ed around the warm plast

tching the champagne‑colored

te rose she had shoved into his pock

twitched upward into a

ashed against the s

assistant, rushed up holding

cheap, clear plastic umbrella in his b

. He tossed the clear um

nder Donte's

d of the rain. "The girl in the champagne dress. She looked at that broo

toward the h

tepped under the aw

ers and unclasped the antique bl

d it car

the priceless piece of j

Tell her it is an apology. Let's see if she bites. If she's truly a freelance nobod

. He nodded quickly.

or shut and collapsed into the l

. She grabbed a handful of napkins from the glove c

fast. Her chest ro

weather is a nightmare," Kierra complained, c

ulled into the underground g

ator up to the pen

y jeweler Pierce. She rarely used it – she preferred the honest grit

gainst the biometric scanner

he living room

leather sofa was a ma

head. His soft, handsome f

d the exhausted look in her

tly pulled the damp sh

minique asked. His voice was deep and

counter. "She destroyed Cheri

ly. He reached out and

embarrassment. She walked over to the open ki

e black folders sitting o

ile designs," Dominique said

cross‑legged on the thick rug

d the fir

stion left her face.

in secret. The world thought she was his apprentice; the truth was, she was

aid, tracing the lines with her finger. "It

clicked his fountain pen and started taking notes,

a huge, knowing smirk on her face. She

ipped to th

uzz of the apartment interc