Ninety Seconds
1390 Words
The screen of my phone went black, taking Mason’s voice with it, but the threat still hung in the heavy air of my apartment.
Ninety seconds.
My heart thudded against my ribs like a battering ram. Down below, through the rain-streaked window glass, I could see him. He hadn't moved an inch. He stood beside the idling SUV, his silhouette sharp against the wet asphalt, dark eyes locked on my window like a predator waiting for its prey to make a wrong move.
"God, Nora, move," I whispered to myself, the sound of my own panic jarring me out of the trance.
I turned from the window and bolted back into the bathroom. My hands were shaking so violently I almost knocked over my toothbrushes as I grabbed a small makeup bag from the counter. I snatched the pregnancy test off the floor—that tiny plastic explosive that had just demolished the foundation of my life—and shoved it deep into the bottom zipper compartment, zipping it shut until it was completely hidden.
Jade.
Her face flashed in my mind. Her bright blue eyes, her glowing smile when she talked about her wedding, the way she had looked at me when she asked me to be her Maid of Honor. “I couldn't do this without you, Nor. You’re the only person in the world who never lies to me.”
A fresh wave of bile rose in my throat. I was already lying to her. I had lied to her every second of the last three weeks, and now I was about to walk down three flights of stairs into the car of the brother she had forbidden me from touching five years ago.
If she finds out... if she ever finds out what we did on that patio...
It would kill her. It wouldn’t just break her heart; it would incinerate our friendship, shatter her family right before her wedding, and make me a pariah in the only inner circle I had ever known.
I snatched my leather jacket off the back of the chair, throwing it over my shoulders as I pulled my apartment door open. I didn't stop to look in the mirror. I couldn't bear to see the coward looking back at me.
The hallway was cold, the concrete stairs echoing with the frantic slap of my boots as I took them two at a time.
Eighty seconds.
Seventy seconds.
By the time I pushed through the heavy glass doors of the lobby, the cold night air hit my face like a slap, damp with the smell of wet pavement and exhaust fumes. Rain brushed against my skin, chilling the sweat on my neck.
I stopped at the edge of the pavement, the black SUV sitting idling just feet away.
Mason took two steps forward, pushing away from the driver's door. He towered over me, even in my heels, his broad frame blocking out the neon light of the bodega across the street. Up close, the air around him crackled with a dark, restless energy. He wore a charcoal suit jacket over a crisp white shirt, the top two buttons undone, revealing the line of his collarbone and the pulse hammering in his throat.
He didn't look like the boy who had laughed with us in his parents' backyard. He looked dangerous. He looked like trouble wrapped in tailored wool.
"Seventy-four seconds," Mason said softly, his deep baritone cutting through the sound of the falling rain. "You're getting faster."
"Don't do that," I snapped, though my voice lacked real heat because of how hard my chest was heaving. "Don't play games with me, Mason. Jade is calling me every two minutes. I'm supposed to be at her mother's house right now. If I'm late, she's going to start asking questions—"
"Get in the car, Nora."
"No! You don't get to command me around like one of your employees," I hissed, taking a sharp step back, though my heels caught slightly on the curb. "You can't just park outside my apartment, threaten to break my door down, and expect me to jump into your passenger seat! We agreed—"
In one fluid, blindingly fast movement, Mason closed the distance between us.
Before I could draw breath to scream, his heavy hand cupped the back of my neck, his long fingers threading into my rain-damp hair, pulling my head back until I had no choice but to look straight into his dark, stormy eyes. He didn't hurt me—his grip was firm, hot, and agonizingly deliberate—but he immobilized me completely.
The heat of his body rolled off him in waves, burning through the icy drizzle.
"We agreed on a lot of things three years ago, Nora," he murmured, stepping so close his chest brushed against mine, trapping me against the heavy frame of his body. His thumb pressed firmly against the hollow beneath my jaw, tracing the frantic jump of my pulse. "And we broke every single one of them three weeks ago on that patio."
My breath hitched, my lips parting instinctively as his scent filled my lungs—sandalwood, rain, and the faint, bitter trace of expensive scotch.
"Mason... please," I choked out, my hands coming up to press weakly against his chest. I could feel the hard muscle beneath his suit, the steady, heavy thud of his heart against my palms. "Someone will see us. Jade's friends live three blocks from here—"
"Let them look," he growled low in his throat, his eyes dropping to my mouth. The dark intensity in his gaze made my core tighten, a liquid ache blooming deep in my belly despite the sheer terror racing through my blood. "Let the whole world look. But you are not going to that dinner looking like you're about to throw up, and you are not facing my sister until you tell me what the f**k is going on."
"Nothing is going on!" I lied, the word tasting like ash.
Mason’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous spark flashing in their dark depths. His thumb slid up to press against my lower lip, pulling it down slightly, exposing the small, quick breaths escaping my mouth.
"You're a terrible liar, Nora," he whispered, leaning down until his lips hovered a fraction of an inch from mine, his hot breath brushing over my skin. "You've been a terrible liar since we were eighteen. Your eyes turn dark when you're keeping a secret. And right now, they're almost black."
My knees felt weak. The sheer physical gravity of him was overwhelming, pulling me in just like it had three weeks ago when I had surrendered every ounce of sanity I possessed. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to scream at him.
Instead, my thumb curled into the lapel of his jacket, clinging to him like a lifeline.
"I can't talk about this here," I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of the lie, the secret, and the terrifying threat of the unknown text message still sitting on my phone.
Mason held my gaze for three agonizing seconds, searching my face, reading every line of panic etched into my features. Whatever he saw there, it made his jaw tighten with a dark resolve.
He didn't let go of my neck. Instead, he leaned down, his mouth brushing the shell of my ear, his lips warm and dry against my chilly skin.
"Then get in the car," he commanded, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that sent a shudder straight down my spine. "Because if you don't... I'll drive to my mother's house right now, pull Jade into the study, and tell her myself."
My eyes flew open in horror. "You wouldn't."
Mason stepped back, releasing my neck, though his dark eyes never left mine as he pulled open the heavy passenger door of the SUV. The warm leather interior beckoned, smelling of him, offering a sanctuary that felt entirely like a trap.
"Try me, Nora," he said quietly, holding the door open. "You have five seconds."
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