone screen had gone dark again, hiding secrets she wouldn't di
rms, on the asset he had almost lost, on the blood type that matc
ow, the contracts would bind her t
oo overwhelmed to ask any more questions about GPS trackers or midn
und the button
on the table, its secr
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