Chapter 273

That scent was... unusual. It was this sharp, icy cedarwood with just a faint trace of smoke-expensive stuff, the kind of custom-blend cigarettes only someone at the top of the food chain would bother with. But Conrad and his crew? They were the clean-living type-no cigarettes, no booze, probably because of the job. He always smelled crisp, fresh. This lingering smoke didn't suit him at all. Conrad paused, clearly caught off guard. Wow, she's got a sensitive nose, he thought. He rarely smoked-only when he switched into Ethan. And even then, he'd clean up completely afterward, no trace left. But he'd rushed over to see her today and must've forgotten this one thing. He pressed his lips together, those sharp black eyes locked on her, voice a little rough. "You don't like the smell of smoke?" Calliope nodded. "Nope." What she didn't say was that she didn't just dislike it-she downright hated it. Her grandpa died of lung cancer from a lifetime of smoking. Watching him suffer without being