Nora's POV
I screamed into my pillow until my throat hurt.
"I'm going to die," I told the ceiling. "I'm going to actually die of embarrassment, and they'll find my body here in two days when the eviction people come."
My phone rang. Jasmine's name flashed on the screen.
I answered. "I've ruined my life."
"TELL ME EVERYTHING!" Jasmine shrieked with laughter. "I got your panicked texts but they made no sense. You sent the photo to WHO?"
"Dominic." Even saying his name made me want to throw up. "I sent the lingerie photo to my boss. And then he called me. And Jazz, he said things—"
"What kind of things?" She was practically vibrating with excitement.
"He said he looked at the photo twelve times. He called me 'bunny.' He told me something changed between us." I pressed my hands to my burning face. "This is a nightmare."
"Or it's fate!" Jasmine squealed. "Nora, don't you see? You've been crushing on him for two years. He's clearly been crushing on you. The universe just gave you both a push!"
"The universe is trying to murder me."
"The universe is trying to help! This is romantic!"
"This is a disaster! I have to face him tomorrow at the Christmas party. Everyone's going to know. I'll have to quit. Move to another country. Change my name—"
A sound outside my window made me freeze.
A soft scraping noise. Like something brushing against the fire escape.
"Hold on," I whispered to Jasmine. "I heard something."
"Probably just a cat."
I crept toward my bedroom window and peeked through the curtains.
Nothing.
Just the dark fire escape and the street below.
But I could have sworn—
My phone buzzed with a text. Unknown number again.
"Don't look outside anymore. They're gone now. But they were there for fifteen minutes, Nora. Taking pictures. You should close your curtains. Lock your windows. And get out of that apartment NOW."
Ice flooded my veins.
"Jazz," I whispered. "Someone was watching me. Through my window."
"WHAT?" Jasmine's laughter died instantly. "Nora, call the police!"
Another text: "Don't call the police. If you do, the photos go public. Every picture they took of you tonight will be on the internet by morning. Trust me. Get dressed. Leave your apartment. Go somewhere public. Somewhere safe."
"I can't call the police," I told Jasmine, my voice shaking. "They're threatening to release the photos if I do."
"Then I'm coming over—"
"No!" I was already pulling on jeans and a sweater over the lingerie, hands trembling. "Stay home. I don't want you in danger too."
"Where are you going?"
Good question. Where could I go at 7 PM on Christmas Eve with no money and a stalker watching my apartment?
Winter's Wishes. The antique shop. 8:45 PM.
But that was over an hour away, and the mysterious person had told me not to tell Dominic. Which meant I'd be walking into a strange shop alone with no backup.
"Nora?" Jasmine pressed. "Talk to me."
"I got invited to this antique shop. Someone said they could help me."
"What someone? Who invited you?"
"I don't know! But they knew about my eviction before I told anyone. They knew about the photo hack. They know things they shouldn't know, Jazz."
"This sounds like a trap."
"Everything sounds like a trap right now!" I grabbed my coat and my keys. "I'm going to the coffee shop on the corner. Public place. Lots of people. I'll figure out what to do from there."
I hung up before she could argue and rushed out of my apartment.
The hallway was empty. The elevator creaked and groaned. Every shadow looked like someone waiting to grab me.
I made it to the lobby and burst out onto the street, breathing hard.
The coffee shop was three buildings down. I could see it from here—warm lights, people inside, safety.
I started walking fast.
A car pulled up beside me. Black SUV with tinted windows.
My heart stopped.
The window rolled down.
Dominic Kane stared at me from the driver's seat, his face furious and terrified all at once.
"Get in the car, Nora. Right now."
"What are you—how did you—"
"Someone was watching your apartment. Taking pictures through your window. I came to stop them, but they're gone." His eyes were wild. "But they left something for you. On your fire escape. And Nora, you need to see it."
"I'm not going back up there—"
He held up his phone. Showed me a photo.
My fire escape.
A red envelope taped to my window.
And written on it in black marker: "For Nora Chen - Your Real Christmas Present. Open it at Winter's Wishes. 8:45 PM. Come alone or everyone sees EVERYTHING."
I stared at the photo, my whole body shaking.
"Get in the car," Dominic said again, softer this time. "Please. I'm not letting you face this alone."
"The note says come alone—"
"I don't care what the note says." His hand reached for mine through the window. "Someone is threatening you. Stalking you. I'm not leaving you to handle this by yourself."
I looked at his hand. Then at the fear in his eyes that matched my own.
He'd come here. Driven across the city because I was in danger. Called me bunny and admitted he couldn't stop looking at my photo and now he was here, offering protection I desperately needed.
I got in the car.
Dominic immediately locked the doors and drove.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To get that envelope first. Then to Winter's Wishes." His jaw was tight. "And we're going to find out who the hell is doing this to you."
"The message said—"
"That you'd be damned if you brought me. I know. I got the same message." He glanced at me, and something fierce burned in his eyes. "But here's what that person doesn't know about me, Nora. I don't scare easy. And when it comes to protecting you, I don't follow anyone's rules."
My heart hammered. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because—" He stopped. Started again. "Because you work for me. Because you're in trouble. Because—"
"Because what?"
He pulled up in front of my building and put the car in park. Turned to face me fully.
"Because that photo changed everything. Because I can't pretend anymore that I don't—" He stopped himself. "Just stay here. I'll get the envelope."
He got out before I could respond.
I sat in his expensive car, still wearing the red lingerie under my clothes, watching my impossibly handsome boss climb my fire escape to retrieve a mysterious envelope from a stalker.
This was insane.
All of this was completely insane.
Dominic climbed back down with the red envelope in his hand. Got back in the car. Handed it to me.
"It's addressed to you. But Nora?" His voice was steel. "Whatever's in there, whatever they're threatening, I'm going to fix it. I promise you that."
I opened the envelope with shaking hands.
Inside was a single card with elegant writing:
"Dear Nora, By now you've realized someone is watching. Someone is listening. Someone knows all your secrets. But here's one secret you don't know yet—Dominic Kane's family curse is real. And you're going to break it. Or die trying. See you at 8:45. Don't be late. The clock is already ticking. P.S. - Check the back of this card. That's what happens if you don't show up."
I flipped the card over.
And saw a photo that made my blood turn to ice.
My parents. Young and smiling. Standing in front of the hospital where they died.
And written across the photo in red ink: "Car accidents run in families. Would be a shame if Jasmine had one tonight."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't—
"Nora?" Dominic grabbed my shoulders. "What does it say?"
I showed him the card.
Watched his face go white.
"They're threatening Jasmine," I whispered. "They know about my parents. They know everything."
Dominic's phone buzzed. He looked at it and cursed.
"What?" I demanded.
He showed me the text from the unknown number:
"8:45 PM, Kane. Both of you. The curse ends tonight, one way or another. Bring the red box. Nora needs to see what you bought for her. What you've BEEN PLANNING to give her. Oh, and Kane? Your uncle Marcus? He's not who you think he is. See you soon."
We stared at each other.
"What red box?" I asked.
Dominic's face was unreadable. "Something I bought for you three days ago. Something I was too afraid to give you."
"What is it?"
He reached into his backseat and pulled out an elegant red gift box.
The same size as the one that held Jasmine's lingerie.
"Open it," he said quietly.
I opened it with shaking hands.
Inside was lingerie. Champagne silk and lace. More expensive than anything I'd ever owned.
And a card in Dominic's handwriting: "For the bunny who hopped into my messages. Wear this at midnight. —Your Secret Santa"
But I'd never messaged him.
Not until tonight.
Three days ago, I hadn't sent him anything.
"How did you write this?" I whispered.
"I don't know." Dominic looked as confused as I felt. "I wrote it three days ago when I bought this. But I wrote it like you'd already sent me something. Like I was responding to a message that didn't exist yet."
We stared at each other in his car, holding lingerie and mysterious notes and the weight of impossible questions.
"Someone's playing with time," I finally said. "Or they can see the future. Or—"
"Or the curse is real," Dominic finished. "And we're both running out of time."
He started the car.
"Winter's Wishes. 8:45 PM. Let's get some answers."
As we drove through the dark streets, my phone buzzed one last time.
Jasmine: "Nora, someone just tried to break into my car. I'm okay, but I'm scared. What's happening?"
The threat was real.
The stalker was real.
And in thirty minutes, we'd walk into an antique shop where someone claimed to have all the answers.
I just hoped we'd survive long enough to hear them.