The elevator hummed its way down from the ninety-eighth floor with the patient, expensive silence of machinery that cost more than most peopleâs houses and probably had better sex than most people too.
Valentina stood to Pheiâs left, arms folded loosely, dark hair still slightly mussed from the morning like someone had tried to finger-comb it into submission and lost the fight.
She wore an expression she got sometimesâher mouth still but her brain was doing laps around a racetrack made of pure
"what the actual fuck."
with her yes narrowed slightly and head tilted a fraction.
The particular focus of a woman whoâd been turning something over in her mind for a while and had just decided the turning was done and the asking was starting.
Maya stood to his right, silver hair freshly combed and gleaming like moonlight had learned how to dress itself and decided to show off. She wore an ivory blouse so soft it looked like it had been woven from actual clouds.
She was humming something quiet.
Content. Exactly like a girl whoâd woken up in the right arms and hadnât stopped glowing sinceâlike sheâd been personally blessed by every
horny deity
in the pantheon.
The floor numbers ticked down in silence.
Seventy-two. Seventy-one. Seventy.
Valentina turned to face him.
"How do you do that?"
Phei blinked.
"Do what?"
Maya chuckledâsoft, barely audible, one small hand rising to cover her mouth like she already knew where this was going and was settling in to enjoy the roast.
"The
sex
," Valentina said flatly. No preamble or cushioning it. "How many times this week?
Melissa.
Sierra. Maddie. Patricia.
Now
Cassiopeia
âthis morning, for what, two hours? Three? And you walk out looking like you just had a nap and a protein shake while the rest of us are limping like weâve been hit by a
truck full of orgasms."
The elevator hummed.
Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight.
"You never get
tired,"
she continued, ticking points off on her fingers like she was presenting quarterly results to a boardroom full of horny accountants and the boss was this lustful dragon. "
Never slow down
.
Never seem to need recovery time
. So many women and you justâ
keep going
. Like a machine. A very
attractive,
very annoying machine that shouldâve overheated and exploded by now but instead just keeps fucking harder."
Phei opened his mouth to.
"Iâm not finished."
He closed it.
"And thenâyour
family
too?" She said it with the particular emphasis of a woman who found the situation fascinating and appalling in equal measureâlike she was simultaneously taking notes and writing a strongly worded letter to God.
"Donât get me
wrong.
I
enjoy the taboo
part of it. I do. Thatâs not what Iâm asking."
She paused and gathered the thought like she was loading a crossbow.
"What Iâm asking isâhow do you
convince
them? Itâs not easy to convince a family member to sleep with you. I donât care how good-looking you are. I donât care how good the sex is. Getting a woman to cross that lineâ
the family line
, the blood line, the
this-is-insane-and-we-both-know-it
lineâthat takes something beyond charm and a big cock. That takes
black magic
or
mind control
or some
unholy combination
of both.
"
Mayaâs hand was still over her mouth. Her shoulders were shaking so hard the elevator probably registered it as seismic activity.
"And itâs not just them," Valentina continued, voice rising like she was building to a crescendo. "Itâs
us
too. All of us. Women who should hate each other. Women who should be tearing each other apart over you. And instead weâreâ
what?
Making breakfast together? Buying each other clothes? Sharing a closet? Planning group dates like itâs a fucking book club?"
Forty-four. Forty-three.
"Even the ones youâre tense with. That auntâCassiopeiaâwhen she walked in last night you two were circling each other like wolves whoâd just realized they both wanted the same bone. The whole room was
cold
with it. And this morning sheâs
moaning
on your cock
loud enough to wake the building and calling you
âdragonâ
like itâs a pet name."
She shook her headâhalf exasperation, half awe.
"How?
How
do you do that?"
Phei put on a thoughtful expression. Furrowed his brow and stroked his chin. The full performance of a man giving a question the serious intellectual consideration it deservedâright before he decided to be an absolute menace about it.
"Weird, isnât it?"
Valentina stared at him.
He smiled. That smile. The one that said
I know exactly what youâre asking and Iâm choosing to be insufferable about it because watching you short-circuit is my new favorite hobby.
"Thatâs it?" she said. "Thatâs your answer?
Weird, isnât it?
"
He kept smiling. Mysterious.
Infuriating
like he had decided the secret was more fun as a secret.
Valentinaâs pout was immediate.
"Youâre not going to tell me."
"Iâm smiling
mysteriously.
That should be enough."
"No itâsâItâs not."
"Itâs going to have to be." He laughedâwarm, easyâand ruffled her hair.
Actually, ruffled it, the way youâd ruffle a kid sisterâs, fingers messing up the dark strands sheâd only half-fixed this morning.
Before she could swat his hand away he pulled her closeâarm around her shoulders, tucking her against his side.
She resisted for exactly one second and a halfâpride, dignity, the fundamental Valentina principle of not being ruffledâthen gave up.
Hugged his arm.
Pressed her cheek against his shoulder.
Some battles werenât worth fighting.
This one especially.
He reached for Maya on the other sideâpulled her in too, arm around her waist, hand resting warm on her hip.
She leaned into him immediately, naturally, like her body had a standing agreement with his that proximity was non-negotiable.
"So,"
Maya said, voice light, silver head tilted up to look at him. "Where are we going?"
"Well," Phei said, "first weâre meeting up with Melissa and everyone else. Getting the whole group together."
Maya nodded.
"And since the Academyâs given us a
free week
and thereâs nothing really happeningâI was thinking of doing something. For all of us. Together."
Her eyes brightened. "Like what?"
"Surprise."
"Phei."
"Not telling you."
Her pout was different from Valentinaâsâsmaller, softer, more weaponised in its sweetness.
"Itâs a surprise, Maya. Thatâs the whole point. If I tell you it stops being a surprise and becomes an itinerary."
The pout intensified.
He held firm. Barely.
"Anyway," he continued, steering past the danger, "Iâve also got a meeting later with the
Academyâs
finances committee
. Then a sit-down with Emily and Simpâs finance team. And thereâs one more thing I need to handle today."
He said the last part lighter. Casual.
Maya nodded. "I want to come with you."
He thought about it.
There was something else he wanted to do today.
Something very private
.
Something heâd been carrying quietly for a while nowâa personal errand, his own business.
But this was Maya.
The girl he trusted more than he wanted to admit.
His own secret. But this was Maya, right?
He kissed her hair. Soft. Lingering. The silver strands cool against his lips.
"Okay,"
he said.
She smiledâsmall, radiant, the sunrise kind.
The elevator slowed.
Valentinaâs phone rang.
She pulled it from her pocket, glanced at the caller ID, and her face shiftedâthat instant transition from relaxed to professional that she could execute faster than most people could blink. She answered. Listened. Something tightened around her mouth.
"Understood,"
she said, and hung up.
Three. Two.
She turned to Phei, and her expression was full of the kind of regret that looked wrong on a face that usually wore only confidence and calm.
"Iâm afraid I canât come with you." Full of regret. Every word heavy with it. "Thereâs complaintsâthey need me in the towerâs
management
office."
She said
need me
the way a soldier says deploymentânot a request but an obligation. Valentinaâs position at the Sovereign Tower wasnât just a job. It was the scaffolding of her life in Paradise, the thing that kept her housed and fed and close to the people sheâd chosen.
When the building called, she answered.
Phei nodded. He understood the mechanics of a life that ran on obligationsâheâd lived inside one for ten years.
"Go,"
he said. "Handle it."
She rose on her toesâkissed him once, quick, firm, the kind of kiss that said
Iâll be back
without needing the wordsâthen pulled away.
The elevator doors opened.
Valentina stepped out firstâand ran. Already transitioning from his woman to the professional the building needed.
She threw one last look over her shoulderâhalf smile, half apologyâthen turned the corner and was gone.
Phei watched her go.
Maya squeezed his hand.
They stepped out into the lobby togetherâsilver hair and purple eyes, the boy who broke Legacy princes and the girl who saw things that shouldnât be seenâand walked through the front doors into the Paradise morning.
A car was waiting.
Black. Tinted windows reflecting the sunlight in dark, liquid mirrors. The driver stood beside the rear doorâsuited, silent, professionalâand opened it the moment they approached.
Phei guided Maya in first. Hand on the small of her back. Gentle. The touch of a man whoâd been escorting women through doors all week and still treated each one like it mattered.
She slid inside. He followed.
The door closed.
The car pulled away from the Sovereign Tower and into the glittering,
dangerous, impossibly
beautiful streets of Paradise.