Despite everything—the panic, the fear, the emotional rollercoaster that had derailed her entire night and left her mascara looking like a crime scene—Sierra felt her lips twitch into something dangerously close to a smile.

"That was almost romantic."

"I'm trying here. You caught me completely off guard with the whole 'mobilizing a search party' thing."

"You guys did ALL that?" His voice shifted again—something raw threading through the teasing, like he'd been punched in a spot he didn't know was vulnerable. Touched. Genuinely surprised in a way he almost never allowed himself to be. "For me?"

"Of course we did, you idiot."

"Sierra... Maya..."

"Don't." Sierra was NOT going to cry again. Not over this. "Don't be sweet right now. I'm still furious with you."

"Noted. Can you be furious at me in person? Preferably while naked?"

"PHEI!"

"I'm KIDDING. Mostly. Come home."

Maddie snatched the phone back from Maya—Sierra seeing this made a mental note to invest in a death grip—and bulldozed her way into the conversation like a glitter-covered wrecking ball.

"OKAY, before Sierra declares another state of emergency because her BOYFRIEND didn't pick up for five whole minutes—maybe we establish a fact-checking protocol? Just a thought? Could save everyone some stress and ME some tragically ruined self-care evenings?"

"Her boyfriend?"

The words came from Maya.

Quiet. Barely more than a breath. Like she was tasting something bitter and trying not to flinch.

Sierra glanced over.

Maya wasn't looking at anyone. She was staring at her hands. At the empty space where the phone had been. Her expression was carefully, deliberately, terrifyingly blank in a way that screamed louder than any reaction would have.

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh.

Oh no.

Maddie barreled on, completely oblivious to the emotional landmine she'd just tap-danced over. "About that foursome. I was dead serious. How does tomorrow sound? I can clear my schedule. I always clear my schedule for orgies. That's literally my one consistent life policy."

"You have an orgy policy?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

"I really don't think—"

"Tomorrow's complicated," Phei cut himself smoothly, and there was a new note in his voice now—careful, aware. Like he'd heard Maya's quiet question. Like he understood exactly what it cost her to ask it. "But I'll... keep it in mind."

"You BETTER. I'm holding you to it. I already set a Google Calendar reminder titled 'Potential Group Activities – Do Not Delete.'"

"You're terrifying."

"Thank you! It's a gift."

Maya was moving.

Sierra caught it in her peripheral vision while Maddie continued her enthusiastic foursome campaign.

The silver-haired girl had taken one quiet step back from the circle, then another. Face still locked in that terrifying neutrality. She lifted one hand—small, precise gestures to her security team that somehow translated to wrap it up without a single word.

Men pivoted instantly. Vans hummed to life. The tightly choreographed chaos began to fold in on itself like a military exercise hitting the extraction phase.

Maya climbed into the lead vehicle without a backward glance, sliding into the shadowed interior behind tinted glass that swallowed whatever expression she was wearing whole.

"Sierra? You still there?"

Phei's voice tugged her back.

"Yeah." She was still staring at the van's taillights. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Come home."

"I'm coming."

"And Sierra?"

"What?"

A pause. Soft. Stripped of all the usual armor.

"Thank you. For looking for me. For caring enough to—" He stopped, like the words were too heavy. Started again. "Just... thank you."

"You're welcome, you dramatic bastard."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She hung up before her voice could crack again.

Maya's van was already pulling away, red taillights shrinking into the Paradise night like dying embers. One of the remaining security men approached—tall, silent, professional—and inclined his head respectfully.

"Ms. Scarlett asked me to inform you that vehicles two and three are at your disposal for transport wherever you need. She paid a team that will remain on standby should you require further assistance."

"Tell her thank you," Sierra said quietly. "Tell her I appreciate everything she did tonight. Everything."

"I will relay the message, ma'am."

He walked away.

The message would be delivered.

But Maya was already gone, and Sierra had the sinking, horrible certainty that something delicate had shattered tonight—quietly, without fanfare—and she had no idea how to glue the pieces back together.

Beside her, Maddie stretched like a cat waking from a nap, yawning with theatrical flair.

"Well! That was exhausting. I'm going to need like, three glasses of wine and a very long bath to recover from this non-crisis. Maybe four glasses. Maybe the whole bottle. Emotional trauma is seriously dehydrating."

"Maddie."

"What?"

"Did you see Maya's face? When you said boyfriend?"

Maddie paused mid-sip—actually paused, latte halfway to her lips, eyes narrowing as the memory replayed. For once, the chaos engine in her brain shifted gears into something resembling self-awareness.

"...oh." Her expression shifted—just slightly, just enough to show that maybe, beneath the glitter and sarcasm, there was a functioning conscience after all. "Oh. Yikes."

"Yeah."

"She really likes him, huh?"

"She really loves him."

"And I just—"

"You just announced to everyone, including her, that he's taken. While she was standing right there. After she'd spent twenty minutes and probably a small fortune mobilizing a private army to find him."

Maddie winced hard enough to make it visible in the dim van lighting. "That's... not great."

"No. It's not."

Silence settled between them. The rare kind. Heavy. Meaningful. The kind that usually got drowned out by Maddie's nonstop commentary, but tonight it lingered like exhaust fumes.

"Should I... apologize? Send flowers? Edible arrangement shaped like a sorry-I-helped-rupture-your-crush? What's the protocol for accidentally breaking someone's heart in a construction zone at midnight?"

"I don't know." Sierra started walking toward one of the waiting vans, heels clicking a defeated rhythm on the concrete. "I don't know if there is a protocol for that."

"For what it's worth—" Maddie fell into step beside her, voice uncharacteristically subdued, almost soft. "I didn't mean to. I wasn't thinking."

"You never think."

"I know." She sighed, long and dramatic, but without the usual flair. "It's a character flaw. My therapist says I use humor as a defense mechanism to avoid confronting my own emotions. Apparently it's 'maladaptive coping.'"

"Your therapist sounds smart."

"She charges four hundred dollars an hour. She better be."

They reached the van. Climbed in. The interior was all black leather, tinted windows, and that subtle new-car smell that screamed discreet wealth. The driver pulled away smoothly without a word—no need for directions.

Apparently Maya's team had already been briefed on Sierra's destination.

Of course they had.

She thinks of everything. Even when her heart's getting quietly eviscerated in real time.

Sierra leaned her head against the cool window, watching Paradise glide by—row after row of perfect houses, perfect lawns, perfect lives built on money so old it had its own personality disorders. All that wealth, and it still couldn't buy a single do-over for the last thirty minutes.

Phei was okay.

That was the only thing that mattered.

But somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn't unsee Maya's face.

The careful, deliberate blankness—like a door slamming shut behind her eyes.

The quiet retreat.

The way she'd heard the word "boyfriend" and something inside her had just... folded in on itself.

I should feel victorious, Sierra thought. I won. He's mine. She knows it now. Official. Public. No more gray areas.

Instead, she just felt tired.

And guilty.

And a little bit like she'd been handed a trophy she didn't actually want, because someone else had to bleed for it.

Maddie raised her Starbucks in a half-hearted salute, voice back to its usual volume but lacking the spark. "So… foursome still on the table, or are we collectively pretending that never happened?"

Sierra pointed a trembling finger at her, too exhausted to even yell. "You are never allowed to speak again."

"Too late. I'm already legendary."

She took a long sip, then stared out her own window.

Even Maddie knew when to let the silence win.

For now.

****

A/N: I do not know if this spoiler is necessary but better watch out for Maya... our cute rambling disaster.

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