She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother

She'd always known Linda held a sacred place in Alex's heart, almost like a mother to him.

And whatever had happened this afternoon at the hospital had rattled him in ways she didn't fully understand.

She knew something had happened. Something involving Linda. She didn't know exactly what, but she was sure it was connected to her.

She'd noticed Linda panic when Alex wasn't with them, rushing immediately to find him, her worry raw and urgent.

And then, when she found Alex in the parking lot… the state he was in, the way he carried himself, the shadows under his eyes… left no doubt. Something had happened between them.

And still, she'd thrown that name at him like a weapon.

The anger built, hot and bitter in her chest. Not at herself, not yet... but at Linda.

Everything Alex had done tonight... the rage, the cold fury, the way he'd looked at her like she was something vile... it was all because of that bitch.

That woman had some kind of hold on him, some sacred, untouchable place in his heart that Lila could never reach, never compete with.

And now, because of her, because of that one fucking name...

Lila finally got the door open and stumbled inside.

The apartment was dark. Empty. Cold.

Just like the space Alex had left behind.

The door swung shut behind her... not with a slam, but with a soft, final click that somehow felt worse.

Lila stood in the darkness, not bothering to reach for the light switch. Her hand was still pressed to her throat, fingers tracing the phantom pressure of where his had been.

The silence pressed in around her, thick and suffocating.

She moved forward on autopilot, her feet carrying her through the familiar space without conscious thought.

Past the small kitchen. Past the living room she barely used. Down the short hallway to her bedroom.

The door hung open. She didn't close it. Didn't care.

Inside, she stood in the center of the room, staring at nothing, seeing everything.

I really wanted him.

The realization hit her with brutal clarity, stripping away all the pretense, all the games, all the carefully constructed lies she'd been telling herself.

This wasn't just physical need. Wasn't just attraction or lust or the thrill of the chase.

It was obsession.

She'd become obsessed with Alex in a way that went far beyond anything she'd ever experienced.

The thought of him consumed her... his voice, his hands, the way he looked at her with that mixture of frustration and desire, the control he wielded so effortlessly until she pushed him too far.

And now that he was gone, now that she'd burned that bridge so completely there was no rebuilding it...

The hollow ache in her chest was unbearable.

Lila sank onto the edge of her bed, her hands falling limp in her lap.

When did this happen?

She'd been on dozens of missions. Dozens. Each one carefully planned, expertly executed.

She'd played her role perfectly every time... the seductress, the confidante, the innocent, whatever was needed to get close to her target and extract what Sophia wanted.

And she'd never failed.

Not once.

But she'd also never fallen for her prey before.

The bitter irony wasn't lost on her. Here she was, the one who was supposed to be in control, the one who set the traps and pulled the strings... and she'd gotten caught in her own web.

She couldn't get him.

And she couldn't complete her mission either.

The thought of Sophia made her stomach twist.

She remembered her warnings... repeated, sharp, and almost prophetic. Don't get attached to him, Lila. Don't fall for him.

And yet, that's exactly what she'd done. Fallen. Completely.

And now the result was staring her in the face... failure. Catastrophic, humiliating.

She couldn't even begin to imagine Sophia's fury. The woman had invested too much in her, expected too much, and had been counting on tonight to deliver results.

"I even promised her... guaranteed... that tonight would be the night," she thought bitterly. She'd been supposed to take Alex down, get whatever information or leverage Sophia needed, and seal the deal.

Instead, she'd self-destructed spectacularly.

Her eyes darted toward the cameras... in the bedroom, another outside. A chill ran through her.

What if Sophia had been watching? What if she'd seen everything?

What the hell am I going to tell her?

Lila shot to her feet, anxiety clawing up her throat. She couldn't sit still... not with the weight of failure pressing down on her chest. She needed to move, to do something.

But even as panic threatened to overwhelm her, a small voice of reason cut through the chaos.

Stop. Breathe. Think.

She pressed her palms to her temples, forcing herself to slow down. Losing her mind right now wouldn't help anything.

She needed to calm down first. Needed to clear her head and think rationally about her next move.

There had to be an excuse. Some way to spin this disaster into something salvageable.

She just needed time to think it through, to craft the right story that would appease Sophia's rage.

Calm down first. Then think. Then plan.

Lila took a shaky breath and nodded to herself, as if the gesture would make it true.

Her hands moved to her clothes, fingers fumbling with buttons and zippers.

One by one, the pieces fell away... her blouse pooling on the floor, her skirt following, her undergarments scattered carelessly across the room.

She didn't bother picking them up. Didn't care about the mess, about propriety, about anything except the desperate need to wash this feeling off her skin.

The bathroom door stood open as she walked in, twisting the shower knob until steam began to rise.

Maybe the water would help. Maybe it would wash away the phantom touch of his hands, the memory of his fury, the devastating emptiness in his eyes when he'd told her to get out.

Maybe it would make her feel something other than this crushing weight of failure and need and regret.

But as she stepped under the spray, letting the hot water cascade over her, she knew it wouldn't.

Nothing would.

***

Alex's hands gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles had gone white.

The streets blurred past him, but he barely registered where he was going. His mind was still back in that car, trapped in the moment her lips had crashed against his.

Her audacity.

The word echoed through his mind like an accusation.

The sheer audacity of her... to bring up Linda's name like it was nothing, to push and push and push until he'd snapped, and then to throw herself at him like a desperate Hail Mary when she realized she'd gone too far.

And his weakness.

God, his weakness.

Because for one split second... one horrible, revealing second... he'd wanted to kiss her back. Had felt the pull so strongly it had nearly overridden every logical thought in his brain.

He'd caught himself. Pushed her away. Done the right thing.

But the fact that he'd hesitated at all...

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Alex's jaw clenched as he turned onto another street, heading nowhere in particular, just driving to outrun his own thoughts.

But they followed him anyway, relentless and accusing.