Waking Up from Yesterday Chapter 1

The call came in the dead of night. My patron, asking me to deliver a box of ultra-thins.

Staring at my rain-soaked clothes, the man’s voice was a low rasp.

“Fuck,” he said. “Who told you to be so damn good?”

I held the bag out to Pierce Knight, who was leaning against the doorframe. “The 0.01s you asked for.”

When he took it, he deliberately brushed his calloused thumb over my knuckles, a predatory smile in his eyes.

“She’s not here yet. Why don’t we break them in?”

I froze for a second before he let out a low chuckle.

“I’m kidding.”

“I’ve set up a blind date for you next Wednesday. You’ve been with me for years, and I don’t want you to get the short end of the stick.”

“You’ll go, won’t you?”

* * *

His tone was a question, but his eyes held a lazy, non-negotiable weight.

This wasn't about him not wanting me to get the short end of the stick.

This was about his old flame coming back to the country. He wanted me gone, neatly disposed of, before she found out we ever existed.

My fingers, already curled against my palm, tightened into a fist.

I forced myself to look up, my voice carefully steady. “Just send me the address.”

He caught the shift, the formal chill in my tone. His brow twitched, just for a second.

Rainwater dripped from the ends of my hair onto my collarbone, and I shivered from the cold.

“It’s late,” I stammered. “I should get going.”

“Wait.”

Pierce disappeared into the living room and returned with a Burberry shawl. He wrapped it snugly around me, leaving only my eyes, still damp with rain, visible.

Flustered, I looked up to thank him and was caught in the sudden intensity of his gaze.

His fingers were still resting on the collar of the shawl. His throat bobbed. “Don’t go tonight,” he said suddenly.

I blinked, my response automatic. “But… isn’t someone else coming?”

He cut me off before I could finish, his knuckles pressing against the top of my head, a raw, impatient edge to his voice. “You actually fucking believed that?”

“In your mind, am I just some degenerate who sleeps around?”

“In all these years, who’s been by my side but you?”

Later, tangled in the sheets, as I was lost in a haze of pleasure, he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“This is the last time for us.”

“Claire is coming back.”

“I don’t want her to suspect anything, so be a good girl and go on that date.”

The truth, finally.

I sank my teeth into his shoulder, a silent scream of fury.