The surveillance photo burned a hole in Selene's hand.
Her heart raced louder than the rain splashing against the penthouse windows. There she was naked and asleep, wrapped in blood red sheets. And in the background, Only the faint light from the hallway lamp revealed him, Darius, standing in the shadows. Watching her.
She didn't want to believe it. Couldn't.
Selene turned the photograph over. Nothing. No note, no explanation. Just that damning image. Her breath quickened, like her lungs were trying to save her from the suffocating truth pressing in. She dropped the picture on the coffee table and marched towards the bedroom, heels echoing like gunshots across the marble floor.
"Darius!" She snarled, throwing the door open .
He stood by the window, shirtless, with a tattoo that shines like ancient scriptures in low light. The sight should've stolen her breath. Instead, it fueled her fury.
He turned slowly. "Something wrong?"
She held up the photo, her voice shaking. "You want to explain this?"
His eyes darkened as soon as he got closer to her. His jaw tightened, and for a second she thought he was about to lie. Instead, he looked at her straight in her eyes and said, "I didn't know it would end up in your hands."
"You didn't deny it."
"I couldn't. Because I was there."
The room tilted.
Selene stumbled back a step, heart racing. "You watched me sleep? What the hell, Darius? Who the fuck are you really?"
He advanced on her slowly. Dangerous. Controlled. "The man who has been keeping you safe even when you didn't realise you needed it."
She scoffed. "From what? You? Or Lazarus?"
At that, something flashed across his face. Pain, shame and Regret. He closed the distance between them, his hands reached out, but did not touch.
"I was working for him before I ever met you. But it stopped being about him the second I saw you. Everything changed that night at Velvet Vice."
Selene fingers wrapped around her fist. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you will never trust me again."
"You're right," she whispers. "I don't."
But even as the words left her lips, her body betrayed her. She could scent him, dark spice and danger. Could still feel the heat from their last night together pulsing through her skin like a fever.
Darius saw it too.
His voice dropped, raw. "You hate me. But you still want me."
She shook her head. "You are the last man I should trust."
"But I'm just the only one who can give you what you crave for."
And damn him, he was right.
Selene's hand moved before her mind had the chance to resist. She pushed him back against the wall, kissed him with a rough kind of hunger, all urgency and heat kiss. He moaned in her mouth, the sound was raw from somewhere deep and aching.
His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in, he lifted her off the ground as his tongue touched every inch of her mouth. The Anger, betrayal, all burned hotter, flaring into something desperate and wild.
her fingers shooked as she ripped at his belt , struggling to undo it. "I hate you," she hissed.
"Good," he murmured, sliding her panties down her thighs. "Then this will feel even better."
He spun her around and pressed her against the wall. Her cheek hit the cool marble just as his hands spread her legs. She moaned out softly, but didn't resist. Couldn't.
The heat between them was unbearable. He slammed into her suddenly, catching her unaware, rough and deep, drawing a moan from her lips that echoed off the walls.
"Say my name," he growled into her ear.
"Fuck you," she exhaled softly.
He pushed in harder. "Louder."
"Darius," she moaned, her voice trembling. "God, Darius.."
She shouldn't be begging for him. But she was. Each movement unraveled her further. Her fingers dug into the wall, looking for support while he gripped her hips firmly, driving with a fierce, relentless rhythm. Her nails scraped the surface, her knees weakened as pleasure crashed over her like a wave.
"Look at you," he rasped. "Falling apart on the man you're trying to hate."
She turned her head, lips parted. "Shut up and fuck me like you mean it."
He did.
He pulled her back towards the bed, still buried deep inside her, then he threw her down and climbed on top of her, sweat glowing on his chest.. She wrapped her legs around him and pulling him deeper. The burn of him was too sharp to bear and just too perfect to stop.
"Selene," he moaned, pressing his forehead to hers. "I need you to understand that this is real."
She kissed him desperately, biting his lip. "Then prove it."
His strokes deepened, slower, rougher, and more deliberate. He touched her as if he was learning every inch of her body. His fingers tangled into her hair, he followed the curve of her neck to her breast, kissing her passionately until she moaned and trembled.
Her release built slowly, a pressure at the base of her spine that crawled up like wildfire. She whimpered, body trembling. "Don't stop."
"I am not done with you," he assured her.
Moments later, she crumbled beneath him, crying out as the orgasm ripped through her. He followed close behind, his voice broke into a low, deep moan as he spilled inside her, the muscles teasing with release.
They lay tangled in the sheets, breathless, hearts racing.
It should've been calm. But the silence didn't last long.
A knock, very sharp and precise, echoed through the penthouse.
Selene sat up quickly, pulling the sheet to cover her. "You expecting someone?"
Darius sat up, all tension again. "No one knows I'm here."
Another knock.
She got out of bed and grabbed her gun from the drawer. Darius moved quietly to the edge of the room, grabbing his pants, his body alert.
Selene walked gently barefoot through the hall and stopped at the door. Her fingers tightened around the handle. When she opened it..
No one was there.
Just a single box.
Small. Black. Tied with a crimson ribbon.
She picked it up slowly, heart thudding.
Darius came up behind her, shirt still unbuttoned. "What is it?"
Selene ripped the ribbon off and opened the lid.
Inside sat a thumb drive.
And beneath it… a note.
"Watch this. Then decide if you still want him."
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Darius. "What the hell is this?"
But he didn't answer.
He just stood frozen staring at the note as if he had seen a ghost.
Like he already knew exactly what was on that drive.
And that it could destroy everything.