His Darkest Obsession; Our Dirty Little Secret

Tick. Bang! The music didn’t stop. Not even when the second gunshot rang out and then the third followed. The shots cut through the laughter like a blade through silk, and suddenly there was silence. A man dropped and just like that he… The groom was on the floor lying in his own blood. The bride screamed and the orchestra, God help them, kept playing. No one moved, almost as if they were sure a wrong move would make them the hidden shooter's target. Sera didn’t flinch. She stood at the edge of the huge hall, wrapped in black while the rest of the women glittered in gold and white, her fingers resting lightly against the stem of a glass she hadn’t touched. Her pulse slowed as she watched the red dot on the bride’s head. And then, tick, bang! The bride was on the floor next to her groom. Both lifeless. She expected bloodshed tonight but not so openly. Her eyes moved once, mapping the exits and the counting guards who looked just as confused as everyone in the room. And then, she felt it. Him. Sera’s gaze lifted and landed straight on death's companion, Cassian Vale. He wasn’t moving. Of course he wasn’t. While the room suddenly fractured into panic with bodies pushing toward the exits, he stood still in the center of it all like none of it mattered. Like all that mattered in that moment was staring into her soul. His suit was untouched and his expression was unreadable, exactly like the last time she saw him. But his eyes were already on her. Sera stilled. That…was wrong. Not his attention but her body's reaction to the way he was looking at her. It was too intense and frightening, even. His eyes were cold, she thought, her grip tightening slightly around the glass. Colder than she imagined the devil's eyes would be. She was facing the head of the syndicate again. The man who owned all she wanted to destroy. He stared at her carelessly, like he was stripping her apart piece by piece and deciding what she was worth. Her lips almost curved at the sight. Typical. Men like him always thought they could break everything they saw. But something about his gaze lingered longer than it should have. Like she was a puzzle he was trying to put together. And that…that irritated her. He was acting like he recognized her, when in truth they only ever met once. She felt it was almost laughable to think they’ve ever existed in the same space before now. He just stood there unfazed even after his cousin just got murdered at her wedding reception. Another gunshot rang out. Closer this time. Someone grabbed her arm in panic, but she twisted out of it without even looking. Her focus never left him. That was the smart thing to do because she had the devil's attention. Cassian shifted then, just one step, but it was enough to make the air change. People moved around him and away from him. Like something in them knew better. Sera watched it happen instead of moving. Any sane person would run away, but she was not sane. In fact, she was far from it. He moved again. Slow and deliberate, not toward the exit, but towards her. Her spine straightened instinctively, chin lifting just enough to meet him without challenge, but never submission. If he expected fear, he wouldn’t get it, and if he expected weakness, he would be disappointed. He stopped a few steps away from her. Close enough for her to take in his sharp, striking features. Up close, he was worse. Sharper and colder. Cassian was dangerously attractive but there was something terrifyingly empty in his eyes. A black hole in his intense blue eyes, something that didn’t belong in a man like him. His gaze dropped for half a second. To her jaw, especially to the faint line of her scar, then back to her eyes. That action, though just for a second, didn’t escape her. And she didn’t like it. “What are you doing here?” he asked in the coldest voice Sera had ever heard. No greeting. Not that she even expected one, but the question sounded more like a demand. Sera tilted her head slightly. “Enjoying the party,” she replied. His expression didn’t change. But something in his gaze sharpened, like the answer didn’t satisfy him. Like nothing she said ever would. For a moment, neither of them moved. Around them, the chaos continued. Shouting, running, blood staining marble, but it felt distant, muted and irrelevant. Sera broke the moment first. Her lips curved slightly. “Lovely wedding, right?," she said, her voice giving away her nerves. His eyes narrowed. "I asked you a question. Don't play dumb with me." Sera could sense the threat in his voice, so she did the only reasonable thing she could think of, leave. "Please excuse me,” she said indifferently. Then she stepped past him. Close enough that her shoulder almost brushed his and his intense cool smell hit her more. Close enough for him to feel it. She didn’t look back or slow down. Instead, she increased her pace and rushed towards the exit. Did he really recognize her as the hacker? She thought to herself as disappeared into the chaos, like she had never been there at all. But Cassian didn’t move. His gaze remained fixed on the space she left behind. Then it clicked and his jaw tightened slightly. His mind, sharp and controlled, did something he stopped it from doing years ago. It played back to that night. Then replayed. That scar and that look in her eyes. It couldn't be. It didn't make sense and Cassian Vale hated things that didn't make sense. Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head toward the exit she had taken. His voice, when it came, was quiet and cold. “Find her,” he said to the guards surrounding him.