Ray Lin –
I walked out of that room like I was on a catwalk.
Back straight. Head high.
Totally unbothered. Normal. Rational.
And then I turned the corner, ducked behind a pillar in the hallway, slammed my glittery first-aid kit shut, and—
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod I just bandaged Sebastian freaking Blake. With a bunny plaster."
I pressed my back against the cold marble wall and slid down dramatically like I was in a sad music video.
"He let me touch him. Touch him. And he didn't kill me."
My heart was pounding. I didn't even need pre-workout. I was already high on pure adrenaline and the accidental eye contact I made while wrapping his hand.
He was just… looking at me. Like I wasn't a total idiot with Hello Kitty gauze and sparkly scissors.
I slapped a hand over my mouth.
Oh god. What if he hated the glitter? What if he peeled it off the second I walked away and now I looked like a loser?
No. No. He didn't stop me.
He didn't pull away.
He just… watched.
And then his men looked like I'd performed an exorcism on their boss and survived.
Which, to be fair, kind of accurate.
I buried my face in my hands and groaned.
Why was I like this?
I should've just handed him the kit and run. But no. Ray Lin had to go full Florence Nightingale in pink socks and oversized sleeves. Yapping about staph infections like he wasn't the human embodiment of a loaded gun.
And why—why—did I call him a polar bear?
"You absolute stubborn polar bear."
Who says that?
WHO SAYS THAT TO A MAFIA BOSS?
I peeked around the hallway like I expected the ground to open up and swallow me.
Nothing.
Still alive. Still in England. Still catastrophically in love with a man who probably thinks glitter bandages are a tactical weakness.
I stood up, fixed my face, and walked off like nothing happened.
But inside?
Full-on screaming.