Matt, dressed in a dark blue suit devoid of the jacket finally settled down to get some work done. He had called Ricky that morning after Sophia left to tell Cheryl he had an assignment for her later that evening. If anyone could uncover the mystery that was Sophia Blanc, it was Cheryl. Nothing escaped her sharp catlike eyes. He could ask Sophia about her life but knowing how defensive she was about everything, there was no doubt that she would guard up and raise her walls again. Besides, they were merely one a friends with benefits relationship, why should her life concern him? But it did. It bothered him in a way nothing ever did and he didn’t dare to know why. Suddenly a commotion drew him out of his thoughts. “I am sure he’s expecting me, Lawrence darling,” came a muffled voice. “Mr. Wolffe gave orders that he doesn’t want to be disturbed now,” came Lawrence’s voice. There was only one person Lawrence butted heads with and that was Cheryl. Might as well deal with her now rathe

Matt’s phone buzzed.He jerked out of a deep doze and glanced around momentarily confused. As his eyes adjusted to the dark he suddenly realized he had fallen asleep with his chest on the sleeping table. After Sophia left he had gone back to the kitchen, got another bottle of whiskey and drank from it until it was half empty. Now with his brain scrambled he struggled to gather his wits about him.His phone buzzed again and this time he located it in his back pocket. The bright light of the screen made sharp pangs of pain shot through his eyes to his sleepy brain. The ID blurred but he picked the call anyway.“Who is this?” he asked gruffly.“Uh, Matty Boy this is Cheryl. Ricky said you had a job for me.”What time was it? And why was she calling so late in the night? The view through the kitchen window was a black skyline with the lights of the city illuminating it like stars.His head hurt so much that he just wanted to go right back to sleep. His mouth felt dry and the alcohol on hi

“I honestly don’t understand you,” Stella remarked as she threw a plate now devoid of the meal in it inside Sophia’s sink. “You have a rich dude ready to throw some money up for ya, he went ahead of you to get your job back and he invites you over to stay the night but you leave because you feel he is holding back from you?” She spun halfway to give Sophia who was wiping the counter a crazy look. “You are out of your mind, Sophia.”“I don’t expect you to understand. He is haunted. He looks like he carries around some baggage and doesn’t know what to do with it. I just want to help him and let him know he can trust me.”“What do you care?! You both agreed on keeping feelings out of this.” She turned around and clutched the edges of the sink. Her eyes narrowed on Sophia. “You care for him a lot more than you admit.”Sophia opened her mouth to deny it but Stella continued.“I have never seen you like this. You barely come to the club anymore, you don’t call or respond to texts all you do

When Sunday evening rolled around, St. Peter’s hospital was covered in lights. The parking lot was crowded with cars so much that valets had been hired immediately to maintain order. Lights hung on every side of the hospital. The empty space for the new laboratory was the venue for the event. It was large and nicely decorated. Liza had ordered ornamental plants and some of Maple Albatross’ less explicit metal sculptures. Red vintage lanterns hung overhead cast a warm glow on the people gathered. Dresses and pieces of jewelry sparkled in the light. It was a small and humble affair still Liza’s many wealthy invitees dressed flaunted diamonds and designer clothes. The whole decorations and food had been taken care of by the company Liza hired and some of the workers of the hospital. Servers holding platters of cocktail wine and hors d’oeuvre moved around dressed in white and black uniforms offering drinks to guests. Sophia and Stella arrived together; Sophia dressed in a simple-cut white

The tension between them was so heavy a knife could cut through. The after effect following Carter’s assault hung in the air like a hot air balloon, unanswered questions about the situation ignored for now. All Matt wanted now was to convince Sophia to come back with him. She had given Carter a fair fight even though he was much bigger and she looked ready to fight him too but he didn’t want that.He couldn’t help but notice how lovely she looked tonight. Right from the moment he saw her that evening under the warm glow of the glowing lanterns he could barely suppress the urge to tell her how beautiful she looked.But she didn’t look as happy that see him as he was to see her. While she had initially welcomed his help with disposing of Carter, she looked mildly irritated with him now.“I will go home,” she finally said. “But without you.”“What about that guy?” he asked quickly.Her confidence faltered and the fear returned to her face. Why was she so scared of him? He was curious and