Under the Heiress' Facade

The moment Hera clicked on her conversation with the Grandmaster of Astral Nova, she found herself picturing Tyler's pretty face.

Tyler was waiting for her outside the clinic.

He was dressed in a champagne-colored suit and carried a massive bouquet of blue roses. Passersby couldn't help glancing his way as he leaned lazily against the blue Bugatti parked in front of the clinic

entrance.

"Hey, baby. Long time no see. Did you miss me?" Tyler asked, winking at Hera as soon as he spotted her.

Hera hadn't expected him to show up just as she was about to text him.

"Let's go somewhere we can talk," she said as she approached the car.

She opened the passenger side door and got into the vehicle.

Tyler was surprised that she was being so cooperative. He opened the door on the driver's side and handed her the bouquet of roses. When she didn't take it, he shrugged and put the bouquet in the backseat.

He closed the door and locked it, asking, "You're just going to get in my car like that, no questions asked? Aren't you worried that I might spirit you away?"

Tyler reached past the driver's seat and eyed Hera with amusement. However, his hand froze in midair before touching her, and he slowly withdrew it. Hera was holding a needle to his jaw in a silent warning. If he came any closer to her, she would stab him. She certainly moved fast.

"Mr. Presgrave, you'll have to make an appointment if you want us to treat your hyperactivity," Hera pointed out wryly as she kept the needle.

In other words, she wouldn't hesitate to stab him to the point of paralysis if he tried to touch her again.

Tyler smiled at this prickly side of her and wisely left her alone.

He prompted, "Put on your seatbelt."

After that, he started the car and stepped on the gas. The car zipped down the road and whooshed past the other vehicles.

20 minutes later, the Bugatti Veyron pulled up outside a bar that featured grunge-inspired elements. Hera noted it was a quiet drinking joint as she watched Tyler open shop and make himself a drink at the bar. "Here you go, a Bloody Mary for your ruthless, bloodthirsty soul," Tyler drawled as he placed the red cocktail before Hera.

She thought about her embarrassing behavior the last time she got drunk and pushed the cocktail away.

"I'd like a juice, please."

"What? Are you worried I spiked your drink?"

Tyler raised his eyebrows. As if to prove his innocence, he raised the glass and sipped the cocktail.

Hera gave him a withering look and lied, "I'm allergic to alcohol."

"Fine," he said acceptingly.

He grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator and poured her a glass.

Hera's fingers wrapped around the glass, but did not drink the juice. She wondered how she should broach the topic of Astral Nova when Tyler brought it up first.

"You could stand to be a little more grateful after I lured security away that night," Tyler said.

"But you didn't even try to help me. They chased me down about a few dozen blocks. I could have collapsed!"

She glanced at his left hand and noticed that the thumb ring he had worn the other night was gone. An odd feeling rose in her chest.

She wondered why the security guards would go after him if he were the Grandmaster of Astral Nova.

She then questioned why he would have the thumb ring if he were not the grandmaster. She pondered if it was purely a coincidence. "Thankfully, I shook them off with my stamina and speed," Tyler continued.

He raised a brow.

"Pretty impressive, huh?"

Hera eyed him dubiously before humoring him, "Sure."

"Glad you agree. Are you going to start hanging out with me, then?" Tyler asked, grinning.

He had a pretty face and bedroom eyes, his gaze dark and fathomless. There was something dangerous about his disarming smile, too.

"By 'hanging out', do you mean joining Astral Nova?" Hera inquired.