Chapter 1 1

Last night wasn't just the alcohol.

The words left Aine's throat dry and scratchy, scraping against the silence of the room like sandpaper. She sat up in the bed, the sheets pooling around her waist in a mess of high-thread-count gray cotton. Her head throbbed with a dull, rhythmic ache, the kind that sat right behind the eyes and refused to leave.

Augustine didn't turn around. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror of his walk-in closet, his back to Aine, adjusting the knot of his silk tie. His movements were precise. Mechanical. There was no hesitation in his fingers, no tremor from the night before.

Aine checked her arms. No bruises. Her legs felt heavy, a lingering soreness in her muscles that spoke of exertion, but there were no marks. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

On the nightstand, a glass of water sat next to two white pills. Acetaminophen.

Aine stared at them. It was such an Augustine thing to do. He managed risk. He managed aftermaths. A headache was just an inefficiency to be corrected.

The bathroom door was still open, letting out a draft of steam that smelled of cedar and expensive soap. He had walked out of there two minutes ago with nothing but a towel around his waist, water dripping down the sharp definition of his abdominals. He hadn't looked at Aine then, either. He had looked through her, as if she were a piece of furniture that had been slightly displaced.

Aine swung her legs off the bed. Her bare feet sank into the Persian rug. It felt too soft, almost suffocating. She reached down and grabbed her silk dress from the floor. It was wrinkled.

"Last night wasn't just the alcohol," Aine repeated, louder this time.

Augustine's hands paused on his tie. He didn't turn. He just lifted his chin slightly, catching Aine's reflection in the mirror. His eyes were dark, devoid of anything resembling warmth.

"I know," he said. His voice was flat. "Your tolerance is three times what you consumed."

Aine's heart skipped a beat. A physical thud against her ribs.

He knew.

He turned around then, walking out of the closet. He was fully dressed now, a suit of armor tailored to perfection. He closed the distance between them until he was looming over the bed, the smell of him-clean, cold, masculine-filling Aine's lungs.

"You went to great lengths to get into my bed, Aine," he said. "So this is what it's about. Is this revenge for the Talley deal collapsing? Did you think sleeping with me would give you some kind of leverage?"

He thought this was about business. He thought this was about a corporate loss. He was closer to the truth than he knew.

Aine let out a short, dry laugh. She stood up, clutching the dress to her chest. She reached out and smoothed the lapel of his jacket. The fabric was cool under her fingertips.

"Leverage?" Aine whispered. "That was a merger, Augustine. Not a romance. I'm not here for an apology. I'm here to negotiate a new deal."

His eyebrows twitched. Just a fraction of an inch. Surprise. He hadn't expected the trailer park girl to speak business.

"A deal," he repeated, the word dripping with disdain. "Why would I make a deal with someone who resorts to corporate espionage? You are a liability."

Aine stepped closer. She could see the pores of his skin, the faint shadow of stubble he had missed. She went up on her tiptoes and leaned toward his ear.

"Project Chimera," Aine whispered. "Subsection 4, offshore account ending in 992. The Cayman leak."

Augustine froze.

His hand shot out, wrapping around Aine's wrist. His grip was hard, painful. He yanked her back, forcing her to look at him. The indifference was gone. In its place was a sharp, dangerous focus. His pupils had contracted to pinpricks.

"Who told you that?" he hissed.

"Does it matter?" Aine didn't flinch, though her pulse was hammering in her throat. "What matters is that I have the source data. I need three months. You stay out of my way. You ignore whatever I do in this city. You don't ask questions. In exchange, the leak gets plugged. Permanently."

He stared at Aine, searching her face for a lie. The air between them was thick, heavy with a tension that had shifted from sexual to homicidal in the span of three seconds. He was calculating. Aine could see the gears turning behind his eyes. A direct threat had to be eliminated. But an unknown source was a greater risk. He had to know where the rot started.

He released Aine's wrist. He stepped back, smoothing his cuffs. The mask was back in place.

"Three months," he said. "And a wire transfer of one million dollars to an account of my choosing. A retainer. If you touch the Haynes stock price, Aine, I will make you disappear. Not legally. Physically."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sleek, black card. He didn't hand it to Aine. He clipped it onto the neckline of her wrinkled dress.

"Don't dress like a beggar," he said. "And stay out of my bed. This is a transaction, not an affair."

Aine took the card. The metal was cold. She didn't throw it back. She didn't scream. She brought it to her lips and kissed it.

"Deal, boss."

Aine turned and walked out. She kept her hips swaying, her head high, until the heavy oak door clicked shut behind her.

The moment she was in the hallway, she slumped against the wall. The seductive smile vanished, replaced by a cold, hard line. Her hands were shaking. She clenched them into fists until the nails dug into her palms.

Aine walked out of the building, into the biting morning wind of Manhattan. She didn't hail a cab. She walked toward the subway.

She pulled a burner phone from her purse.

"Step one is done," Aine said into the receiver. "Funding is secured."

High above, Augustine stood at the window, watching the small figure merge with the gray sidewalk. He pressed his phone to his ear.

"Mercer," he said. "Find the source of the Chimera leak. Our new associate is the starting point. I want to know how a ghost from the Rust Belt got her hands on my data. Dig into every second of her life for the last ten years. I want to know what she ate for breakfast."

"Understood," Mercer's voice crackled. "Sir, Julian Talley is confirmed for The Onyx Room tonight."

Augustine watched Aine disappear around the corner. A cruel smile touched his lips.

"Let her go play," he said.

Down on the street, Aine stopped by a trash can. She looked at the black card in her hand. She squeezed it until the edges bit into her skin. It wasn't money. It was a weapon.