Vienna Song is a Ravenport PD's detective with a knack for solving the unsolvable. Tasked with investigating a series of chilling disappearances, she's forced to partner with the hot and reckless criminal Jeon Jungkook.
As they dig deeper and uncov...
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Jungkook's attention was half on Mr. Glupec, who was enthusiastically droning on about the new pieces in the gallery, and half on the art hanging on the walls, though his mind was elsewhere.
The Sunday auction has to go off without a hitch.
But then, something cut through the haze of his thoughts—a strange, prickling sensation on the back of his neck. It was subtle at first, a barely-there whisper in his subconscious, but it grew, demanding his attention.
He blinked, focusing on the feeling, and his eyes instinctively scanned the room.
It's her!
It was like a punch to the gut. His heart gave a jolt, a reaction so visceral it almost made him flinch. Just beyond Mr. Glupec's shoulder, the brunette from the bar stood, staring right at him. The same one whose cute laugh had haunted his dreams. The same one he'd practically convinced himself he'd never see again.
The room didn't vanish for him; it sharpened. Every detail came into excruciating clarity: the way the light caught in her hair, the slight parting of her lips, the cool intensity in her eyes that was both challenging and alluring. A heavy warmth settled in his chest, tightening around his lungs like a vice.
She's a catch, no doubt about that.
He struggled to keep his face composed. His breath hitched, and for a split second, he forgot how to breathe.
Mr. Glupec was still talking, but the words were lost on Jungkook. His mind was already slipping away, consumed by the magnetic pull of her gaze. He felt exposed, as if she could see right through the carefully constructed layers of his John Cook persona, straight to the heart of the man beneath.
Without even realizing it, he straightened, a slight tremor running through his fingers as he clenched them into a fist. His body responded on autopilot, cool and collected on the outside, but his pulse raced at the speed of light beneath his skin.
What is she doing here?
His feet carried him closer to her, leaving Mr. Glupec mid-sentence.
She was different now, standing in the soft gallery light. The air between them crackled with unspoken tension, and with every step he took, Jungkook's thoughts grew louder, more insistent.
I can't let her slip away.
His usually sharp instincts were dulled by the overwhelming sense of déjà vu—of fate twisting its threads around them both. He couldn't shake the feeling that this moment was significant, like everything that had led him to this point was meant to culminate here.
When he finally stood in front of her, the gallery around them seemed too small to contain the charged atmosphere. He was close enough to notice the faint freckles dusting her nose, something he hadn't seen before in the dim light of the bar.
