Page 119 of Fatality

A text message appears in the air, materializing as a hologram.

I lift my head to look at it, and everything stops.

My breathing and my heartbeat. Even time itself seems to freeze.

Is this a fucking joke? Now he has my number too?

I’m in deep shit.

I might as well dig my own grave, climb into it, and bury myself before anyone—him—ever finds me again.

I ignore his text and swipe it away.

Then I lean back against the couch, my damp hair dripping onto the cushions and the concrete floor of my loft.

I stare up at the ceiling. I’m not like this, I don’t let things happen and then just move on.

My body may have betrayed me, but my mind—and my pride—are crystal fucking clear.

This fucker licked me.

My body reacted before my brain could catch up, but that doesn’t change what happened.

It doesn’t make it okay. It doesn’t make me want it again. And it sure as hell doesn’t mean he had the right.

I stand up abruptly and storm up the stairs to my mezzanine bedroom.

I throw on a pair of pajamas, then head back down, snatching up my comm on the way.

I fire off a message to the girls’ group chat, DEGENERATES, telling them I won’t be coming into the studio today.

I have important things to deal with. I’ll give today’s clients a discount if they reschedule.

I don’t tell the girls anything about what happened with Evren.

Not yet. How could I?

Charlie would probably cry while trying to encourage me at the same time, and Jules would tell me I was a dumb bitch for going down there in the first place.

The worst part? She’d be right.

I was stupid. Reckless.

I walked straight into that mess knowing exactly who he was.

I need to make him pay, once and for all.

I sit down at my desk and start typing.

Thanks to my father, I have access to government files.

Years ago, he gave me his password so I could check my own school records because he wanted me to understand how problematic it was for his image.

The only thing he ever really gave me and the results had been catastrophic enough. He never bothered to change the password afterward.

For hours, I dig through file after file, searching for information about Evren, but I only find mugshots and Enforcers’ reports from before he was twenty years old.

I sigh and rub my temples.