Chapter 16

Two days later, Cole held up his champagne flute as a waiter filled it with prosecco. One of the world's greatest superheroes sat across from him and stared. After a flight in a private jet from Veltio to Boston Logan Airport, Aphelia dragged Cole to her favorite Italian restaurant in the North End.

While Cole wore a button-down shirt and jeans, Aphelia changed into a red dress that drew every man's attention. Cole could feel his temperature rise as men would send their glances to her hips. Even though he knew she wasn't the best fit for him, he still felt the sting of jealousy.

The waiter backed away and left the bottle in an ice bucket, leaving the two at their table, tucked away from the rest of the patrons.

She raised her glass and said, "Here's to your new profession and the next step in our friendship."

Cole smiled and clinked his glass with hers. "To friendship."

He emphasized the last word. Aphelia managed a smile that barely missed reaching her eyes before she drained the flute and poured another. Cole felt he was drinking with a tigress, ready to pounce on him. He pulled a breadstick from the basket between them, took a small nibble, and smiled. Aphelia's eyes focused on the breadstick as it entered his mouth.

Aphelia put her hand on his and tilted her head, her perfect blonde hair cascading over her shoulder. "I want to talk about what happened at the beach. I promise I'll never do it again, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. It's selfish to ask forgiveness, but it would help us going forward."

He waved his breadstick like a wand. "Oh, that? It's no problem. Water under the bridge, right?"

Aphelia's eyes shimmered, and her grip tightened. "I want you to know that wasn't me. I don't know what came over me, or what makes you so special. Maybe it's because you're the first man who has ever saved me. It helps that you're so cute."

Cole nodded. "I just think the whole situation could have been avoided if you communicated more. I've been the receiver of mixed signals more than once, so when you went no contact, I thought we were done."

Her thumb circled his knuckles like he was a rabbit's foot. "After I recovered, I was swamped with work and...personal issues. I simply didn't have the time to—"

Cole raised an eyebrow. "Send a text message? Personal issues? Are you dating—"

She laughed weakly. "No! Not anything like that. I can be a bit scatterbrained. But I promise to be more communicative in the future."

The waiter arrived with two plates of chicken piccata with two side dishes of spaghetti. While Cole smiled, Aphelia's eyes pulsed with light as the corner of one eye twitched.

The waiter bowed. "Will there be anything else?"

Aphelia nodded, her eyes boring into him. "Yes, we'd like some privacy. If we need anything more, you'll be the first to know."

The waiter smiled and backed away quickly. "Yes, of course. Just wave your napkin, and we'll come running."

A smile returned to her face. "I love this place, but the staff can be a bit annoying. What were we talking about? Ah, yes, communication."

Cole swallowed a bite of his chicken. "They really know how to cook here. This is great. And as for the waiter, he's doing his job. We're just having a friendly conversation, right?"

She started to eat, moaning after the first bite. "This is my absolute favorite. To be honest, I wish I had the time to learn how to cook, but I'm just so busy."

Cole pointed his fork at her. "Didn't anyone tell you that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"

Aphelia set down her knife and fork and looked at him, eyes widened. "If that's true, I definitely have to learn now. My personal chef is at our Weston estate. I'll have her teach me when you're at class."

Cole laughed. "Don't worry about it. I know enough to keep us fed. You're not a picky eater, are you?"

She slipped her foot forward and caressed his calf, then supported her chin with her hands, elbows on the table. "I'd eat anything coming from you, Cole."

Warmth bloomed in Cole's chest. He looked away and said, "Damn, Aph—I mean Shannon, you lay it on thick, don't you?"

"I have to. I'd prefer it if you worshiped the ground I walked on, but I'll definitely take you just giving us a chance. It was very gracious of you to forgive me."

He set down his fork and wiped his mouth. "I have to come clean about something. When you debuted a couple of years ago, I had a crush on you. I even got that poster of you with that wicked grin of yours."

Aphelia's eyes dilated within seconds. Her foot slid up his calf and rose higher. "Are you telling me you wanted to be with me before I knew you existed?"

He put up his hands. "Look, I wasn't obsessing over you or anything. I just thought you were really pretty."

She blushed, and her foot went to the inside of his thigh. "Don't try to walk it back now, boy. Is that why you went with that hussy? Because she was wearing my uniform?"

Cole didn't want to say that there was more than one reason, so he just laughed and shrugged.

She planted the ball of her foot on his crotch and began to rub. Her hand went to his, her fingers tracing down the side of his hand. "You know, if you want me to dress up. That could always be arranged."

He couldn't understand why his defenses were falling so quickly. Aphelia was a walking red flag, and he couldn't stop himself. Now she was rubbing him with her damn foot. Her blue eyes were so hungry he felt she'd devour him.

Cole pulled at his collar, feeling the dampness of his skin. "What about just being friends?"

"What?" she said. "I am being friendly, very friendly. You tell me you had the hots for me for years and only tell me now. I'm saying I can make your fantasy come true, as many times as you want. We'll be living together, and I'll be sleeping in the next room. The only thing separating us would be a single thin wall. You could walk into my room at night and—"

Cole gripped her ankle between his legs and moved it away, making her gasp. He asked, "What about you? Did you have any crushes?"

Her smile fell away, and she went back to eating. "After I entered the Ladies of Liberty, life got so busy that Project Veltio handled my matchmaking. Those guys are alright, fit and funny, but they just can't compare to you. The other men are just at a lower level. I feel like you're almost my equal."

He laughed. "I guess I'm flattered?"

"Good! Now let's finish this before it gets cold. I've got another bottle of champagne waiting in the fridge of the apartment."

…

Cole followed Aphelia down the dimly lit passageway, her hand holding his and her ass swaying inches from him. Aphelia had shown the secret entrance to their apartment: a rusty steel doorway under the Public Garden Footbridge that led into a moldy junction-box room. Pressing her hand against one breaker box made the entire floor drop to the passage they were walking down.

They came to a spot where a chunk of brick lay on the ground. "Here it is. It's not more than a five hundred foot walk," Aphelia said, putting her hand on a set of bricks that glowed before it opened a hidden door.

"Why all the secrecy?"

She led him up a spiral staircase. "And have the press know where we live? No way. The only ways in are through this passageway and the rooftop access, both camera-controlled. Deliveries come via a loading ramp to the alleyway, where only packages can get through. Intruders get the cops called. The security is even stricter in our Weston estate."

As they walked up the stairs, Aphelia's toned ass was right in Cole's face. He couldn't stop his body from reacting to her fit body and her apple-and-clove scent. Part of him wanted to tear that dress off her and pull her close, while the rational part of his brain screamed at him to bust through a wall, leap over the Charles River, and run home.

The top of the stairs opened into a mudroom and an open-layout apartment beyond. Plush carpets and wide white leather sofas surrounded a sunken floor filled with pillows of various colors and sizes. Four televisions hung from the ceiling, pointing in the cardinal directions.

"This place is pretty wild," Cole said.

She stepped down into the sunken floor area and twirled around. "Oh my goodness, you should have been here during the first months after the Ladies of Liberty were formed. The parties we had lasted until sunrise. We were just so excited with how we were making the country safe. If a fight were near New England, we would crash here after and make pancakes and so much bacon."

Cole walked around the couches, trailing his hand over the white leather. "Sounds like a lot of fun. So where would I be studying?"

Aphelia pouted slightly and stepped up from the sunken floor to take his arm. She led him to the kitchen. "The dining table is always open, but I should show you the desk in your bedroom."

She led him up the staircase to the third floor, where it opened onto a long corridor. "There's quick access through this skylight for me. It opens up automatically if I fly up to it. This is my bedroom, which I'll show you later."

Pulling him along the hallway, she pushed open a door. The bedroom was big, with a king-sized bed and a thick white comforter. Pictures of Boston landmarks hung on the walls, and a white desk sat against the window, overlooking the Esplanade. His luggage was next to a chest of drawers.

"Holy crap, this place must have cost a fortune," Cole said, looking out the window.

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "In exchange for our service, the government is pretty generous with our living quarters. I've changed my schedule so I can be here as much as possible to help you with your homework. I can focus on Boston, so I'm no more than a minute away from you."

Cole looked down at his shirt. Aphelia's fingertips clawed at him while her breasts pushed soft and warm against his back.

She pressed her nose against his neck and inhaled deeply. "Mmmph, you smell so good."

Cole felt a pang in his chest. He felt sorry for this girl and her clear needs. Turning to face her and hug her back, he let out a grunt as Aphelia threw him onto the plush comforter and leaped on top of him.

"I'll only have to go if I get a priority alert from the Ladies of Liberty. Otherwise, I'm here to support you." She took up his hands and kissed them while her hips began to rock on his pelvis. Cole's cock twitched and swelled underneath her, pressing back.

She pressed his hands onto her breasts over the cloth of her red dress while she threw her head back. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long. I had one hour of sleep last night."

Collapsing down on top of him, she kissed him on the mouth. Cole kissed back, and his hands slid down the hollow of her back to rest on her round ass cheeks. There was that familiar feeling of falling whenever he got close to a new woman, the sense of giving yourself up and being vulnerable that he loved but was burned by more than once. Opening her mouth, she moaned into his, and their tongues entwined. Cole felt like he was at the edge of a cliff overlooking a crashing seashore. It would be so easy to lean into the moment and give in to the intense desire in his bones. His heart raced as her fingers raked over his scalp.

An image of Aphelia crying right before she punched him, burying him in the sand, flashed in his mind, and he opened his eyes and pushed her up.

She dragged her fingers over her lips. "What is it? I thought things were going well."

Cole nodded. "They are. Things are just going a little fast. I want to tap the brakes."

She returned to grinding on him, her body trembling. "I know you want me. I can fucking feel you between my legs. Don't lie to me."

He stroked her shoulders. "Aphelia, please. I don't want to rush into things. Just give me some time."

She lifted a shaking finger between them before getting off him and the bed. "I don't get this at all. Every man the Project has sent me has been eager, damn near grateful to be with me. Why does the first man I actually want hate me so much?"

He sat up and looked around. Was the apartment built to withstand S-rank arguments, or would there be collateral damage? "Aphelia, I don't hate you at all. I'm just scared of being hurt. Please don't be mad."

Her eyes began to glow, and she clenched and opened her fists as she paced back and forth. "I can't be here right now. There are groceries in the fridge, enough for the week. I'll be back tomorrow after I get this out of my system. Bye, Cole."

She strode out of the room and shot through the skylight before darting West. Cole went to the window and watched her fly over the horizon, possibly to her even bigger home.

He put his hands in his face. "What the fuck are you doing, Cole? She's going to go crazy and knock this place to the ground."

Walking out of his bedroom, he checked her bedroom door and found it locked. He walked down the hall. Three more bedrooms lined the hall. The three remaining rooms were nearly identical except for the wall hangings. In the first, several classic horror movie posters hung; the Wolfman poster was mounted over the headboard. In the second, pictures of the brain and bent spoons hung. The last room had nothing on the walls. He checked the closets and drawers of all the rooms; everything was empty.

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Aphelia, what the fuck are you up to?"

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