Page 19 of Villainous Intent

I opened my hand, allowing the strand of hair to slip free, letting her untangle herself from me.

“Leave me alone,” she demanded, her voice shaking as she stepped around me.

“Oh, Annie,” I murmured. “That’s the one thing I’ll never do.”

She retreated toward the neon-lit safety of the intersection. She thought she was escaping. She probably thought this was over.

But I had been watching her from a distance for years. And now that I had felt her against me, now that I had tasted her and smelled her arousal, merely watching was no longer an option.

“Run, Annie,” I whispered, watching the fog swallow her silhouette.

CHAPTER 5

ANNIE

I collapsed back against the elevator wall and slid down until my ass hit the floor. I jabbed at the button but missed. The elevator didn’t move.

“Fuck.”

My date had been Cipher.

The Cipher.

The same man whose fan accounts I trawled through late at night on ShadowSnap. The same Villain whose casual cruelty on screen made my pussy ache.

And he’d been flirting with me. Or was he toying with his food? I squeezed my eyes shut. Please let it be flirting. I don’t think my pride would survive being the punchline to his joke.

“His face,” I whispered to the elevator doors. “I saw his face.”

If he ever did a face reveal, ShadowSnap would crash and burn hard. The people on the MaskedTemptations subforum, the ones who wrote detailed manifestos begging to be his collateral damage, would lose their minds. They worshiped the mask, but the man beneath it?

He would ruin them.

Why did he even wear it? To protect himself, or to protect us? Cipher was devastating, a weaponized kind of beauty that made you willing to bleed just to keep his attention.

I finally managed to hit the button and the elevator lurched upward. I needed to get my act together and fast. The Aegis was waiting. The faceless gods who controlled the Alliance viewed emotion as a defect.

I stood and tried my best to look like the Keeper I was and not a woman who had just realized she wanted to kneel for a monster.

My phone chimed with another alert as I stepped off the elevator.

URGENT: Meeting with Aegis agents in Havoc’s office. Attendance mandatory. 10 minutes.

“Perfect. Just perfect.” I smoothed my dress down.

“Talking to yourself again, Miss Bishop?”

“Shit!” I clasped my chest as Simmons popped into existence at my elbow. The man needed to wear a fucking bell sometimes. “Simmons, hi. I’m fine.”

Simmons raised a brow. “I didn’t inquire about your state of being, but I appreciate the unsolicited update.”

“Right. Yes. Sorry.” I cleared my throat. “The Aegis is here?”

“One of their messengers is prepping Havoc about the upcoming conference call now. He’ll be ready for you once the messenger leaves.” He looked me over. “May I suggest you visit the powder room before the meeting? You appear somewhat flushed.”

I made my way to the bathroom, my inner voice screaming the entire way. I splashed cold water on my face, trying to shock my brain back to reality. As I stared at my reflection, another bomb detonated in my memory.

Holy shit, Dawn’s dating Menace.