“Saturday. Ten o’clock,” he reiterated.

Just as quickly as he had appeared, he wasgone, with only the smell of his manliness lingering in the air.She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, wondering ifeverything that had just taken place had been a figment of herimagination. Saturday was only two days away. It wasn’t nearlyenough time to think over something so important. Again, she waskidding herself. She already knew what her answer would be andthere was no point in denying the spark of excitement at theprospect of embarking on the perilous path set before her.

4: Premeditated

The two days had come and gone far tooquickly. Elsa had peered out her apartment window multiple timeshoping to see the pewter-colored Nissan GT-R, but it was nowhere insight. Apparently the elusive man who made her an inappropriateoffer thought he had gleaned everything he needed to know abouther. How wrong he was. Elsa was full of little perversions andsecrets that she held near and dear to her heart. Things she hadn’ttold anyone and the sort of things a simple background check wouldnever reveal.

Two days should’ve been enough time for herto do a little background digging of her own on Victor Laurenzo,aka Mr. Black, but work had kept her busy. With the Saturdaymeeting looming less than twelve hours away, she tried to do anonline search of his name, only to find her internet service wassluggish and anytime his name was entered into the search engine,she would be redirected to another site. It was as if destiny, ormore likely fate, were intervening and keeping her from the truth,and maybe that was a good thing. It felt risky not knowing who shewas agreeing to start a ‘physical association’ with. A littleintrigue never hurt anyone, after all. Or did it? She was fullyaware of what she was agreeing to. Okay, so she didn’t know thefine details yet, but tomorrow would bring all the answers shesought.

Sleep that night was fitful and her nerveswere frayed beyond repair. After getting up to get a drink ofwater, she glanced out her bedroom window and there he was, Mr.Black. She stood watching him from a slit in her curtains, tryingto imagine what he was thinking about. An orange light flickeredinside his darkened car and his driver’s side window rolled down, apuff of smoke billowing out. With his perfect façade, she didn’ttake him to be a smoker. Several minutes passed and a nervousfluttering settled deep in her belly and moved downward to theplace that she would soon be sharing with Mr. Black. She wantedhim, there was no denying it. The glow of the cigarette brightenedeach time he inhaled and she slowed her breathing to match his.

Prying herself from the window, she slippedon a satin robe and quickly descended the two flights of stairs tothe side exit of her building. The sultry Virginia wind whippingoutside wreaked havoc on her hair, but it was the least of herconcerns. She wanted to see Mr. Black up close and personal and tostudy his lean, bronze-skinned profile. She wanted to smell hismasculinity and to peer into his critical eyes.

Sneaking to the side of the building asquietly as possible, she moved up behind his car, being careful tostay in his blind spot. Just as she moved closer, his driver’s sidewindow slid down all the way and he flicked the cigarette out. Agust of smoke came out along with his signature scent. Musicfiltered through the open window and past her ears to the sound ofDemons by Imagine Dragons. What demons was Victor hiding?Besides his obvious and less than secretive stalking tendencies,that is. A tremor ran through Elsa. She felt ridiculous andbreathless like a girl of eighteen as she hid in the shadows of hiscar just to get a glimpse of the man who wanted to have sex withher. Praying his doors were unlocked, she moved quickly to thepassenger door and let herself in, completely taking him bysurprise.

With wide, agitated eyes, he glared at her.“Sneaking up on a man is a good way to get your ass kicked,” hegrumbled through gritted teeth.

Elsa tried to resist a smile. Mr. Black wasquite appealing when caught unaware. “The look of surprise isbecoming of you,” she dared to smirk.

Even in the dark, it was hard to miss his jawclenched and his eyes narrowed. “Get out,” he barked, reaching overand opening her door.

When he leaned across her, his arm brushedagainst her scantily clad body and the smell of smoke, citrus andbergamot tantalized her. She wasn’t leaving just yet. The fun hadjust started. Pulling her door closed, his lips parted in surpriseagain.

“This isn’t a fucking game, Elsa,” his deepvoice boomed.

“Then why are you sitting out here in themiddle of the night taunting me?” she blurted, scarcely aware ofher own voice.

He blinked long and hard and for a briefmoment, seemed to be at a loss for words. After giving her body araking once over, his eyes rested on her bare feet. “You’re outhere barely dressed and not even wearing any shoes. What the hellwere you thinking?” his mouth curved into a tight frown.

“I wasn’t thinking,” she moistened her lipsnervously.

His mouth thinned in displeasure.“Clearly.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, tryingto appear unaffected by his words and leaned back into the leather.“Why are you here when we have a meeting tomorrow?”

Sinking back into the seat next to her,Victor nonchalantly fidgeted with the stereo settings and turnedthe music up.

“Because I couldn’t wait to see you,” histone softened.

The coolly impersonal tone of his voice andstatement were contradictory to one another and puzzled her. Shewatched him warily as he glanced sideways, obviously trying togauge her expression.

“Now get out,” his voice hardened onceagain.

She sat for several more long moments tryingto read his expression but he was a like a deep, dark cavern –bottomless and mysterious. Would he always be like this? Too tiredto try and figure him out in the few minutes she had stolen withhim, she reached for the door handle and turned her body to leave.She peered over her shoulder one last time to see Victor watchingher intensely and she wondered who the hell this man was and whatwas she doing considering getting involved with him.

“Next time you decide to stop by myapartment, come to the door like a normal person. Sitting out herelike a perverted creeper is a turn off,” she sniped just beforeexiting, knowing damn well she had just bold-faced lied. Everythingabout this man was a turn on, even his vile stalkingtendencies.

Just as she stepped out of the car, Victorspoke, “Normalcy is also subjective, Elsa. Keep that in mind thenext time you decide to speak out of turn.”

*

Elsa got only five good hours of sleep beforerising early enough to get ready for her meeting. Seeing as Mr.Black had ruined her favorite, she dressed in her second bestskirt; a white ruffled mini and a white and pink, lace and satinbutton down steam punk top. It was modest yet showed off hermoderately-sized bust nicely. With her Mary-Jane heels on, lipsglossed and hair tousled and pulled up into a loose bun, she droveto the address on the piece of paper – 2500 East Grace Street.

She had driven past it twice already to scopeit out. It was a gorgeous brick brownstone with white trimmedwindows, and an ornate black double door entrance set behind blackwrought-iron pillars. Mr. Black had stated he had just finalizedthe paperwork on the place and she was eager to see the interiorand what he had done with it.

When she pulled up, his Nissan was nowhere tobe seen and she feared her antics and remark from the previousnight had ruined her chances with him. She quickly walked aroundthe property before making her way to the entrance. Just then herphone chirped with a text message.

Unknown: Key is located under a rock, thirdbush to your right.