I shoved a spoonful of Lucky Charms into my mouth as Despacito blared out from the stereo. Fresh morning sunlight streamed in through the glass-paned windows above the sink, lighting up my dark hair. The floorboards squeaked then in the doorway and I glanced up to see a half-awake Liam stumble in. I smiled over at him and he returned it, running a hand through his bed-hair. Beautiful, I thought to myself as he sat himself down on stool across from me at the counter. Turning the volume down with the remote, I turned to face him.

He shook some cereal into a bowl before pouring some soy milk in.

"Ooh, soy milk. You live dangerously, don't you, college boy?" I smirked and he chuckled, shaking his head.

Hazel eyes met mine briefly before he shoved in a mouthful of cereal. He hummed slightly at the taste and I almost laughed out loud at his antics. Suddenly, dad walked in - already dressed to the nines in a pristine suit like always. He glanced over at Liam and I - still dressed in our PJ's and frowned.

"Time for work, you two. You should already be dressed by now," he reprimanded us.

I groaned, "Work?"

"Yes, I believe it's what pays for that brand new sound system over there," he smirked, "Oh, and if I'm not mistaken, those front-row Justin Bieber tickets-"

"-Say no more, I'm going now," I cut him off, slurping up the last bit of milk before tossing the bowl in the sink.

Darius turned to Liam and the boy gave him a half-smile.

"You too, kid." he told him.

Liam let out a sigh before mimicking my actions and following after me. After getting dressed, we all headed to dad's work. I played on my phone during his meeting but I could feel eyes on me. Or at least I thought I did. But when I looked up, no one was watching me. And Liam had his head down, staring at the floor as if he'd suddenly found something interesting there.

I just shrugged as the meeting adjourned and everyone filed out. I pushed off from the wall I was leaning on and followed dad out the door, Liam strolling beside me.

"The whole world's gonna be reduced to a ball of ash in 6 months but no, let's all play by the rules," Darius seethed as he strode down the tunnel-like corridor.

"Oh, stop," Grace tried to admonish him but he steamrolled on.

"Yeah, when I agreed to work with the Pentagon, I thought it'd be a two-way street," he continued.

"We just got you a billion dollars-" she started.

"-We all need to do whatever it takes to get me what I need," dad cut her off angrily.

"Well, fine!" she snapped, "What else do you need?"

Darius was silent a moment before turning to face her.

"100 kilos of uranium," he whispered.

She scoffed and said sarcastically, "Just make it a thousand, while you're asking,"

Dad was silent again and Grace just stared at him in shock.

"You're insane,"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"'Cause it's kinda true," Liam piped up and I snickered.

Liam's eyes met mine and I shrugged, "Well, it is true. And I'd know, I've lived with the man for 19 years."

He grinned down at me and I could feel a slight blush creep up my neck. Grace left after that in a huff and Liam and I followed after dad.

"So in order to save the world we need a billion dollars we don't have, uranium we can't get and technology that doesn't even exist yet? So far, so good," Liam breathed out.

"If Superman caught the villain on page 2, what fun would that be?" dad quipped, smirking.

I rolled my eyes as he handed a blue keycard to Liam.

"This opens up any door at Tanz. Well, almost any door," he told him.

"Okay, so about our three problems-" Liam started.

"I need Malcom Croft's help on it," Darius cut him off.

"Well, my buddy, Diego, might could help. I could call him and see what he knows,"

"Oh, you'll do more than that. You two are going to Boston."

A couple of hours later, Liam and I broke into Professor Croft's house and were almost on the verge of finding out more about his disappearance. Suddenly, his phone went off. He glanced down at it and hazel eyes widened.

"What?" I asked him.

Wordlessly, he grabbed my hand and ran out the back door of the house, pulling me along behind him. I didn't know why we were running and I didn't even care that my 800 dollar pair of golden Gucci high heels were getting muddy in the process. All I could feel was the sensation of his hand in mine, callused slightly but still soft. We ran like that several minutes before slowing down at an alley. Liam glanced down at his phone again, re-reading the message. I placed my hands on his shoulder to get a look at it, leaning up on my tip-toes because of the height difference. The boy was a bean-pole.

"'Get out now' from Unknown"

I frowned. Well, that was ominous. Liam was about to reply to it when another message came through. This time from that girl of his - Jillian.

"First reading of my novel today. Wish U could be here to heckle me."

I rolled my eyes. I already didn't like that girl.

"Um..." Liam started, turning his head slightly, the sun lighting up his profile perfectly.

Part of me - the reasonable part - wanted to distance myself from him since our faces were inches away from each other. That was polite, right? But I couldn't bring myself to. From where I was, I could see every mole on his chin, smell his musky aftershave, feel his lean back beneath my fingertips. All of it was intoxicating. But even through the dulling of my senses, I understood the unasked question and nodded.

He smiled slightly, grabbing my hand again as he led me across town to an old bookstore called "Acadia Book Store". When we reached it, he stopped his. His eyes landing on someone. My stomach dropped and I glanced that way. Standing in the bookshop window was a plain, brunette girl, clothes baggy and hanging off her like a coat-rack. My eyes went up to Liam to see he was entranced by the sight of her.

But what, pray tell, could be that remarkable about her? He ripped his gaze away and began typing out a message on his phone. From in the window, I saw the girl smile down at her phone before glancing around. A knot formed in my stomach and I turned away. Liam was so oblivious, he didn't notice me leave to head back to the hotel. And why would he?

He had her. I was just his boss's daughter.