UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT Chapter 18

Her lips crashed onto mine—urgent, fierce. Her tongue slipped in, tasting of red wine, stealing my breath.

My hands moved on their own to her waist, fingertips sinking into soft skin, soaking up her heat.

Her low moan slid past my ear like silk, sending my heartbeat out of control.

She yanked my shirt open, buttons pinging to the floor. Her hand found my belt, teasing me till I was about to explode.

“Drop the act, Liam…” she bit my earlobe, voice husky. “Tonight, let go.”

The couch creaked; our breaths tangled; sweat gleamed under the light.

She was a blaze, igniting every nerve in me. The rhythm picked up, faster and faster, a storm that wouldn’t stop.

Her nails dug into my back, leaving hot tracks, like she was marking her territory.

When the climax hit, she shuddered, taut lines blooming in my arms, and I was pulled under with her until my mind went white.

Afterward, she slipped on a robe, lit a cigarette, and breathed out gauzy smoke. Her eyes cooled back to their usual calm, like nothing had happened.

She flicked me a glance, voice flat: “All right, Liam. You’ve got the number. The rest is up to you. Don’t let me down.”

I straightened my clothes, legs still a little weak, a hollow tide rising inside me.

Leaving her apartment, the night air sobered me a little, but my head was still full of her—the open robe, the low moans, and that indifferent gaze, a knot tightening in my chest.

In the back of a cab, I pulled out my phone and dialed the number Chloe had given me.

Two rings, then a pickup. A mature woman’s voice flowed through—sultry to the bone, velvet-smooth, lazily hypnotic. “Hello? Who is this?”

I paused. The voice alone sent my thoughts spinning, sketching a sultry, sophisticated woman in her mid-thirties—a bodycon dress, parted red lips, eyes that could pull a soul right out of you.

I swallowed and forced myself steady. “Hi. I’m Liam. Chloe sent me… about Mr. Carter.”

She chuckled—a feather across my nerves that made my scalp tingle. “Oh? Chloe’s little friend? Interesting. Go on. What do you want?”

Her tone was a cat-and-mouse tease.

I drew a deep breath, kept my voice even. “I want dirt on Mr. Carter. I heard you can help.”

Silence for a few seconds. Then, low: “Leverage on Carter isn’t easy, pretty boy. You got the nerve to play this game?”

That “pretty boy” hit me like a jolt, flashing me back to the day Serena called me the same.

I clenched my jaw. “Yeah. If it helps Serena, I’ll do anything.”

She laughed again, lower, more dangerous. “Good. I like a man with nerve. Tomorrow night. Nightfall Bar. Ten. Dress sharp—don’t disappoint me.”

I hung up, heart still racing.

Her voice was a drug, seeping into my blood—thrilling and unsettling at once. Who was she, really? Why help me? Chloe’s smile echoed in her words, hinting at a secret I couldn’t parse.

The next day, I was restless end to end, that voice looping in my head like a spell.

Serena had a shoot, and I went with her to the set. White shirt and tight jeans—simple, but sexy as hell. Her eyes, though, were ice, pushing me away.

Leverage