Page 28 of Dirty Little Secrets

I check the app for the hundredth time, wondering if showing up without a plan is a mistake. But that thought vanishes the second Brent’s text lights up my phone.

Brent: Need an update. Meet me.

Nori: Give me ten minutes.

I close the app immediately. I can’t risk him knowing about the club. Even if he lets me go after I tell him I haven’t cracked Drazen’s firewall, the club is off-limits.

“Where are you headed?” Kristina asks, already dressed like she’s going on a hot date wearing a tight black dress, gold boots, and a long winter coat I’d kill to afford.

“I should be asking you that. You look hot.”

She checks her makeup in the hallway mirror like it’s no big deal, but the effort says otherwise.

“Just meeting up with a friend,” she shrugs.

I don’t press. I wouldn’t want her prying into wear I’m going. If she senses something is up, she won’t let me leave until I spill. If I don’t leave quickly, she’ll want to share an Uber.

“Well,” I say, grabbing my bag, “have fun. Call me if you need anything.”

As I reach for the door, she calls out, “Nori.”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful. You know if you need anything…anything at all you can count on me, right?”

I soften. “I know. Thanks.”

She smiles and blows me a kiss. “Behave.”

I step into the elevator knowing my night is about to suck. My past refuses to loosen its grip long enough for me to breathe. Long enough for me to remember who I am without it.

Brent is already at the usual spot, leaning against his bike.

It’s always dark when I meet him. The street is littered with garbage.

The smell reminding me of back home and the trailer I lived in with my mother.

The yellow glow of the streetlights bounce against the brick buildings like a horror flick.

This time, he didn’t come alone. Trevor’s here. Tammy too clinging to Trevor like she wants to be anywhere but here. Benny pulls up a second later, the growl of their Yamaha R1s echoing off the walls like a warning.

“Took you long enough,” Brent says loud enough, flicking the end of his joint to the pavement and crushing it under his boot.

“I have a roommate,” I say coolly. “She actually gives a shit about where I go. I had to make something up.”

He doesn’t respond. Just narrows his eyes.

I know he has someone watching the building. My plan was to leave Kristina’s place in a wig to head to the club and make it harder for anyone to trace me. Whoever Brent has watching me wouldn’t question it.

“Watch your mouth, Norianna,” he snaps. “Don’t lose your head just because you’ve had a taste of freedom and think you’re a city girl.”

I bite my tongue. Not because he told me to, but because I’m close…so damn close to the finish line. Even if he’s bluffing, even if he has no intention of letting me go, I am leaving. He’ll have to kill me to drag me back to Seattle.

“I don’t have anything,” I say. “You know… we could’ve skipped this whole meet-up.”

“Why?”

“It’s not that simple. You know who we’re dealing with.”

Brent storms toward me after hooking his helmet on the handlebars. I brace instinctively, expecting a blow. Wouldn’t be the first time.

“You’re smarter than he is,” he spits.

He says it like it’s a compliment, but it’s not. He doesn’t know Xaiden. He just wants to use me for what he thinks I can do.

The truth? I’m not even close to Xaiden’s level.

Xaiden is a fucking genius.

I’ve only made it this far because he’s distracted, because there’s a pull between us I didn’t plan for. My attraction to him is real. Dangerous. I'm playing with fire on both ends, and it’s only a matter of time before I get burned.

“I wish I was,” I say honestly. “It would make things easier for both of us.”

He chuckles, a low, greasy sound that crawls across my skin. “Oh, that’s right. You’re still chasing that dream. Freedom.”

He steps closer, his thumb brushing my bottom lip. I want to bite it. Rip it off. But I hold still. I can’t provoke him. Not in front of Trevor, Tammy, and now Benny, who’s finally killed the engine.

“You sure you don’t want to stay with me?” he asks, his eyes undressing me like he owns every inch.

I’d rather die.

“You know that’s not a good idea.”

“What’s wrong, Nori? Don’t wanna have my kid?”

My throat tightens. “You know I can’t.”

That’s not true. I could. But I’d rather set myself on fire. I would never bring a child into his world. Brent’s DNA is a curse. A guarantee of violence. Addiction. Misogyny. His son would become another predator and I would be trapped.

“You change your mind,” he rasps, “I’ll get you a house. White picket fence. Fancy SUV. The whole dream you girls fantasize about in the shower.”

He grins, and I want to claw his face off. He leaves out the rest. The violence. The drugs. The infidelity. The filth.

“I’m not interested in having kids, Brent.”

He steps back with a smirk. “Right. Because I’m not good enough.”

“It’s not that,” I lie.

Brent’s been living in a delusion with me for years. That we’re in love. That I’m his. I’ve become a master at pretending, and even I’m starting to forget who I am beneath the act.

“It better be,” he says, jabbing a finger just shy of my face. “Because if I find out it’s someone else, the only freedom you’ll get is when the flies feast on your corpse.”

Ice trickles down my spine. This is why I can’t get close to Xaiden.

Brent turns and starts for his bike. My shoulders begin to sag in relief. but then he glances back. “Get on.”

I hesitate. Just briefly. I glance down.

No riding gear. The temperature’s dropped into the 60s.

I’ll freeze, but I don’t argue. Not with him.

I swing my leg over and wrap my arms around his waist, biting back the nausea that rises in my throat at being this close.

The smell of his leather jacket reminding me of the late nights spent at the club.

He hands me his helmet, not because he cares—but because I’m only useful to him alive. He needs Xaiden’s security program. He wants to steal his network—leverage the mafia families and control the flow of drugs.

If I confess everything to Xaiden, I’m dead.

If I fail Brent, I’m dead.

There is no out. No savior. No knight in shining armor.

Just this.

Do what Brent wants.

Get the program.

Then disappear.

It's my only hope. And it's barely anything at all.