Dangerous Liaisons [✗]

𝟏𝟓 | 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐲

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 | 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄

"BROUGHT YOU A PEACH COBBLER."

Audrey's boyfriend had let me in. Of course, he had spent the night here, the red convertible parked up proved just as much. But even if he did live with her, he had evidently been MIA all this time, until he decided to show up at the Gala.

Adam shook my hand, as if he had mentally placed me on a pedestal and I all but pressed my lips into a fine line, not quite smiling, but trying not to grimace at least.

He rambled about his father and how much he had admiration for my father and his father, and beyond. Thayer was a household name. My great grandfather was notoriously admired. He had innings with prestigious players, in the game of wealth and power. He was never afraid to show it.

I followed after Adam through the foyer, before he pointed at the backyard and departed with a glass of juice, leaving me tense and watchful of my surroundings. The last time I had stepped foot inside, was almost ten years ago and yet everything appeared the same —though it was far from that, because only one person from this household remained and she had certainly changed in more ways than one.

The grip around the glass container of peach cobbler felt slippery and awkward, very much of the reasoning was because Rose had left it for me and I wasn't going to be eating it and ruining my efforts to stay on track with my body.

Naturally, I would have had to get rid of it, but I wasn't willing to turn back around after returning from work and drive to the apartment Hwang was renting so he could inhale it one go.

Even if he was one of those individuals who could eat whatever their heart desired and not have a pound of fat visible on theirselves —a few hours ago I had watched him consume three sandwiches at lunch.

"What do I do with it?" I had asked Rose, staring at the dessert.

"Eat it. Do what you will with it." She chuckled, while dusting a shelf.

"Surely I can't have an entire bowl, all on my own." I said, trying not to sneer at her.

"Child, even if you were to have another, it wouldn't hurt." She wagged a finger at me.

"It's Southern hospitality to share." I had mostly uttered to myself, devising what to do with it.

I hadn't challenged my rationale as Rose finally left, adjusting my tie, pushing my sleeves up to my forearms as I strode over to the Khanum threshold, because I was clearly useless at overstepping boundaries.

The preceding twenty-four hours had been demanding and difficult. Despite the fact that my team and I were already on our toes due to the lack of an explanation to why a corpse had been tossed off the balcony, the Detective roped us in for a graveyard shift when he noticed some security footage was missing and we were stuck with what our next clue would be.