Page 67 of Veil of Secrets

Not just a partner.

Not just a risk.

Something more.

Something I don’t have a name for yet.

We don’t speak for the rest of the drive.

We don’t need to.

This isn’t just about taking Vince down.

It’s about what we build after.

If we make it.

If she stays.

If I can hold onto what this is becoming.

Chapter 11 – Elara

The cage swings.

Barely, but I feel it.

Steel on chain, squeaking overhead like a warning bell no one else seems to hear. The stage lights flash in gold and red, cutting the smoke into slices that dance with me as I move.

I don’t think.

Not really.

The music’s pounding too loud to follow a thought for more than two beats. My body knows the choreography. Muscle memory guides every turn, every drop, every hand sliding down the bar like it wants to break the damn thing.

Sweat runs down the small of my back.

My knees press into the platform.

I roll my hips—just enough.

It’s a show.

But not for them.

Not tonight.

The crowd’s drunk. Restless. Hungry. I can feel it in the way they press toward the edge of the cage like they might lunge if they thought they could get away with it.

They don’t look at me like a person.

They never did.

I use that.

I twist. Arch. Let my body remind them I’m in control, even if they think I’m for sale.

My eyes find him.

---