The rooftop was quiet.
Too quiet.
Selene Vale stood with her hands gripping the rusted railing, her silk blouse billowing in the wind like something alive. Below her, the lower city growled—sirens wailing, horns blaring, bass thumping from someone's midnight joyride. It was chaos. Beautiful, filthy chaos.
She didn't recoil.
She was born from its breath.
The cold bit into her skin, but she didn't move. Only glanced once at her phone as it vibrated.
Darius: On my way up. Alone, like you asked.
She locked the screen. Lied to herself.
You're not nervous. You're not hoping. You're not breaking.
But her fingers trembled slightly when she lit a cigarette.
Not from fear but from memory.
Every lie starts with a flicker.
And he'd always been gasoline.
The elevator dinged behind her. The soft chime felt too gentle for what she was about to face. The metal doors groaned open, and he stepped out—hands in his coat pockets, black jacket flaring slightly as he walked like the night owed him something.
Darius Vex. Too real. Too beautiful.
Too much damn trouble.
"I figured you'd bring a gun," he said, voice low, amused.
"I figured you'd bring a reason," she answered flatly.
He stopped a few feet away. Close enough that the scent of a sweat leather, and something distinctly him curled into her lungs.
"Why are you calling me here?" He asked.
"You lied to me."
A beat passed. His jaw twitched.
"I did." No excuses. No deflections.
Just that voice. Steady. Deep. The kind that cracked her in places she swore had long since turned to stone.
Selene dropped her cigarette. Crushed it under her heel.
"Why?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he went towards the edge, just bent forward enough to feel the drop beneath him.
"Have you ever thought about jumping?" He asked.
She didn't blink. "I think about pushing."
He let out a low, bitter laugh. "Fair."
She stepped beside him didn't touch him. Not yet.
"Who do you work for?"
"No one."
"Who sent you to dance at Inferno?"
"I needed money."
She scoffed, sharp and humorless. "You're a ghost with abs. You could steal money if you needed it."
He gave a small, knowing smile. Didn't deny it.
"I came back because I wanted to see you."
You lie.
Or maybe not.
That was the problem with Darius Vex—he was always both. The truth and the trap.
From behind the rooftop's AC unit, Cam crouched. Rifle scope trained. Finger ready. He hadn't blinked in three minutes.
He hated this.
Selene had been firm: "Only shoot if I bleed."
If it came to that, Darius wouldn't make it off the roof.
Back at the ledge, Selene's voice dropped to a dangerous hush. "You danced. You performed. You kept it secret. Why?"
Darius stared straight ahead. Then turned toward her.
"Because I knew you wouldn't come see me."
Her lips parted. Her chest stilled.
He took a step closer.
"One night… after a show… a woman in the crowd said something."
She tilted her head, guarded. "What?"
"She said, 'He dances like he's been loved by someone dangerous.'"
Selene's pulse stuttered. Her spine stiffened.
"And I thought… she's right," he added.
She turned her back on him. The wind hit harder, cold and Unforgiving.
"So what now?" she asked. "You show up, stir up everything I buried, and then what? We fuck and forget it ever happened?"
He didn't move. Didn't answer. The silence between them became thickened until it was pulsed.
Then-
"I won't forget."
Cam's grip on the rifle tightened.
Still, Selene hadn't bled.
Not on the outside.
She turned. Met Darius's eyes.
"Then tell me what you want."
He didn't hesitate. He walked to her. Hands confident, yet reverent—one landing on her waist, the other sliding up her spine like he remembered the shape of her scars.
He rested his forehead against hers.
"I want to ruin the men who tried to ruin you."
Her breath hitched. "What?"
"I didn't come back for money. Or love. I came back because I found out who's hunting you."
She shoved him hard. "No. You don't get to return a hero. "I'm not," he declared. "I remain the villain."
"Then why are you here?"
His voice broke, raw and real. "Because even villains need something to fight for."
Her throat tightened. Tears burned behind her eyes, and she hated it.
"Then say it."
He frowned. "What should I say?"
"Say my name like it is the only one that matters."
He cupped her face.
"Selene," he whispered. "Boss Lady. My chaos. My curse."
And then he kissed her. Hard. Desperate.
Like it was the only thing keeping him alive.
Her body reacted before her mind could catch up. Her mouth opened. Her hands clawed at his shirt. His belt dropped fast. Her skirt lifted. One leg wrapped around his hip. He slipped inside her with a power that stole her breath.
They did not move with grace.
They moved like war.
Messy. Loud. Necessary.
And when she came, it wasn't with peace.
It was with pain.
Because some part of her still hated him.
And some part of her still belonged to him.
His voice shook against her neck. "Say it again."
"Say what?"
"My name."
"Selene," he gasped.
Faster. Harder.
Then—
A click.
Metal. Not theirs.
Behind them.
Selene froze.
Pushed him off.
Spun and drew her gun.
Cam emerged from the shadows, rifle raised.
But the threat wasn't him.
A masked figure stood at the rooftop edge.
Gun pointed.
Not at her.
At Darius.
Selene fired first. Nailed the man's shoulder. He spun. Darius lunged. They crashed to the concrete.
Selene ran to them, heart punching her ribs. Darius had blood on his face, but he was breathing.
"I'm good," he muttered.
Cam cuffed the attacker, yanked off the mask—
Selene stopped cold.
The man wasn't a stranger.
He used to work for her.
He vanished months ago.
She turned to Darius. His face had gone pale.
"She was right," he muttered.
"Who?"
"The woman in the crowd."
Selen's stomach flinched. "What the hell is happening?"
Darius looked at the unconscious man. Then at her.
And said, quietly—
"He wasn't here for you, Selene. He was here for me."
Her blood iced.
"What?"
Cam straightened slowly. "What the hell are you into?"
Darius didn't answer.
He just looked out over the city.
And finally said the words that shattered everything:
"I lied about everything."