Laura sat stiffly on the café chair, its copper curves sinking into the skin of her thighs. She forced her knees not to drift apart, rueing her decision to wear this mauve dress today.

Out on the airy terrace of the al fresco café, her bare legs felt the caress of Charlie's innocuous navy slacks; the tickling sensation reminding her of last night.

The thunder of her heart quickened when she caught Celene's eyes, begging her brain to focus on the serious problem that plagued them.

"So... what's this about?" Celene asked, bringing her cappuccino to her lips. She had painted them a full red this morning, and Laura wondered if Charlie noticed their resemblance to her own.

Laura's eyes nervously snapped up to his, and he offered a comforting squeeze on her knee. Thankfully, it elicited no misleading messages this time. Her jittering nerves made sure of that.

"Celene, I am so sorry to tell you this." Laura inhaled, sliding the golden drive across the glass surface. "Flaco – Jack – is planning to blackmail you with incriminating pictures. She tried to poach me over, and told me to hand this to the media today."

The face that once glowed with confidence now sank into a shadow. Celene picked up the thumb drive and frowned at it, before raising her questioning gaze to Laura.

"Jacqueline did this?" she muttered.

Laura managed only a weak nod.

Celene shook her head, scoffing and blinking away the glistening betrayal that brimmed in her eyes.

Charlie leaned forward, placing a hand on Celene's. "She knew about us."

Celene pulled in a deep breath, before purging her pain with a full exhale. "She definitely knew. I just didn't believe she would use me like this. Or maybe I didn't want to believe."

"She couldn't stand not having you," Laura explained, hoping to offer some closure.

Charlie withdrew his hand and clasped his palms together, planting his elbows on the glass. Celene shook her head.

"No, Laura," she said. "She couldn't stand not having a monopoly. She knew about our merger and wanted to ruin us so Flaco could distribute on the east coast."

Laura choked with realisation, suddenly aware of the dryness that raked her throat. She coughed out an apology. How had Jack's real intentions completely escaped her? Swallowing the lump of shame, she wished for nothing more than the warm hug of an earl grey.

"It's okay. That's Jack for you. Hell, she got me too. If you could bottle her charisma into eau de cologne, it would be called Disarming." Celene rolled her eyes with wry anger and flagged a waiter down for another drink. Charlie muttered out his order as Laura stared dumbly through the glass of the table.

To think she was covering up for a snake who poured only poison into her ears.

Charlie's palm had found a resting place on the edge of her knee, where his thumb caressed reassuringly. "It's better that you found out she was up to something. Now we can formulate a plan."

Laura nodded weakly. "We should go to the police."

"No," both of them interjected.

"No police," Celene asserted.

"Discretion isn't their strongest suit," Charlie explained. "Our family names cannot be marked by a legal stain."

Laura slumped back in her seat and blanked. The troubles of shouldering the weight of their families was a distant reality to her, but it didn't rob her of sympathy.

She wondered if it was this shared misery that pulled them together in college.

The waiter swung by with their caffeine, and Laura sat up to request for the cup of comfort she sorely needed. Before she could place her order, however, Charlie patted her hand and brought a steaming pot of earl grey before her.

"I hope you're not still sick of it," he teased softly, setting a little pitcher beside the pot.

"Thank you," she managed with a small smile. This bastard even remembered the milk. He's not making this easy for me.

The distant din of the city echoed from the street, dissolving into the quiet clink of silverware on the terrace. Through her glass pot, she watched her tea leaves swim in tandem with the blades of English breakfast in Charlie's.

Celene hid behind her cup, and their thoughts began to silently steep.

The last of the leaves had sunken to the glass bottom when Charlie finally spoke.

"We have to destroy it. This cannot get out."

"But this can't be her only copy," Laura resisted. " She must have a back-up."

Celene clutched her cup, her fingers white with anxiety. "I know where she'd stash it. She only trusts the technology that Flaco built. Her cloud storage at work has more personal data than her own phone."

Drumming his fingers against the glass tabletop, Charlie's lips pursed into a hard line. "Cel, didn't you often visit her office?"

She nodded. "But she never brought me to her desk. We always..." Her eyes shifted. "I've only been in the meeting rooms. I've never seen her computer or her login details."

Her green eyes contemplated his expression with worry. He stared into his swirling tea before reaching out to pour himself a glass, a sad smile resting on his lips.

"Do you remember how we used to sneak into the professors' offices to hack our project pairings?" He took a sip from his cup. "I'd take your misery business any day over a bunch of slack-off seniors."

Celene chuckled and rolled her eyes. "As if you were any bundle of joy. Lucky you that suicidal rebel act has been in trend with the ladies since Shakespeare wrote MacBeth."

Laura wasn't at all surprised he'd pulled his fair share – he was one handsome bastard – but Charlie, suicidal?

She caught his eyes darting sheepishly to her and she broke into a grin. Her lips met the glass of her cup and she raised her eyebrow in feigned judgement.

"This is your cue to run," he remarked wryly.

"The only thing I'm judging you for is breaking into the faculty's office and not altering your grades," Laura teased.

Celene piped up. "Exactly! The system was so damn outdated we could've just keyed whatever scores we wanted." She cocked her head mockingly at Charlie. "But no, loverboy here insisted on playing by the rules."

"We can't break the rules, but we can certainly bend them out of shape." Charlie winked at Laura.

"Alright, Bend It Like Beckham," Celene quipped. "So where does that leave us?"

Determination burned blue in his eyes as he grabbed the thumb drive from the table, scrutinising the golden thorn in their sides.

"Give me three hours. I'll make it talk."

♥

Laura stared at her screen in the office, with no worthy distraction for her mind to chew on. The PillBox roadmap was complete – all of its promised profits and bargained budgets confirmed – but with Flaco's offer swept out from under her feet, all that awaited Laura was fire and brimstone from Henry stingy Spectre.

And now, she had to watch the hours crawl by.

12:07. Charlie should be finishing up with whatever surgery he was doing on that thumb drive. Her stomach grumbled at being neglected, but her mind kept drifting back to him.

Him and his magical hands.

As if conjured by her longing, Charlie emerged before her desk and draped his arms over her monitor. He lazily dangled the drive in his fingers, a pleased grin spreading across his lips.

"Lunch?"

He didn't have to ask twice. Laura launched from her seat, the old thing whining from the shock, and whisked her bag from the table. Gnawed by guilt, she glanced over to her lunch buddy Geri, who'd spotted the pair plotting their escape and waved them off with a wicked smile.

"Does she know?" Charlie questioned as they strode towards the lifts.

"About Flaco? No."

"And about me?"

Laura scoffed. "Yep. She knew way before I did."

"Bloody hell." The elevator arrived and they entered with twinned steps. "Was I that obvious?"

"Honestly?" She played with her bangs in the mirror distractedly. "I thought you were just fucking with me."

His laugh rang in the dim lift as they shot down to the basement. "Oh, yeah, I was. Until one day wanting to fuck with you became wanting to fuck you."

The blush that crept up her neck and swept across her cheeks forced her to abandon her reflection and retreat in reticence. She pulled her hands back and gripped her elbows shyly. Biting her lips, she squeezed an ounce of bravery from her heart.

"When did it change?" she asked.

"Well," he hummed in teasing contemplation. "I'd say it was about the time you bit back at my father about PillBox. Or... maybe it was when you told me I was sexy."

She cringed even harder and kicked herself mentally for laying her cards bare to Charlie so quickly.

"And all those nights spent at your place, hearing you talk about our business so passionately..." His voice trailed off as he reached a hand to her face and played with a lock of her hair. "Fucking you was all I could think about."

Laura flitted her eyes up to him, greeting his advance with her own. Her heart pounded from the confusing equation of excitement and outrage and she inched in, ready to find the solution in his lips –

The doors slid open.

"Laura. Charles."

Their heads whisked up to find Henry standing at the entrance, adjusting his vest, and looking positively confounded at the sight of his son and his right-hand woman close to attacking each others' tongues.

"Dad," Charlie exclaimed and recoiled, pulling nervously at his tie. Laura snapped her spine straight and jutted out her jaw to reclaim what little authority she had left.

"Mr. Spectre," she greeted.

He simply nodded as they strode out of the lift and away from the site of their shame.

"Mister Spectre," Charlie mimicked her sycophantic tone as they found their cars. "Would you care to ride in this Mr. Spectre's car?"

She eyed his vehicle. A sleek, black BMW. If it had been a Tesla, she would've jumped in without asking.

"That depends." She pursed her lips mockingly. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere you'll like."

"How do you know what I'll like?"

Charlie unlocked his car, pulled the door open and leaned against the frame on the driver's side, staring self-assuredly at Laura.

"Shoreside. Greasy fries. Lobster roll."

Damn it to hell. She never stood a chance.

She yanked his passenger door open and slipped into the smooth leather seat, the faint smell of cedarwood welcoming her back into its arms.

"How did you guess?" she demanded as he turned the wheel and brought them into the streets of daylight.

He shrugged, sliding a pair of silver top-bar sunglasses over the distinct bridge of his nose. "You have good taste. What with you being absolutely smitten by me and all."

She scoffed in a valiant attempt to resist the tug of his narcissistic charm. Knowing his ballooned ego, the man was probably only half joking.

As they pulled up at a red light, Charlie made no effort to conceal his wandering gaze on her. Laura sneakily tugged the neckline of her spaghetti tank down, baring her cleavage, and bit her lips. She'd coated them in a bold preppy-red today – knowing he'd left her apartment last night with a big, blue boner, she couldn't pass up the chance of teasing him to his limit.

She couldn't wait to find out what the consequences were.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his sunglasses doing little to hide his mesmerised stare, when a horn blared behind them and broke the tension.

"Shit," he hissed, launching the car across the green light. "You have to stop torturing me like that."

She giggled, relaxing against the seat. "It's too easy. And I thought I was an open book."

Charlie spent the rest of the drive ranting about how the coding on the app refused to listen to him, sending her into apologetic fits of laughter.

"It's not funny," he complained. "Why can't I just change the colour of the 'Order Now' button without having a giant pink discount banner cover all the products in Bookmarks?"

"I'm sorry!" Laura howled through tears. "Just imagining you cursing at the glitching screen is killing me."

"I'm glad you're entertained by my misery," Charlie muttered bitterly, but a telltale smile still found its way into the corners of his lips.

The deep celadon shore greeted them as they finally arrived at the pier. Charlie pulled the car to a park and killed the engine.

"Celene's already here," he said, pushing his door open. Laura followed suit, stepping out into the salty seaside air.

"Are you guys close?" she asked as their footsteps creaked down the wooden pier.

His brown bangs fluttering in the briny breeze, he frowned and pulled off his shades, sliding them into the pocket of his blue shirt. "Not as much as we used to be."

The thin tinge of regret in his voice was quickly swept away by the curling wind.

Laura inhaled, the salinity of the sea wafting into her lungs, and expelled the one question that had been crystallising on her tongue since she first met Charlie.

"What happened?"

Crashing waves and chirping seagulls punctuated the silence that ensued. His hands pocketed in his navy slacks, Charlie stared ahead at the planks of the boardwalk and released a deep sigh.

"I made some regrettable choices," he said, then chuckled wryly. "The kind you would tell a girl on a date to scare her off."

"Well, good thing this isn't a date."

"Lucky us," he muttered as they walked up to the shoreside diner. "Let's have that conversation another time, shall we?"

The roar of the sea gave way to the clatter of plates and cutlery as they entered the diner on the shore. In the corner by the window, Celene's dark bunned-up hair stood out against the cyan walls.

"Please give me some good news," Celene pleaded as she and Charlie hugged hello. Pulling away, she reached over to give Laura the same greeting.

Laura sheepishly returned her embrace, embarrassed by the grace of the woman on whom she had so easily dealt the hammer of judgement. She couldn't believe how eager she was to throw Celene under the bus. Shame would've continued to bite at her were it not for the pressing situation that currently demanded her attention.

What sauce to order for her lobster roll.

Her stomach pestering for sustenance, she cast her eyes stealthily over the menu on the table, keeping one ear peeled as Charlie brought them up to speed about the thumb drive.

"Jacqueline was right about one thing," he told Celene. "Never trust technology you didn't create. The encryption on that drive was weak shite. It's like locking up your files in a cheap motel. The sheets are completely stained by residual data."

"What did you get?" Celene asked.

"I have her login details for her company cloud, and I know the location where she's holding all of your files." He paused. "As well as the files about Flaco's drug trade."

Laura darted her eyes to the pair. "You guys knew about their dirty work?"

Celene nodded. "Once the money started rolling in, Jack couldn't keep her mouth shut. I told Charlie as soon as I found out. I doubt we'll get much out of those files, though. Blood business always flows hidden. We'll probably only find a list of clients and accounts that don't tally."

"Well..." Laura interjected. "I still have the pills from the Masque party. They're wrapped in Flaco's logo."

"That's more than enough," Charlie returned. "Cel, are you sure you're up for it?"

Laura cocked her head. "Up for what?"

Celene's dark purple lips curled up deviously. "Tonight, I'm going to infiltrate Flaco." She unclasped her palms and hoisted up the menu. "So, butter or cheese?"

♥