He seemed to be a long-term resident of the city because he knew exactly where he w

ave you liv

y life

am

he restaurants were located beneath my apartment. There was a small road for cars, but only taxis pull

in with the host and asked for a table outside. The second we sat down, he lit up a cigar and ble

red me

out a pack of cigarettes. I lit up and felt the

ld his cigar between his fingertips

couple y

rned the cigar to his mouth and pulled in a

in a playful way. "

irk wi

p again once

ted, and he gave a slig

ays been

heir poison. No

to live to see mi

ed, only a person every now and then,

t worry a

ave his mouth befor

hy

spotted the waitress in the window, he waved her over. "I'

y drink, an

hadn't left my mind. "W

his fingertips, and the strength of his sta

e'd met just a few hours ago and I wasn't entitl

hit his face, and when he chuckled,

like they

hey kn

u aren'

are more than cops and bandits. The food we

you fit in t

she returned to the warmth inside the restaurant. He glanced out at the darkness and

rt and replaced them with fakes because they sold the originals on the black market for a pretty penny. There were men out there with real van Goghs, da Vincis, and M

mouth and let it float on the cool air. "An

w s

ig house and drive a nice car. But not you. You're an idealist, a woman of grea

take Adrien back, that it was a one-time mistake and I should fight for the marria

und with that asshole.

ake, I was fu

command. "And that's what matters. You reached for that wine bottle with every intention to kill-and you swung." H

to the front door, painted green with two trees in planters on either side. It required a code to come and go

like he had no intention of coming inside.

it the second things got rough. Another aspect of poverty tha

ur." He turned away, the pathway

sti

dark, the sexiest man ever to have set foot on this road. One look at

want to let him go. Didn't want him to slip away in the night and disappear like a phantom that was never real in the first place. H