Love beyond the mask1-100

Novel Catalog

Chapter_9

you sure you’re not secretly a locksmith?” she teased, her voice dripping with a mixture of sarcasm and curiosity. The man’s calm demeanor didn’t shift, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place.

Without answering, he stepped aside, motioning for her to enter. Whitney hesitated for a moment, glancing back toward the hallway where Monica had just disappeared. This could be the opportunity she had been waiting for—the one chance to get a closer look at what Monica was up to, to gather something that might give her the upper hand.

She stepped into the room, the atmosphere starkly different from the outside. The dim lighting and the muted hum of jazz from the bar created an almost nostalgic, secretive vibe. As she crossed the threshold, she could feel the weight of the moment, as if she was stepping into something much larger than just a hidden room.

The man behind her remained silent, his presence looming but unspoken. Whitney’s instincts told her to be cautious, but her desire for answers overpowered the doubt creeping at the back of her mind.

“What’s going on here?” Whitney muttered under her breath, though she wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to herself.

The man’s masked face remained unreadable as he leaned against the door, watching her. His stance was confident, almost detached, as though he were no stranger to these kinds of encounters. It only made her more curious. There was something so deliberate about him, something that hinted at a depth of knowledge, of power, that she didn’t yet understand.

“Mr. L, or should I just call you Ludwik?” Whitney asked, unable to mask the sarcasm in her tone. “You seem to be everywhere these days.”

Ludwik didn’t flinch at her words. Instead, his eyes briefly scanned the room before he locked onto her gaze once more. “I don’t know what you’re hoping to find here,” he said in a low, controlled voice, “but you’re playing a dangerous game.”

Whitney narrowed her eyes. “I’m not the one playing games here. But if you’re involved in this, then it’s my business too.”

For a moment, there was silence. Then, with an almost imperceptible shift, Ludwik stood straighter, his demeanor sharpening. “Be careful, Ms. Valentine,” he warned. “This isn’t a path you want to go down. Not all enemies are as obvious as you think.”

Whitney felt a chill run down her spine. She had no intention of backing off—not now, not when she was so close to understanding the larger picture. But the subtle threat in his words made her pause, if only for a second.

Before she could respond, a soft click echoed through the room as the door further down the hall creaked open. Whitney’s attention snapped back to the corridor, where she saw Monica again—this time, talking to someone. The man following her wasn’t Simon.

Whitney’s heart raced. What was going on? She needed to know.

“Mr. L…” she began, looking over her shoulder, her words trailing off as she met his unreadable expression. “I really must be going, sir. I have matters to attend to.”

She made her way toward the door, but Ludwik’s voice stopped her just as she was about to leave.

“Be careful where you tread, Whitney,” he said, his tone laced with something darker. “Not everyone here is who they seem.”

With her mind swirling, Whitney stepped into the hallway, her pulse quickening. What was Monica doing with someone else, and who was the man she’d been with? More importantly, how far was Whitney willing to go to uncover the truth? The answers were just out of reach, but she wasn’t about to let this moment slip away.

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