Kiera looked back and forth between the two of them. She couldn't believe what was happening. Where did the sudden hostility between them come from? She blinked and tried to speak but no words came out. She was in absolute shock. "Kiera," Kane said after a moment, "take it away."She peeled her eyes from Mikael and asked, "W-what?" "The silver," he said, "take it away."She did as she was told without overthinking it. She carried the tray back to the kitchen and then stood near the counter for a few beats without turning around. Frankly, she was afraid of what she might see when she looked over her shoulder. Her hands were shaking and she was out of breath. She looked at the chocolate mousse and wondered what the hell had happened. She couldn't wrap her head around it. Kiera heard movement behind her and when she turned around, she saw that they were once again seated but they weren't saying anything to each other. She was afraid of approaching them but she knew she couldn't hide

Kane was in the living room when Kiera arrived. She spent the entire day with Mikael and so she was in an excellent mood. The whole incident at dinner was miraculously forgotten and she was relieved that he wasn't the person she had begun to think he was. It was all Kane's fault. He was the one who told her lies. She almost broke off all ties with a perfectly good man because Kane decided that he wasn't good enough for her. She wanted to confront him. When she stopped by the door to close it, she gave herself a few seconds to think things through even though it wasn't enough time. She gave up on the idea because confronting him meant that she would have to reveal to them that she had met up with Mikael. It would be best if she kept that a secret for the time being. "Hey," he said, searching her face with his eyes. "Hi," she said, stopping in front of him. She saw that Simone wasn't in the kitchen. Had she gone to bed? "How was lunch?" "Great," she said, remembering that she had

Friday arrived.Kiera was excited yet wary. She hadn't gotten the incident with Jared out of her head and the more she thought about it, the more sinister it all appeared in her mind's eye. It was the way he just swooped in to rescue her as if people happened to always be around when they were needed, especially in a city as big as theirs, and the way Jared looked afterward. She couldn't get his stunned expression out of her head. She was ridiculous for caring about someone who had hurt her purposely and relentlessly but she couldn't help herself. Sure, it could be that Mikael was truly around. It was a huge coincidence, her lucky day, just like the night they met. That was the only reasonable explanation, after all. Anything outside of that would be too bizarre to consider. Jared hadn't tried to contact her and she sincerely hoped that he wouldn't. If the police stopped by her house to question her about the incident, she would deny it all. She hadn't told a soul about it and she p

"So, Kiera," Caroline began after the table had been cleared. "Tell us more about yourself. We're all very curious. You're all Mikael seems to talk about lately."Kiera blushed and stole a glance at him. She couldn't say that the question didn't catch her off guard, especially since it was the only thing any of them had asked her. Throughout dinner, nothing was said directly to her, and so she simply listened and savored her meal. She didn't like talking about herself and the fact that they were all watching her intently made her even more uncomfortable. There was nothing remarkable about her life that she felt like sharing with these strangers.She cleared her throat to speak nonetheless. "Well, I work as an editor for an emerging publishing house. We publish speculative fiction and—""I meant about yourself," Caroline interrupted "Not about your career."She heard a chuckle and gulped. "My career is a big part of my life and so it's all I have to share with you. I don't think you wa

"No!" Kiera heard. The word was so sharp that she stepped back involuntarily. Her heart began racing and she thought of returning to her bedroom. The momentary rush of anger left her body as swiftly as it had come and she felt ashamed for trying to listen to a conversation that didn't concern her. She heard more arguing and remained rooted to the spot. "I make the final decision," Mikael was saying. He was speaking in a tone that she had never heard him use before. It was authoritative and demanded to be obeyed. Even she felt the need to agree with whatever he was saying. "This isn't how it works, Mikael," someone said. She heard a masculine voice. "We've been waiting for this moment for years. The time to attack is now. You promised us three weeks!" There were agreements but she didn't hear his voice amongst them, naturally. It was clear that someone didn't agree with Mikael's thoughts. She wondered what they meant by attack. Attack what?There was a long silence and even Kiera f