- 27 -

"The desire of the man is for the woman; the desire of the woman is for the desire of the man." - Madame de Staël

MARCO

"I was beginning to assume that you have turned vanilla," Gage chuckled before checking out Aurora. Clearly, he remembered her because you don't really forget a pretty face as hers who busted your nose.

I recalled how pissed and confused he was, sitting in my office, holding a pack of ice to his bleeding nose while I went through the CCTV footage. For my part, I didn't know what to feel – to be mad at her or worried because I could have lost her entirely.

But she was here now, by my side, and it made all the difference in the world.

"Me and vanilla?" I snorted. "Hell fucking no."

Laughing, he dragged a barstool closer and perched on it, while I helped Aurora onto another one and stood by her. The bartender offered us the usual that Gage happily took in, unable to refuse a glass of whiskey while I waived off mine.

"You are doing any scenes today?" Gage asked conversa