In the dark of the evening, it was difficult to see faces, features, and colors prominently. The world was scarier, more dangerous, and malevolent, with shadows behind every corner. Yesterday evening it was already dark when Amber saw Hunter standing under the spotlight. He had appeared precarious, beguiling, like a hunter baiting its prey, notably when he said nothing but escorted her home.

Today, right now, in the light of day, he didn't look quite as formidable, but there was something about him. The gleam in his eyes, that same secretive smile. The way he regarded her. It was as if only she and she existed and no one else. Amber detested the fact that she enjoyed his attention so much that he was doing something to her, and it wasn't just the knot in her stomach or the accelerated beating against her chest. Never mind the fact that they've only known each other for just six days.

When he was around, the days feel like they were never long enough. Hours turned into minutes and minutes into seconds. Yet, as soon as he disappeared, time seemed to slow, even stop. And she'd find herself thinking about him, wondering what he was doing at odd hours of the day. And just when she least expected it, he'd show up and make her go all breathless again, just like he was doing now.

"Amber?" He called her name softly, sexily, interrupting her thoughts, bringing her back to the present.

She never wanted him to stop calling her name.

"What are you doing here?" Amber closed her mouth. It was still hanging from the shock of seeing him here, in front of her.

Again.

She was used to seeing him in a t-shirt and shorts. Not today, however. Hunter was dressed in a dark navy suit and pants with a white t-shirt and dark blue vest—formal attire for the second time. A blazer covered half of his left side from shoulder down to the waist, reminding Amber of a similar jacket hanging in her closet, waiting to return to its owner.

"Most of the rodents have been taken care of," Hunter moved towards her, slowly, almost purposefully. "I figure my dad can take care of the rest while I come to catch my own lovely prey."

"Your own prey?" Amber swallowed and took a step back unconsciously, only to find her back against the wall. On either side of the steps were two tall brick walls connected to the building, and Amber had stopped and moved to one of the sides, out of traffic, while responding to text messages. Now, she found herself trapped between the wall and Hunter, who was still deliberately making his way towards her like he had all the time in the world.

"My own lovely prey," he repeated, almost upon her now. His green eyes shimmered like pools of emeralds under the sun. They were breathtaking, mesmerizing, a sea of green forestry in a barren landscape.

He was breathtaking, she realized, inhaling but forgetting to exhale as he stopped mere inches from her. She held her breath as Hunter leaned in with the look of someone about to pillage its spoils. He placed an arm against the wall, directly on top of her head, caging her in even more.

Amber was no fool. She knew who he was referring to as his lovely prey, and half of her was tempted—very tempted—to stand as still as possible and see what comes next.

As tempting as that was... "Are you being blackmailed?!" Amber blurted out as his face came even closer.

Hunter stopped. 

Amber started breathing again, shakily, flattening herself against the wall, getting as close to it as possible to maintain some distance between them. "Nathan and Adam, they aren't blackmailing you, are they?"

She struggled to think and speak, but it proved to be a challenge with him so close. Amber especially tried not to inhale too fast because his scent overwhelmed her, played with her senses.

"Now, why would they be doing that?" He spoke slowly, quietly, while his eyes focused on her lips. "What sort of rubbish are they telling you?"

Amber licked her lips and noticed the way his pupils dilated. Did he see the way her fingernails dug into the wall? Or the rapid pulse at the base of her neck? If he kissed her now, would she let him? Was that his plan, or was there something else?

"Amber?" He called again, his gaze darkening, his voice deepening.

His eyes floated from her lips back to her eyes.

Electricity sizzled.

Lightning crashed, and thunder erupted.

Not like this, Amber thought. Not out in the open with eyes on them.

Amber took a deep breath and ducked, moving quickly underneath his arm and away from him. Out of reach.

"If they're forcing you to use your skills to find out more about this heir, then as your friend, I won't let you. If they want information, they can find out about this simple-minded heir themselves. Or we can put our minds together to see what we can find out. However, we're not going to reveal anything without understanding the full story first," Amber spoke fast, and she spoke quickly.  Mainly because she was afraid of how close she came to falling for his spell.

Hunter's eyes wandered from her…to the wall where she was just up against before returning to her. Finally, after a few seconds, as if coming to a decision, he shifted, turning to face Amber while leaning against the wall where she'd just been. Rather than answering, he asked, "What do you think?"

Not sure if she was disappointed or relieved, Amber crossed her arms. She studied him from a safe distance, secretly admiring his wide shoulders and lean figure the suit brought out in him. The studies were correct; men really did look more desirable in suits. "I think that not just anyone could blackmail you. If they are using something against you, you have something planned or are going along with it for your own reasons."

"You're partially right," Hunter remained where he was. "No one can blackmail me…but you could."

Her heart did circles at his words. Not wanting to read too much into it, and because she was treading on treacherous territory here, she joked instead. "I bet a lot of girls could."

"No," Hunter answered, looking straight into her soul. "Just you."

There goes her damn heart again, and this time, her stomach twisted along with it as well. She ignored them, though, and began moving because if she didn't, she was going to melt right then and there. "Did anyone tell you how much of a flirt you are? And no, don't answer that. Just tell me what your relationship with Nathan and Adam is?"

Hunter obediently followed her up the steps and into the building, answering. "What Nathan said is true. We're good friends since childhood and grew up together. I'd trust them with my life."

"I wanted to hear it from your lips," Amber nodded. "Do you think this rumored heir is real?"

"There's some truth to it if people are talking about it," Hunter hesitated. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," Amber and Hunter made their way to the second floor of the building and into the classroom, which was still empty. The fact that it was a Friday morning contributed to it despite there being only another 30 minutes before the start of class. They made their way to their usual seat near the window, and Amber continued where she left off. "I've never seen this person before at any of the business banquets or gatherings I've been to, and I know we keep to almost the same circles. Then again, I also don't like to show myself unless I have to."

"I'm pretty sure if the heir knew you were going to be there, he'd show himself in front of you," Hunter took a seat and began unzipping his briefcase, taking out his mouse and laptop. "It's like you said, you weren't aware of each other's existence."

"Why do you say that?" Amber gave him a confused look, but he paid her no need, opening his laptop and powering it on before entering in his credentials. Just then, Amber's phone started ringing. The ringtone assigned was her dad, which was strange because he only called once a week, so something else was happening.

"Hi Dad," Amber turned from Hunter to the front of the class. "What's up?"

"Have you heard? One Security is filing for bankruptcy." Not even a hi, but right down to business. That was how he was sometimes.

"I have not." It had been a busy morning after all, with events uncalled for. Amber didn't get a chance to listen to the news like she normally would. "Did you guys sign a contract with them yet?"

"No, thank god!" Her dad sounded so relieved but tired at the same time. "Those bastards were going to do business with Pro Securities and us, even though they have a contract signed already with them. Sounds like someone at Pro Securities got wind of it and took care of it internally, now they're filing for breach of contract, and One Security is filing for bankruptcy to protect itself."

"Why would they do that?" Amber spoke quietly as students began to filter in one by one. "How very...low ball of them if I do say so myself."

"Probably trying to get the best of both worlds," her dad sighed, "I don't know what happened or how they knew, but someone must be looking out for us."

"Or we were fortunate." No way luck had anything to do with this. Something else must be going on. "And why bankruptcy? Plus, aren't they supposed to disclose something like that to us before contract negotiations begin?"

"Not to us. They are supposed to disclose it to Pro Securities, but they didn't. As it turned out, One Security was also messing with their financial reports and modifying the numbers to make them appear lower when reporting to Pro Securities. Pro Securities knew about it for a couple of years now but was still doing their own investigation, so they pretended not to know anything. Sounds like Pro Securities came out with that and then found the breach of contract as part of the investigation. Obviously, they'll win, and they're asking for trillions of dollars in compensation which One Security can't afford to pay; thus filing for bankruptcy."

Amber rubbed her chin unconsciously. "Interesting…do you think the mysterious heir has anything to do with it?"

"I think that's just your imagination," her father laughed at her from the other end. "I recall someone telling me this mysterious heir is just a coward and loves to hide behind others for protection."

"I still stand by that," Amber grinned as the professor walked in. "Anyway, I'll check the news later. I have to go now."

"Take care!" Her dad sounded cheerful with contract negotiations over and done with, and they didn't lose any money out of it.

Amber hung up and gave let out a massive sigh of relief. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the booth, tuning out the professor.

Her dad had said someone was looking out for them, which was pretty much akin to Lady Luck. Yet, Amber felt someone or something happened to cause the investigation to come out sooner than expected. After all, it sounded like the investigation was ongoing for some time now, and Pro Securities was waiting to pounce and drawl more money out of One Security. It was pretty smart of them, honestly. In fact, it should have been the opposite. Pro Securities stood to inherit more if they let this contract fall through, but why didn't they? Why did they come out so soon, and especially on the day of the deadline?

Her eyes drifted to Hunter, and she considered him from the corner of her eyes. He was taking notes on his laptop, his eyes going back and forth between the whiteboard in front of him to his monitor, his fingers gracefully and agilely tapping against the keyboard.

There was a sudden urge to talk to him, to tell him about the issue, and she couldn't wait until after class. Without thinking, she quietly pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down what was on her mind, and silently slipped the piece of paper over to him.