When I open them, Jack is there with an expression on his face I’ve never seen, some kind of fury interwoven with a deep, cutting need, a desire that carves a path into my chest until it’s slashing at my crumbling walls.

I try to smile in triumph, hoping to cover the turbulent swirl of emotion embedded in my heart. The way his attention drops to my lips and his eyes seem to brighten with intensity in the dim light makes me think I’m unsuccessful. “Oh good,” I say, losing my breath as Jack takes a step closer and his hand curls around my waist, his fingertips cool on the bare skin of my back. “There’s only one thing Sebastian likes more than a blonde with a low-backed dress.”

“And what’s that?” Jack asks as his fingers press harder to my skin, prompting me closer. His eyes are soldered to my lips, their silver flecks lost in the darkness that surrounds us, though I still feel the weight of his gaze.

“Watching. He’s a voyeur. I was going to have to lure him away with a lie, like a roommate looking for some group fun. If you’re hoping this little display will put a stop to my clandestine activities tonight so you can catch him yourself,” I say, giving a pointed look to the other hand Jack glides up my bare shoulder as it climbs toward my neck, “you would be wrong.”

Jack’s palm stops on my throat. It captures every beat of my quickening heart. His thumb glides across my neck, tracing the line where my hyoid lays hidden beneath my burning flesh. I think for a moment he might back away, but he doesn’t.

Jack’s hand at my waist slides across my dress until it lays a cooling cloak against my exposed back, pulling me closer. I place my palm on his chest, my fingers curling into the black fabric. I should be pushing away. I should fight back against this magnetic force. But it’s like trying to think your way free of gravity, or to stand unmoving in the swell of a tsunami.

Vetiver. Flashing lights. The pounding beat, like I’m living in the chamber of a giant heart. My body is flush against Jack’s, every cell within me an inferno. Time slows. I’m powerless. And I’m exactly where I want and fear to be.

“Lille mejer,” Jack whispers into my ear. My eyes drift closed. My head tilts to the side as his lips graze the shell of my ear. Two little words and I don’t even know what they mean, but they’re like a spell, an elixir that drowns me. “I’m not here to claim anyone but you.”

Jack’s cheek grazes mine as he pulls away just enough to meet my eyes. A slash of light illuminates his face for an instant that sears his beauty into memory.

And then his lips are pressed to mine.

It’s warm, alive. Electric. Like only the thinnest threads of restraint hold him back from taking every piece of me, until he’s consumed my very soul. My lips part and his tongue enters my mouth, not exploring but claiming, just like he promised, my pulse surging in answer against the warmth of his hand. And I want it to never end. I want time to die, so I can feel the beautiful torture of this torrent forever. Anger and desire. Fear and relief. A kind of hunger that will never be sated, that will burn in my heart as an undying ember.

I want this. I want this so badly that the desire twists in my belly like a serpent of fire.

But I can’t have it.

Because I can’t trust Jack. I know it. He’s only doing this to crush my crumbling walls so he can find a way free of the threats I’m dangling over his head. And his insatiable curiosity compels him to figure out how I could have slipped past his defenses. That has to be what this is. He wants to find my weaknesses and crush me with them.

And what better way to destroy a person than to fill their heart and then crack it in half.

I loosen my grip on Jack’s shirt, trying to force myself to cling to my memories of pain. Every cruel word. Every time he told me I didn’t deserve what I’ve earned. Every time he made me feel unworthy, or unappreciated. My mind settles on the image of Jack standing at the back of the gala, nothing more than an indifferent spectator while a pit of anger and hurt burned a hole in my guts. I remember cutting his name from my tongue as I held up my Brentwood award. I try to forget that it was once made of glass.

I let go of Jack’s shirt. His hand lifts from my throat as his lips part from mine.

“Hey… Sebastian, right?” Jack says, turning his attention away from me with an easy grin as he reaches out his right hand. Sebastian is next to us, smoothing a moment of puzzlement beneath a slick veneer. “I’m Adam. We met at Velvet Lounge. Remember? Such an epic night, but I think I forgot half of it.”

Effortless.

I feel like I’m still lingering in his kiss while I watch Jack lure in my victim with a handful of threads and a counterfeit smile.

That’s how easily he will destroy you and leave you for dead.

Sebastian grips Jack’s offered hand, his smile growing more relaxed despite his ongoing struggle to remember their first meeting. “Yeah, Adam, of course. Do you know—”

“This is my…friend…Bethany,” Jack says, interrupting Sebastian’s attempt to put pieces together that will never fit. There’s a note hanging in this introduction, one that says I’m an easy score. That hurt I was searching for isn’t too hard to find.

“Hi,” I say, putting more effort into my fraudulent smile as I extend my hand. I take a step toward Sebastian, close enough that Jack could drop his hand from my back, but he doesn’t. “I saw you at the bar. Have we met before?”

Sebastian’s gaze drags up from my chest to linger on my lips. “I don’t think so. I’d remember that face.”

I beam as though his complement is a revelation. And I keep beaming, at every idiotic joke and stupid thing Sebastian says as we worm our way into his trust. It doesn’t take long. A few drinks, a few songs. By the time Jack suggests a party at my condo where there will be more women and free coke and full bottles, Sebastian doesn’t even stop to think about it. He knocks back his drink and leads the way toward the door.

It isn’t until we step into the elevator at the condo that I sense the first crack in Jack’s perfect mask.

He takes my hand as soon as I’ve pressed the button for the twenty-fifth floor, and with a gentle tug, he guides me to his side, shielding me from Sebastian’s eager gaze. I don’t pick up any tension in his words as we make small talk about liquor, but I feel it in his fingers as they stay curled around mine. He doesn’t let go when the doors open, not until I pull my hand free to find my keys in my clutch.

I step inside first, the apartment as empty and quiet as a tomb. Dim lights and the view of the city from a wall of windows illuminate the modern, open space.

“Make yourselves at home,” I say as I head to the kitchen, placing my belongings on the counter to pull a set of glasses from a cupboard. “Round of drinks, boys?”

“Please. Whisky on ice,” Jack replies, his voice deeper than I’m used to. I catch his eye for only a moment before he heads to the Bluetooth speaker on a side table to connect his phone and start a playlist.

“Great place, but where’s the party?” Sebastian asks as he heads farther into the living room. Jack joins him, looking completely at ease as he shucks off his suit jacket and takes a seat on the gray sectional, spreading his arms across its back.

“I got a text from Amanda, they’re on their way.” I give him an easy smile as I bring the drinks to set them down on the coffee table. Sebastian’s shoulders seem to loosen between my lies and the liquor I provide, and he takes a seat on the matching armchair across from Jack.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t start our own fun in the meantime,” Jack says with a secret smile to Sebastian, reaching out a hand in a request for me to join him on the couch. “What do you say, sweetheart?”

I swallow a moment of discomfort, not for putting on a show, but for the clash between my real feelings and this fabricated moment. But I keep it trapped beneath a sweet smile as I place my hand in Jack’s and he pulls me onto his lap, straddling his thighs.