Page 86 of Their Arrangement

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“You wear that for someone?” he asked.

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t have to.

He slid his thumb down the center of my chest, dragging the chain with it.

“You smell like memory,” he said. “Like you’ve got a past worth ruining.”

My lips parted.

And that’s when I felt it.

The shift.

The change in the room.

The drop in temperature without wind.

The sensation ofbeing watchedby something not human.

The man kept talking.

But I didn’t hear him.

Because I looked up.

And saw Wolfe.

Standing in the doorway of the bar.

Nothing in his stance moved.

Nothing in his eyes blinked.

But the airscreamed.

He didn’t storm over.

Didn’t raise a hand.

Helookedat the man beside me.

And the man went still.

“Problem?” the man asked, trying to reclaim the air between them.

Wolfe took one step forward.

That was all it took.

The man stood.

No apology. No challenge.

Just instinct.

He left.

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