I’m shaking.

I feel sick to my stomach and nauseous.

I can’t believe I so narrowly escaped Braden finding out about me.

I rush through the lobby, out the doors, and into the light of day.

I breathe and catch a breath of fresh air outside of Braden’s building.

That was so intense, having to lie to him like that.

I check my purse to make sure the blueprints are still there.

After all the trouble I went through to get them, I better not have left them behind.

I carefully tuck them back into my Louis Vuitton and then catch a cab.

I’m positively torn in half. I care about Braden so much, and yet I’ve just stolen from him.

I haven’t yet decided how far to take the betrayal, but stealing those plans was enough. I feel terrible.

I sink into the back of the cab and just feel like hiding my head away from the shame of it.

I think about the moment that Braden walked in on me in the foyer. There’s no way he wouldn’t have seen it. He had to have seen me put those blueprints in my purse.

How could he have missed it?

It’s midmorning and everyone’s rushing around, getting things done and tending to business. There’s all manner of people out today. I look at them with envy, thinking what simple lives they must lead compared to mine.

They’re not wanted by the FBI. They’re not in love with someone that they must deceive. They haven’t just stolen from the man of their dreams.

All of this is on my shoulders, and it’s almost too much to bear. For all the years I’ve liked Braden, now it’s all come to this? It feels like my feelings have been in vain.

I finally catch a break and now the world comes tumbling down.

It’s just my luck, really. I stare out of the window sadly and count down the moments it takes to get to my apartment. I want to pick over Braden’s blueprints and see what he’s done.

I finally arrive home and am glad to just get some space in the privacy of my home.

I make some tea and unroll the plans across my little artisan table in the kitchen. I need to study these to fully understand Braden’s motives and plans.

I smooth my fingers over his scribbled handwriting and think about last night. I’ve never been so intimately connected with one man. It felt so good and it felt so right.

I felt understood by him and in his strong arms. I could finally let go and not be so in control all the time. Braden has this need to dominate me, which I kinda like.

I should’ve known he’d be an alpha male in the bedroom as he is in life. Nothing is more attractive than a man who knows what he wants and who goes after it without a fault.

I need him too. I need that dominance in my life because I’ve found through surrendering to him that I can really allow myself to come undone.

It’s hard to study the plans when all I can think about is the feeling of flying I had on that glass balcony when he made me come in mid-air. The stairwell where we fucked so hard and I felt at one with him flashes through my mind. I miss him already, and I just left him.

After all that connection, I betrayed him, and it makes me feel sick.

I drink my tea and look outside, wondering what he’s doing. He said he was going to work today.

I myself can’t even think about going to work and seeing my crew. Under the circumstances, it’s too much to think about facing them and Braden all on the same day.

I normally am not one to take a day off. But until I figure out a plan, a way to evade the Feds, well, I can’t even look at a racetrack.

I’m too far into this. While I want to be with Braden unencumbered so badly, I also know that the hopes of that happening while I have the FBI breathing down my neck is slim to none.

My phone rings and I jump to grab it, hoping that maybe it’s him.

“Hello?”

“Jenna, it’s Mr. Harrison, the agent you met on the street. Listen, we’re ready to bring Braden in, and we need that information. You’ve had ample time to collect it.”

Fuck. I should not have answered my phone.

I’m looking at the blueprints right now. All the information is laid out before me, but I will not reveal this to the agent. I don’t think I can go through with it after all.

“Hi, how’d you get this number?”

“That’s beside the point. What I need to know is if you’re going to accept your immunity or not.”

“I thought I had more time. I don’t have the information yet,” I lie through my teeth.

“That’s incorrect, Jenna. We know for a fact that you have what we need. Now if you don’t want to play ball, we can bring you into custody.”

“Wait, what? What are you talking about?”

There’s a long pause at the end of the phone. Why is there pause?

I’m starting to feel like I’m in pretty deep here, deeper than I should be. I’m lying to Braden and I’m lying to the FBI. Either way, I lose.

Just then, a series of photographs pop up on my phone.

It shows me leaving Braden’s building this morning. It shows me taking the plans out of my purse to see that they were still there. And then there’s a series of photos showing me stuffing them into my purse and jumping into a cab.

“I’m under surveillance?” I say to the man.

“Of course, Jenna. You’re gonna help us, and we need to know what you’re up to at every moment. It’s obvious from those photos that you have the information we need. Now it’s time to offer it up.”

I’m pissed now. They don’t have anything on me. This whole situation has been ruining my life, and I’m about sick of it.

What would feel most right is to just tell Braden all of this. But who knows, maybe they have his apartment bugged? Maybe they’re following him as much as they are me. Maybe the whole club’s being watched.

“It doesn’t sit well with me that I’m being followed when you have no actual evidence against me,” I say to this Mr. Harrison if that is, in fact, his real name.

“You better be careful, sweetie, because you’re skating on thin ice, and you’re about to go down hard with the rest of them.”

Hmm. I’m offended. It’s a classic intimidation technique.

These dirty cops have nothing on me and probably nothing on The Billionaires Club. I’m sick of being put in the middle of this and of dealing with them.

“Excuse me, is that a threat?”

“It may be. You’d do well to abide by it.”

His tone is frightening. This is the FBI, not your average NYC policeman. I feel like I’m playing with fire, and I might get burned.

“If you don’t give us what you want, you will pay.”

I summon my courage to say, “This is coercion, and I don’t think that’s very legal, Mr. Harrison.”

“Don’t mess with us, Jenna. You have the option of immunity now, but I can take that away at any moment.”

The reality of the situation is starting to scare me, and I truly don’t see a way out. What are my choices? I’m racking my brain, trying to stall and to come up with a plan.

“Well, I need more time. I have the plans, but I need to go over them myself first. You can at least give me that.”

“I’ll give you that,” he says. “But this is your last chance and warning.”

Finally, I think of an idea. This may save the situation if I can just figure it out.

For now, I tell him, “Okay, fine, Mr. Harrison. I’ll give what you want. I’ll work for you. But first, I think you should give me some time to try to get more out of Braden. I know he’s harboring another secret. And with just a little more influence, I can get it out of him. Please, just let me finish this.”

There’s a pause as he considers my position.

“Okay, Jenna. I can give you that. Try to squeeze Braden for all he’s got. But then we want everything. If I give you this time, I’m going to expect huge gains, got me?”

“Yes, Mr. Harrison. That’s fine. Goodbye.”

I hang up on him and think that at least I’ve bought myself some more time. I’ve got the FBI breathing down my neck, but with this new leverage I’ve bought, I know what to do.

That’s all I need. A little more time.