CARAI was wrong back there in the briefing room. Everything about this job looks like it will be so damn hard.Thanks to Dane, it took me a full whole minute before I could finally breathe properly again after I climbed down that podium and left the briefing room.But now, once again, I am finding it hard to breathe, thanks to the mountain piles of paperwork I am currently staring at right here in my new office.They look like tall skyscrapers, and they seem to be waiting comfortably and patiently for their new mistress right there on the floor beside the corners of my desk.“Garrick really left a shit ton of work before he got sacked.” Sienna, my subordinate in charge of weapon maintenance, hisses as she joins me too in staring at the piles. “I am here if you need any help, and to be honest, you will be needing tons of it.”I sigh. She is right, and I am instantly in love with her trait of not mincing words with me. I love working with people who are honest, open, and straightforwar

CARAThe sparring gym is filled already with all fifty of us by the time I arrive. And surely, I am definitely screwed….My prediction was right. Dane is here.My heartbeat skyrockets the instant my eyes lock on him.He is dressed in dark green combat trousers and a tight-fitted short-sleeve black shirt that only seem to accentuate his muscled arms and broad chest, making no effort to hide how fucking sexy his body is.My pulse races in my veins. He sure as hell definitely works out a lot….Standing right there in the spacious center of the large bi-circular sitting formation created by the others, he is whispering to my brother Al, who smiles afterwards and ruffles Dane's hair.“Cara, join the others.” I am ripped out of my staring trance when I realize that it is Gamma Carmden’s voice talking to me from the back of the circle.Damn, she is here. And she is now striding boldly through the circle's path as she makes her way towards the center where Dane stands….I instantly avert my

CARAI watch from the window of my office as the sunset dips below the mountainous ranges surrounding the base.And the view is so beautiful….My stomach grumbles with hunger. I grumble back and massage my hand gently over it.Despite going through that intense sparring with Dane, I ate just a single meat burger and water for lunch.I was too busy to care about eating proper food.Also, if I had eaten the sumptuous heavy filled plate of the Moo Shu Pork meal—my favourite—that Rhia nearly tricked me into eating, I would not have been able to finish sorting out those piles of paperwork that Garrick punished me with.And here is why.During digestion processes of heavy meals in the gastrointestinal tract, there is a decrease in the supply of blood to the brain, due to the suppression of the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system.This decrease in blood flow can make you feel a little bit dizzy or sleepy. Like you are suddenly tired and in need of a warm, soft, cozy bed.I can't

DANEI am still a fucking coward.That night two years ago. This night two years after.I am right here, standing at her door with my fist raised towards it to knock. I keep trying to connect my fist to the door, to fucking knock, but the more I hear her sobs, the harder and clearer the truth keeps hitting down on me.A truth that keeps stabbing me like a cruel knife to the chest.It is all my fault. I am the cause of the pain she is going through. And I must be really stupid to think that I can take that pain away by coming here and… and trying to know if I can….“Damn you Dane,” I curse to myself as I step away from the door and lean on the wall near it, closing my eyes.What the hell am I fucking doing? I think I am going mad. Was I expecting her to just open the door for me after I knock?Even if she does open the door, what then? What the fucking hell I am going to say?Sorry?I chuckle sadly at my miserable, stupid self. I might not even get the chance to even say that pathetic

CARAA very loud noise startles me awake.I sit up straight in an instant, my body going completely still. I listen, trying to make out what the hell just disturbed my peaceful sleep.For a moment, I hear nothing.The second I choose to succumb to the idea that the sound must have been my imagination, I hear another loud crash.The noise is coming from the room next door.Dane’s room.“Seriously?” I huff in annoyance, wiping my eyes before turning to look at the low beeping digital clock on my nightstand.It is just a couple minutes past 2am in the morning!“Ugh!” I can't believe Dane is already messing with my sleep just hours after moving in here.I am really going to be so fucked up if this is any indication that my future night rests will always be meddled with.Right now, I am really tempted by my sleepy muscles to lie back on my bed, to ignore the crashes and continue enjoying my peaceful sleep.But those crashes were loud, too jarring, and they happened twice.Twice. At fucking