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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, and welcome to Romance Weekly.
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This episode is titled Perfect Match, Part two, Fatal Attraction.
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Victoria Blackwood's penthouse still smells like her signature perfume Clive
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Christian number one at two thousand dollars an ounce. It's
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the kind of detail I note in my client files,
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along with her preference for younger men, vintage champagne and
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rough sex. Now she's sprawled across her Italian silk sheets,
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looking perfectly arranged, two perfect staged. James murmurs, his body
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close behind mine, close enough that only I can hear him,
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close enough. I feel the heat radiating through his suit,
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like she's been posed for what audience? I resist the
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urge to lean back against him. Elena and two detectives
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are watching for you. He gestures to the Valentine's card
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propped on the nightstand, Your company logo, your signature, match guarantee.
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I move to examine the card, letting my hip brush
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his accidentally as I pass. The contact sends electricity through us,
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both a reminder of this morning's activities on my desk.
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This isn't one of mine. I pick up the card
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with a gloved hand, the card stock is wrong, and
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I never use red ink. Of course you notice the
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card stock. His laugh is low, private, like you notice
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the thread count in my sheets in London one thousand
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Egyptian cotton. I meet his eyes. A girl remembers the
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important things. Elena clears her throat pointedly. If you two
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are done with whatever this is, I found something interesting
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on her laptop. Give us a minute, I tell Elena,
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keeping my voice professional to the detectives, would you mind
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checking the service entrance. My files show Miss Blackwood had
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a regular delivery every Tuesday morning. Once we're alone, James's
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hand finds my lower back. What aren't you saying in
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front of them? Victoria wasn't just a client. I moved
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to her walking closet, knowing he'll follow. She was asking
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questions about other matches, other deaths, and you didn't think
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to tell me this earlier. His fingers dig into my hip,
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say during our discussion in your office, we were otherwise occupied.
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I turned to face him in the enclosed space, surrounded
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by designer clothes and secrets. Besides, you weren't exactly forthcoming
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about the FBI investigation. Fair point. His eyes drop to
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my mouth. Any other secrets you'd like to share several.
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I let my hand rest on his chest, feeling his
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heart race, But not here, not now tonight. Then it's
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not a question my hotel. Your hotel is watched. I
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step closer, letting him feel the heat between us. Marina Heights,
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Room sixteen twelve, eight o'clock, your back up location. His
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smile is knowing for special clients, for special situations. I
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brushed past him, letting my body slide against him in
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the narrow space. Bring the case files and that bottle
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of scotch you've been saving. How did you he stops himself.
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Never mind, I don't want to know how you know
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what's in my hotel room, smart man. I pause at
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the closet door. Oh, and James wear the gray suit,
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the one you wore in London. If you two are
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done with your foreplay, she says dryly, you need to
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see this. Elena turns her laptop toward me. Three weeks
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before each death, the victims all transferred identical amounts to
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an offshore account, exactly two hundred and fifty thousand dollars blackmail.
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James moves closer, his chest, brushing my back as he
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looks over my shoulder. No, I say, recognizing the pattern. Insurance,
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My highest tier of matchmaking includes a guarantee quarter million
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dollar a refund if the match fails or if the
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client dies. His breath warms my neck. That's not in
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the contract. Show me in the car back to my office.
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I can feel him watching me, studying me the same
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way he did in London before everything went sideways. Stop
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profiling me, I say, without looking up from my phone.
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Stop giving me reasons to Elena makes a gagging sound
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from the front seat. Should I put up the privacy screen? Yes,
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we say together. As the screen rises, James's hand finds
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my thigh. The contracts, all of them, all business today, Agent,
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I turn to face him. No pleasure that depends his fingers.
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Trace patterns on my silk stockings on how honest you're
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planning to be? I'm always honest. I slide closer the
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important things, like what you're wearing under this skirt, Like
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the fact that someone's using my service to mark targets.
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I catch his wrist before his hand can slide higher.
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And they knew about London. That stops him. The card.
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Look at the PostScript, I pull it from my bag,
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watching his face as he reads. Roses are red, violets
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are blue. Ask your matchmaker about London and what else
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she knew. His hand tightens on my thigh. You're being framed, obviously.
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I let my fingers trail up his arm. Question is
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are you going to help me or arrest me? Depends
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what I find in those contracts. His mouth brushes my
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ear and what else you're willing to share? The car
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stops at my building. Elena's voice comes through the intercom.
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We're here. Try to look professional when you get out.
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Cameras everywhere. James straightens my skirt with practiced hands. Tonight,
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eight o'clock. Don't be late. I reapply my lipstick, the
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same shade from London, and James, yes, bring handcuffs. In
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my office. Contract files spread across my desk like evidence
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of sins. Every perfect match, every guarantee, every deadly connection
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laid bare. Three victims, Elena says, pulling up their profiles.
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All women, all wealthy, all matched with men who seem
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to have vanished, not vanished. I hand James a folder
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relocated every match requested international moves. Within weeks of meeting London, Paris,
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Dubai running. He looks up from the file, catching me
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watching him or being run I perch on my desk
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near him, closer than strictly necessary. Someone's using my matches
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to move pieces across a bigger board. Someone who knows
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how you think. His hand brushes my knee as he
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reaches for another file. How you match people? Someone who
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knows what people want. I don't move away from his touch,
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their deepest desires, their darkest needs. Elena clears her throat.
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I'll go run background on the international transfers. Try not
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to destroy any more office supplies while I'm gone. The
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door clicks shut behind her. In the sudden quiet, I
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can hear James's breathing. Change. Show me, he says, voice low,
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Show me how you match them? I stand, moving to
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my client interview area. Sit Why, Because this is where
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I learn their secrets. I gesture to the leather chair
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where I figure out what they really want, not what
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they say they want. He sits watching me with those
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profilers eyes. And what do I want? Miss Kane? Beyond
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catching a killer? I move behind him, letting my hands
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rest on his shoulders. Beyond proving I'm involved somehow, Beyond
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that My fingers find the tension in his neck, working slowly.
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You want control the illusion of it, at least, that's
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why you let me run in London. Why you're letting
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me run now? His head falls back, eyes closing, And
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what do you want right now? I lean down, my
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lips brushing his ear. I want to know why you
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really came to my office yesterday, Why you let me
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recognize you. Why His hand catches my wrist, pulls me
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around to face him. In one smooth motion, I'm straddling
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his lap, his other hand tangling in my hair. Maybe
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his mouth finds my throat. I got tired of chasing shadows.
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Maybe I rock against him, feeling him respond instantly. I
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got tired of running. His kiss is pure heat London
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and New York and five years of want colliding. My
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skirt rides up as his hands find bare skin above stockings.
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Here in the same chair where I interview clients about
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their perfect matches, I'm about to let an FBI agent.
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My phone buzzes, not Eleanor's code, something else. I pull back, lipsticksmeared,
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breathing hard. Aimes ignore it. No, I show him the screen,
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A photo of us taken moments ago through my office window.
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Below it a message perfect match indeed, But can he
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save you? This time? James is on his feet, instantly
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gun appearing from under his jacket. Which building has that
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site line? Several? I smooth my skirt, mind racing the
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carlysle across the street, the new Morgan building, the Sophie.
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His voice stops me. First time he's used my first name.
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Look at the angle. This wasn't taken from outside. I
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slides down my spine as I study the photo again.
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He's right the angle, the claric, the painting. I turned
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toward the massive abstract on my office wall. It's been
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in my office for three years. I picked it myself.
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I James is already moving, reaching up to remove it. Behind.
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Embedded in my wall is a camera, small, sophisticated, recently installed.
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Someone's been in my office. The implications hit like cold water.
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Someone got past my security, past Elena's systems, passed past everything.
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He pulls me close. Professional distance forgotten in the face
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of real danger. How many people have access to this room?
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Just me and Elena, even cleaning crews. Can't I stop
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the renovations? Last month we had contractors in to repair
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a water leak, names in my private files. I moved
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to my computer, but his hand on my arm stops me.
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Not here, his eyes meet mine. Not now pack what
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you need. We're leaving, running, agent Bishop, I arch an
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eyebrow even as I gather files, not very FBI of you.
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His laugh is dark as he helps me into my coat,
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not running strategic retreat. Besides, his hand slides under my hair,
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finding the zipper of my dress. We have a date
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at eight, remember, mixing business with pleasure. I lean back
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against him, letting him unzip me just enough to make
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his breath catch with you. His teeth graze my ear.
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Everything's mixed. Now go change something professional enough for the
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security cameras, but easy to remove later. Presumptuous, practical. He
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steps back, letting me feel the loss of his heat.
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And Sophie, yes, where the lapeerl are set? The black
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one like London. Twenty minutes later, we exit my office
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looking perfectly proper, but his hand on my back burns
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through silk, and my skin hums with promise and danger
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Behind us, the camera watches, silent, patient, waiting, let it watch.
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The game is changing, but this time we're playing it. Together.
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The rest of the afternoon is torture, exquisite, deliberate torture.
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We separate to maintain appearances. He to his FBI office,
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me to client meetings. But his texts arrived like clockwork,
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each one more dangerous than the last. Found your London file.
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Nice mugshot, I smile, typing back. That's not my only
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photo in there. Three dots appear, disappear, appear again. The
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shower ones were particularly compelling. You took those yourself, If
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I remember correctly, I remember everything about that night. Heat
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pools low in my belly, so do I. At six,
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Elena brings me the contract to records companies Clean two,
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Clean Shell Corporation, Ghost Corporation. Didn't exist before last month,
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doesn't exist now. She eyes me over her tablet, like
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someone created it just to get inside access, to plant
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the camera, to plant something. She hands me as small
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evidence bag. Found this behind your wet bar, high end
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listening device. Been there about a month. My phone buzzes again.
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James seven point thirty car will pick you up. Wear
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the red luebutans go, Elena says, taking the files. I'll
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scrub the office full sweep. You don't approve of you
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sleeping with the FBI agent trying to catch you. She shrugs,
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as your security expert, no, as your friend. A smile
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tugs at her lips. Just try not to break any
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more furniture. At seven twenty five, I'm in my private elevator,
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wearing exactly what he requested, the black lapeerla set under
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a rap dress that's both modest and easy to remove,
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red luebutans hair down. The car is waiting, sleek and
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black with tinted windows. I slide into the back seat
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and find I'm not alone. You're early. I cross my legs,
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letting my dress ride up. Couldn't wait. James's eyes follow
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the movement. Besides, we need to talk, talk. I let
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amusement color my voice. Is that what we're calling it now?
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His hand finds my knee, slides higher. Someone's trying to
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frame you for murder. Someone's trying to do a lot
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more than that. I shift, giving him better access. The camera,
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the bugs, the threatening messages, they're watching us. His fingers
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trace the edge of my stockings right now, probably let them.
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I move his hand higher, give them something worth watching.
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His kisses answer enough, hot and hungry and full of
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promises about what's to come. But as his mouth claims mine,
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his fingers press something into my palm. A note later,
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in the relative safety of rooms sixteen twelve. I'll read
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it back up's in place, play along, make it look good. Oh,
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it'll look better than good. This game just got interesting.
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Marina Heights lives up to its name, sixty stories of
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glass and steel, stretching toward the Manhattan sky. The Penthouse
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level contains just two sweets. Sixteen twelve is mine, though
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it's registered under a different name. James keeps his hand
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on my lower back as we ride up the elevator's
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mirrored walls, reflecting us from every angle, professional proper. Nothing
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to see here except his fingers are drawing slow circles
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on my spine through silk. Stop that, I murmur, what
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his smile is wicked in the reflection this. His hand
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slides lower. You're supposed to be investigating me, I am.
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He turns me to face him very thoroughly. The elevator stops.
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His mouth finds mine just as the doors open, and
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we stumble into the Penthouse hallway. Like the lovers we're
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pretending to be. Like the lovers we might actually be inside.
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Sixteen twelve reality shifts. The room is exactly as I
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left it this morning, bed made, bar stocked, cameras disabled.
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But something feels wrong, James says, reading my mind, his
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gun appears someone's been here. I move to the bar,
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extracting my own weapon from its hiding spot. Recently, the
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ice in the bucket hasn't fully melted. They wanted us
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to know. He checks the bedroom while I cover the
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main room. Left us a message on the bed. Arranged
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with artistic precision, are three items, a red rose, a
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Matchmaker client file, and a single black and white photo London,
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the Dorchester James and I entering his suite that night,
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his hand on my hip, my head thrown back in laughter.