Page 15 of Exposé

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, okay." She sat beside me, her toned legs crossing my way, her skirt riding up a fraction too short.

"Nate's taking it over. We're giving him the 'exclusive,' and—"

"You're lettinghimhandle the case?" Her mouth dropped. "Don't get me wrong, you're good…" She glanced my way, her arms tightening over the files. "But this is—"

"It's been decided, Callie. Hand him the files so he can get started."

"But, sir…"

"Callie." I leaned over with a gentle, lopsided smile and placed my hand on her bouncing knee. "I can handle it." My thumb traced a small path over the patch of sensitive flesh behind her knee. "Give me a chance with your baby. I won't let you down."

Her bottom lip sucked between her teeth, and she bit into the soft pillow. "You think you can do it?" Her breath left her mouth in soft, short huffs, her quickening heart rate thumping the vein in her throat.

I lifted my lips in a seductive smirk. "It works on you." Withdrawing back into my seat, I settled my hands into my lap, her lust-filled eyes narrowing at me.

"You're an asshole, Nate." She swallowed hard and slapped the files against my chest.

"No, Callie." I let a slow grin spread across my face. "I'm justreallygood at my job."

4

Ava

My fingers gripped the steering wheel as I drove back to Elmgrove, with Aria's words rippling through my head.

Start at the beginning.

It wouldn't be so easy, but desperation clawed at me with every ticking moment the deadline drew closer. And then there was Whitney's intense stare through her office windows overlooking the floor.

Adrenaline surged as I flicked my turn signal on and parked in the same space I had four nights ago.

My ponytail slapped against my cheek as I checked my blind spot, opened the door, and stepped out.

The quiet neighborhood hung with an ominous presence in the darkness, but during the day, it held an aura of rundown normality.

Wispy, overgrown grass hid the lower half of a soccer ball nestled in the front yard of a dilapidated home covered in vines and chipped, light blue paint.

Kids played in the streets with a singular basketball hoop on one side, their laughter and shouts spreading warmth throughout.

I stared at the kids of about nine to ten years of age, smiling as they dodged one another, the kid with the ball tossing it into the air and sinking it into the basket.

Cheers erupted from the girls sitting along the curb, their hands high in the air as they clapped.

My gaze shifted to the home with a broken door and tire marks in the front yard. A few days ago, someone sold drugs out of that home, not one hundred feet from those children.

The muscles in my jaw clenched tight, grinding my molars together.

Was this what my source wanted me to know?

I walked down the cracked sidewalk, passing by older houses with faded paint and dinging windchimes.

Smoke filled the air with the scent of grilling meats, the sweet aroma causing my mouth to water.

"Hi, kids."

I waved as I walked by, their eyes jumping up to meet mine as though I were the intruder I was.

A younger girl with braided pigtails waved with a large smile. An older girl scowled at her and grabbed her arm, her narrowed eyes cast towards me as she chastised the girl.

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