Page 31 of Corrupted Heart

It’s not him. The man in the alley might have been wearing a mask, but the raw power, confidence, and darkness that emanated from him like smoke is nothing like the clearly nervous energy this guy has.

“I’m Matt!” he screams in my face.

“Bianca!” I yell back.

“We’re celebrating!”

“Yeah?!” I reply.

I’m not focusing on Matt. My mind is still on the leering mask and the hand around my throat. The throb of danger and malice teasing through my core.

“Yeah! We all just got hired at Ironclad Holdings!”

“Oh,” I shout without enthusiasm. “That’s…cool.”

“It’s a hedge fund!” he explains in a loud voice over the music.

Ugh. Of course it is.

I glance past him, locking eyes with Naomi. She looks as unimpressed with our new friends as I am. When I catch Milena’s eye, she mouths “help me”, and I stifle a grin.

“We’re gonna go grab drinks!” I scream at Matt. “Nice meeting you!”

“We’ll come too!” he yells.

“Nope!” Milena cuts him off, grabbing my hand and Naomi’s and dragging us away.

“Oh my God,” Milena groans when we’re back at the bar. “He was telling me about his stock portfolio.”

“At least he was hot,” Naomi’s face sours. “Mine told me he’d—and I quote—‘never been with an Asian before’.”

“Oh, fucking gross,” Milena blanches.

I wrinkle my nose, shaking my head. “Yeah, nope. You wanna get out of here?”

Naomi frowns. “Not yet. I like the vibe here. Let’s just put a hard stop on any more finance bros.”

“Deal,” I groan.

“Shots?” Milena grins at us.

I make a face. “I don’t know if?—”

But she’s already flagging down the bartender. Before I know it, the saltshaker is in front of me, another chilled shot of tequila is in my hands, and the fiery alcohol is burning my throat again.

I wince, choking a little as I bite down on the lime afterward.

“Wow,” I hiss, blinking. “That one…”

“Yeah, we gotta go dance it off,” Milena laughs.

“I have to pee, actually.”

“Same,” Naomi chirps.

In the end, we all end up heading to the bathroom at the back of the club together. The line is, predictably, a menace. But eventually we’re at the front. The single bathroom is tiny, so there’s just room for two people to squeeze in together.

“You go, I can wait,” I tell them, since Naomi’s been crossing her legs for the last ten minutes.

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