Free Torn (Lords of the City #1) by Alice Ward Page B

you do that well, then Stafford Scientific will forever be linked to nanotechnology, the way Cola and Pepsi are linked to soda.”
    Taking my tablet from me, he scanned my notes. “I see what you’re saying. I’ll have my writers fine-tune the speech.”
    I yawned, tired out by the drinks and the tension between us.
    “I’ll get you home,” Noah said and instructed the driver to take us to my apartment.
    “Are you going home too?” I asked. “It’s after midnight. You’re off the clock.”
    Noah laughed. “So I am. I think I will go home. For once.”
    When the driver pulled up outside my apartment building, I grabbed a bottle of beer and jumped out before Noah could protest. As I walked up the steps to the building, I didn’t turn around to see if he’d left. I knew he hadn’t. I could feel his eyes on me, tracking me, making sure I was safe.

C HAPTER F IVE
    I n the apartment, Julia was sound asleep on our large brown sofa. She was right. The sooner we added some color, the better. We weren’t Noah. We shouldn’t have to live by his tastes. We needed to express our individuality. On the coffee table in front of the couch were numerous hamburger wrappers and a bag that smelled like there was still food inside. Leaving the wrappers alone, I draped a knitted blanket over my roomie, then went to the window and looked out across the city as I drank my beer.
    It was past midnight. Like Noah, I was free to do what I wanted. I could return to the streets, follow the city lights like a moth. This wasn’t Milwaukee, where the breweries sent everyone home at the end of the night. This was Chicago. It didn’t sleep. It thrived in the night, and I felt its heat. The city called to me, seducing me more than Noah ever could.
    But that was probably just the beer talking, and my need to distract myself from the seed of doubt Noah had planted in my mind about Corey. I wanted to believe it was another one of Noah’s tactics, but there was evidence that supported his claim that Corey wasn’t coming back. Corey knew where I was, or where I could be. He could contact the company to see if I was there. We could talk. We could, but we didn’t, because Corey hadn’t made the effort to.
    Maybe he only wanted me when I was lost, I thought, taking a sip of the beer. And now I’m lost no more.
    On the couch, Julia turned and slowly sat up. “Why does my breath taste like pickles?” she moaned.
    “I think your darker side had a bit of a binge fest,” I said, pointing to the hamburger wrappers. “I wish I’d known. I would have joined you.”
    She groaned. “I only order fast food when I’m drunk and alone.”
    “You’re not alone now.” I sat on the couch beside her and offered her some of my beer.
    “No way,” she declined. “I’m never drinking again. Until tomorrow.” She looked at me uncertainly. “Did Mr. Stafford talk to you about anything interesting?”
    “Just the nanotechnology. I guess that means I don’t have to lick envelopes anymore, now that I have clearance.”
    “Good riddance. I’d rather do the menial tasks. I don’t want to be the one answering calls. I want to be the one making calls. Until then, send the invitations my way.” She tapped the arm of the couch as if she was nervous. “He didn’t talk about anything else? Anything more personal?”
    “No,” I lied, twisting the beer bottle in my hand. I didn’t want to tell her about Corey. Unwilling to confront questions I didn’t have the answers to, I preferred she believed Corey and I were just friends.
    Brightening, she snatched the bag from the table and pulled out a hamburger, apparently pleased by my reply. “Do you want to split this?”
    “I thought you’d never ask. I’ll take the side without the pickles. I hate pickles.”
    “Good, because I love them. A girl can never have enough pickles.”
    Famished, I tore into the hamburger, but as I ate, my mind kept wandering back to Corey. Maybe he had been but a mere