A chain of respectfully bobbing heads and friendly greetings marked Monique’s passage as soon as she stepped out of her car and made her way to Greens and Ribs, and the people smiled among themselves when the dark-haired girl murmured ‘good morning’ back to them in her usual quiet way.

Hers was a familiar face in Corpus Christi, and a welcomed one at that. Monique’s widowed father not only employed at least a quarter of the city’s population, but he was also a well-known philanthropist who often took his daughter with him to every event organized by the family’s foundation.

Andreus was already waiting for her in one of the restaurant’s private function rooms when she arrived, and Monique’s entire face lit up at the sight of him. She had always been the calm and studious sort, and her mother’s early death had only made Monique retreat further into her shell. It was only when her father Andrew had introduced her to Andreus Economou that she had her first taste of sexual attraction – wild, uncontrollable, violent. The intense clamor of her feelings for him had taken Monique completely by surprise, and sometimes, it worried her, too. There were instances when the passion she had for Andreus showed a frightening resemblance to the most dangerous obsession, and her lack of inexperience made Monique unable to hide her growing feelings for Andreus.

She had lost count of all the times Andreus had caught her practically stalking him with her eyes, but instead of scaring him off, it had only made the Greek biker laugh. That had been the point of no return for her, Monique thought with a private sigh. The sound of Andreus’ laugh had been like no other she had ever heard before, like a dangerously shameless, earthy admission to his utter disregard for propriety. It had stirred something inside of her, had made her breasts actually ache, and only after knowing Andreus for an extended period of time had she eventually realized that meeting him had given Monique her very first taste of sexual arousal.

Remembering this turned Monique’s face into a lovely shade of pink as Andreus bent down to brush his lips against her cheek in greeting. She expected him to tease and flirt with her like he always did as he pulled away, but instead she found a faintly distracted expression marring his handsome features. Could it have something to do with his rather odd and unexpectedly rude behavior last night?

She tried to keep her worries to herself as Andreus helped her to her chair. This, at least, was still the Andreus she knew and secretly cherished. She had researched about him online rather zealously, and his bad boy ways were often mentioned in the tabloid stories he starred in. They spoke of how often he became involved in brawls (all of which he handily won) and how callous he was in his treatment of girls (and yet all of them had also said they would get back together with him given the chance).

We only spend time together in bed, and nowhere else. It was the most common complaint voiced by Andreus’ former lovers, and it was those words that had given Monique hope. She might not have known Andreus for a long time, but she already knew she was different from the others. Unlike all those other girls, she, Monique Pratt, was someone Andreus always appeared keen to listen to. She could even make him smile quite regularly, which – according to those same gossip reports – should be considered a rare feat.

She was different from the others – she was special – and she had to consciously remind herself of this as their lunch came to another unsatisfyingly platonic end. Like always, Andreus had insisted on walking her back to her car, and also like always, they spoke a little bit of this and that, topics that Monique had carefully selected because she knew Andreus were interested in them.

Even so, something about Andreus’ demeanor still nagged at her.

Even though he appeared attentive as ever, and her heart still did its usual leap when he bent down to press another careless kiss on her cheek, she just couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. That he was looking at her without really seeing her –

And so it was, only Monique wasn’t to know this yet.

When they reached her car and Andreus started to bend down to open the door for her, Monique heard herself blurt out, “Wait.” She couldn’t help but wet her lips as she watched Andreus straighten to his full height, couldn’t help but feel aroused even as her concern grew for him.

I want him so bad, Monique thought. So damn bad that she had a feeling if she could get away with it, she probably would have risked spiking his drink just so she could finally fuck him. And when he woke up the next day, she would tell him he was the one who had his way with her, and he might have gotten her pregnant. He would have to marry her, of course, and after that they would live happily –

“Monique?” Andreus’ slightly sharp tone yanked Monique out of her fantasies, and she could feel her whole face turning red as she realized the rather amoral lengths she was willing to go just to have this man in her bed.

I really am obsessed with him, Monique realized.

“Did you forget to tell me something about the deal?” Andreus prodded impatiently.

“I…um…yes.” Deciding it was better to lie, Monique told Andreus about fictional papers that her father had emailed and which he wanted Andreus to look over.

Andreus struggled to concentrate on Monique’s words, but the way the sun was glaring down at them insisted on distracting him. Its scorching blaze felt like a sickeningly tangible reminder of Hallie’s smile, and Hallie’s hurt face became an indelible vision in his mind.

“Shall I bring the papers over to your place, do you think?”

Monique’s last words, despite him not hearing what she had said before them, were all too easy to see, and Andreus’ first instinct was to deny her. Both of them knew she was simply using the papers as an excuse to spend more time with him. While she wasn’t the type to come on to him, Monique hadn’t made any attempt to coyly hide her feelings for him either. She had been quietly open about it from the start, and while he had liked that about her, he had also been careful enough never to give the woman a reason to hope for anything serious.

It was basically the opposite of how he had treated Hallie over the years – but maybe the time had come to change this.

“Drop by on the weekend,” Andreus heard himself say. “Yuri’s throwing a party. I’ll have your name added to the list if you want.”

“Of c-course.” It was rare for Monique to stammer, but she simply couldn’t help it. This wasn’t her first time to indirectly ask Andreus out on a date, but this was definitely the first time he had actually accepted her invitation. “May I ask what the occasion is?”

“A welcome home party,” Andreus answered shortly. “His sister’s returned from Tokyo.”

“Oh.” Monique fought hard to keep her face expressionless. While numerous publications had printed sly speculations about Andreus and Hallie Athanas over the years, not a single one of them had been verified to be the truth. And yes, there had been rare photos of Andreus laughing in her company, but the other girl was Yuri’s sister. It was possible Andreus also saw her in the same light. Right?

“Andreus?” She waited until his dark gaze met hers before asking hesitantly, “Are you sure it’s okay if I come?”

“Why won’t it be?”

“Because she might…” Monique noticed the hardening of Andreus’ expression and lost the courage to finish what she had to say. “Never mind,” she said quickly. “I’ll be happy to come if the invitation still stands?”

Andreus watched Monique drive away a few minutes later, his inscrutable expression yielding not a single clue to the rising sense of agitation inside of him. And it would only get worse once Hallie and Monique came face to face.

He would be hurting Hallie again, but one day, one goddamn day – once he had lost it all – she would know that all of this was for her sake.

Andreus’ phone started to ring insistently just as he got into his truck, and his heart thudded against his chest when he saw Drake Morrison’s name show up on the screen.

“We found him,” the FBI agent said as soon as he answered the call. “I’ve got a squad on its way to take him down, and I’m heading up to join them.”

Andreus couldn't speak.

“This isn’t a prank, Economou.” It was as if the other man had sensed his inner turmoil, or maybe it was just that Morrison had read his file, and so he also knew how much this meant to Andreus. “Your life is yours again.”