Page 38 of Cryptic Curse

Before I can respond, Vinnie walks by with his coffee, raising a brow.

Then Eagle leans back in his chair and gives me a look.Calculated.Calm.“You know what they say about kitchens,” he says.

I raise an eyebrow.“Do I?”

“They get hot.Fast.”He sips his coffee.

I let out a nervous giggle.

Eagle is flirting with me.

Eagle.

Eagle, who I’ve never said more than two words to.

He’s gorgeous, of course.All the Bellamy men are, but Hawk…

Hawk is the one who makes my pulse race, makes my blood boil, makes me wish I were pure again.Wish I were good enough for a man like him.

But I’m not.

And I never will be.

13

HAWK

What the actual fuck?

I see it the moment Eagle leans back in his chair, all smug and still like he’s not poking a bear.Like he doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing with that calm little line about kitchens getting hot.

He knows.He knowsexactly.

He’s teasing Daniela.

Daniela.How much does he even know about her?

The only woman Eagle’s ever been serious about—if you can even call it that—is Scarlett Ramsey.He flirts with everything that walks, talks, or even glances twice at him.Usually I don’t give a shit.His trail of half-broken hearts ishisproblem.

But tonight?

Daniela…

I grip my coffee cup tighter, jaw clenching like I’m chewing on gravel.

Daniela laughs, and it cuts deeper than it should.Not because she’s done anything wrong—she hasn’t; she’s just being polite—but because she’s flirting.Sort of.With Eagle.

He does this.

Always has.

Shows up late, says almost nothing, and somehow still manages to take up all the oxygen in the room.He makes silence feel like dominance, like he knows something you don’t.

And Idoknow.

I knoweverythingabout Eagle.

Every bruise he ever got and every lie he ever told.Every trick he pulled.Every girl he strung along.Every time he burned something down just to prove he could rise from the ashes.