Page 41 of Meet Me In The Dark

“You ready?” I ask, unable to hide the amusement in my voice.

He taps impatiently on his keyboard before slamming the laptop shut. “Remind me again why we’re going to them and they’re not coming to us?” he grumbles, shoving his chair back and grabbing his jacket frombehind him.

“We’re being accommodating.” I flash him a wink just because I know it’ll piss him off even more.

He grunts in response. It’s the sound of a man who’s already spent twenty-four hours away from the love of his life and isn’t happy about having to spend even one more minute in California than necessary.

He joins me by the elevator, mood sour, jaw ticking.

“Are you going to hear these out?” he asks pointedly as we step inside.

I shoot him a sidelong glance. “I’ve heard all of them out.”

“You shot all of them down.”

“Excuse me if I don’t want our new building to look like every other soulless glass box out there.” I pause, a smirk tugging at the edge of my mouth. “You already have your fancy skyscraper in New York. I want mine, dammit.”

He chuckles at that. “You’re in a good mood.”

“I’m always in a good mood,” I deadpan, straightening my cuffs as the elevator doors open, and we step into this lobby I’ve grown to despise.

“No,” Nathan drawls, eyeing me suspiciously, “not lately, you haven’t.”

I ignore the dig, but I know he’s still studying me the way he always does.

“You went, didn’t you?”

Immediately, I’m pulled back into that room—the darkness, the smell of her skin, the way her pulse hammered under my thumb when I told her to breathe for me.

I hadn’t planned to stay that night.

The club was impressive enough, but it wasn’t my scene—too much noise, too many eyes pretending not to watch. I was halfway to the exit when she walked in.

A black dress, a simple mask, and dark waves flowing down her back.

As beautiful as she was, it was her hesitation that stopped me. The way her fingers traced her clutch like she was considering turning around and leaving. She didn’t belong there, not really, which made two of us.

I watched her at the bar, tearing at a napkin, eyes fixed on her drink. Then the woman in the green dress appeared, and in minutes, she was gone down that hallway.

When she came back, her cheeks were flushed, eyes brighter, shoulders looser. Something had shifted. She looked… different. Changed.

She stayed just long enough for me to see her walk straight toward the Elysium Rooms, straight toward surrender.

I should have let her vanish behind that curtain and left.

Instead, I followed.

Fuck.

I school my expression into one of bored innocence. “Went where?”

Nathan levels me with a glare. “Don’t play that bullshit with me. I got an invite too, remember?”

“Yeah, and Sienna would have chopped off your balls if you even dared open it.”

“Which is exactly why it went straight into the shredder.”

I clap him on the back. “Clever boy.”