Chapter 4

The air in the private nook of the rooftop bar was thick, charged with a silence that felt heavier than the hum of the city below. We had been here for nearly an hour, though it felt like minutes, trapped in this glass-walled sanctuary that overlooked the sprawling, glittering grid of the metropolis. The skyline was a jagged jawline of gold and white light, distant and indifferent to the heat building between us. I sat on the plush velvet banquette, my legs crossed, trying to maintain a composure that was rapidly fraying at the edges. My silk dress, a deep emerald green that hugged every curve, felt suddenly too tight, too restrictive, as if my body was expanding to fill the space he had claimed. He stood by the small round table, swirling the ice in his whiskey glass, watching me. He hadn’t taken a sip yet. He was just observing, his dark eyes tracking the rise and fall of my chest, the way my fingers nervously toyed with the stem of my champagne flute. The lighting here was low, amber and warm, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch and wrap around my ankles. It was sophisticated, expensive, and