Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
THIRTY-FIVE
POE
The morning light filters through the blinds in soft gold strips across the bed, painting Orchid’s bare shoulder in warm tones that make my chest ache. I wake up first, like always, and for a long moment I just lie there holding her. She’s curled against me like she was made to fit there, one leg thrown over mine, her dark hair a wild mess across my shoulder and chest. Her breathing is slow and even, warm puffs against my skin, and every exhale feels like a gift I don’t deserve. Last night replays in my head like the best kind of fever dream. The bathtub. The way the water lapped around us while she whispered that she loved me. The slow, emotional slide of our bodies together, not just fucking but making love like the world outside didn’t exist. My chest feels so full it might crack open. I have never felt anything like this. Not the heat, not the danger, not even the fear of what’s coming today. Just her. Us. This quiet, stolen moment before everything goes to hell again.
I press a slow kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the faint scent of lavender from her hair and the warmth of her skin. My arms tighten around her instinctively. I want to freeze time right here. Keep her safe in this bed forever. Keep the rest of the world locked outside where it can’t touch us. But I know better. Serafina’s coming. The clock’s ticking. And no matter how much I wish I could protect her from it all, I can’t.
Orchid stirs a few minutes later. She makes a soft, sleepy sound and blinks up at me, those dark eyes softening the second they focus on my face. A small, genuine smile curves her lips, the kind that still surprises me every time it appears. It’s not the enforcer smile. It’s the real one. The one she only gives me.
“Morning,” she whispers, voice husky from sleep.
“Morning, baby.” I brush her hair back from her face with gentle fingers, tracing the line of her cheekbone. Then I lean down and kiss her properly, slow and deep and full of everything I feel. She melts into it immediately, her hand sliding up my chest, fingers spreading over my heart like she’s trying to memorize the beat. For one perfect minute the world outside this bed doesn’t exist. There’s only her mouth, soft and warm and tasting like mine. Only her skin against mine. Only the way she sighs into the kiss like I’m home and safety and everything she’s been missing.
When we finally pull apart she rests her forehead against mine, eyes closed, breathing me in. “I don’t want to get up,” she admits quietly. “I want to stay right here with you all day.”
“Me too,” I murmur, kissing the tip of her nose. “I would keep you in this bed for the rest of our lives if I could. Just you and me. No Serafina. No Maddox. No bullshit.”
She smiles again, but it’s sadder this time. “One day. Maybe. After all this is over.”
The words hang between us, fragile and hopeful. We both know today could be the end of everything. Or the beginning. Neither of us says it out loud.
A sharp knock at the front door shatters the moment like glass.
We both tense instantly. My body goes rigid, heart rate spiking. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. Eight thirty. Right on time. The supplies.
Orchid slips out of bed first, graceful even in her urgency. She pulls on a t-shirt and jeans. I tug on sweatpants and a t-shirt, muscles already coiled. We move through the house together like we’ve done this a hundred times, alert but trying to look casual for any cameras that might still be watching. Through the peephole I see a nondescript delivery guy in a plain uniform holding a black hard case. Nothing obviously threatening, but my hand stays close to the gun tucked in the back of my waistband anyway. The one Maddox gave me before I left headquarters last night.
Orchid opens the door just enough, signs for the package with the fake name Serafina set up. The second the door shuts I throw every lock and deadbolt. The clicks echo like gunshots in the quiet house.
I carry the heavy case straight to the office and set it on the desk. Orchid follows, arms crossed tight over her chest, worry carved deep between her brows. When I open the case the contents gleam under the desk lamp. High-end encryption breakers, custom server relays, fiber-optic bypass tools. Everything Serafina promised. Top-of-the-line gear that probably cost a fortune. I sit down and boot up the system. The dummy hack Maddox’s people built is already running quietly in the background, feeding false data through the system. It looks real. It has to. But we both know it’s fake. A beautiful trap wrapped in code.