Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 35

𝐕𝐀𝐋
༻❁༺

My sanity was at risk right now. I was on the verge of losing it all and I had found nothing so far. The same numbers ran through my mind, and each time I'd look down, I'd find them there, pierced on my skin in black ink like a tattoo.

I didn't know Alejandro granted Shadow Company this type of access, and it somehow made me angry at him for being such a great person and wanting his guests to have a good stay. I wanted to slap him on the back of his neck for being this oblivious and yell at him for not finding it suspicious that Graves would require this type of system.

7-4-2-3-6-9.
Translated: s-h-a-d-o-w.

The black ink on my skin brought me back to minutes ago when Simon and I had to part ways. When I didn't want to let go of his hand but had to. The way my stomach twisted strangely, like when you know you have to say goodbye to someone but you've been avoiding it, hoping you never get to do it and nobody ever gets to notice and life gets to go on.

I knew he had to leave for his own business, but the evening breeze caressing us and the moonlight embracing us, the distant sounds of the planes and helicopters getting ready to depart, everything reminded me of the danger of his mission, and right then I was willing to give anything so I could stop feeling those shivers that ran down my arms to the tips of my fingers and gave me the urge to pull him to me and never let go.

"Remember those digits," Simon told me, taking me out of my thoughts.

I cringed. There was no way I was remembering them. "Eh, do you have a pen?" The small chuckle that came from his mouth made me tingle in the right places but wrong at that time.

Simon shifted, letting the door go and using his body to stop it from closing on us. He messed with something in his holders—because yes, he had a lot stuck to his body, and God, who would've minded? His entire costume made him look incredibly hot and it was making me crave him all the more. I couldn't stop thinking about him and the way he fucked me still dressed with it minutes ago.

Grabbing my elbow, Simon brought my arm closer to him and leaned down, a Sharpie between his fingers. That was the second time I saw those numbers, and they were about to be temporarily tattooed on my arm. It tickled me as he wrote them down, but soon my attention went back to him when he said, "One left, two rights. Do it twice and you'll get to Graves's office. Use this pin to enter."

I gaped. "How do you know this?"

He met my eyes. "Graves requested my presence a couple of days ago. Thought it would be a good idea to go over our plans and catch up." Simon straightened and put the pen back in his pocket. "I like to observe, Darling. I'm quite good at it, actually. And I've got a great memory. I think those two skills work well together, don't they?"

Ah, this man. "You keep getting sexier."

His laugh was husky and alien to my ears. "No dirty talk when I'm five minutes away from having to leave."

"And after you already made me come three times?"

He groaned like he was in pain. "Oh, God." Wrapping one arm around my waist and his hand on the back of my neck, Simon pulled me flat against his body and I fit perfectly in his arms. He stroked my lips, his big hand cupping the side of my neck now. "That was inappropriate, Valentina."