CHAPTER 220: TOUCHDOWN: WHEN A GOD LANDS IN PARADISE

The Gulfstream tilted into descent over Miami, city lights glittering below like God spilled a box of diamonds. My chest buzzed with that familiar electricity, the one that meant it was time to peel off Peter Carter like dead skin. The mask was coming on. The other real me was about to step out.

"ARIA," I thought, voice humming through our link, "status check—what’s our surveillance look like from Lincoln Heights?"

"Minimal," she answered, her voice threading through my skull like silk laced with caffeine. "A few ground crew and random passengers saw a masked Peter Carter board with Madison and Charlotte. Nothing significant. And Miami International’s camera systems? Totally fucked. I’ve turned them into digital mush. Nothing will record your arrival, Master. Mask or not."

I smirked. Perfect. Except—not perfect. Because the moment Charlotte’s jet left Lincoln Heights, those vultures could’ve had their talons in the sky, tracking her every move and knew she was in the city where their operations ran.

I handed a mask to Madison before she shoved it at me in confusion.

"Wait, why do I need to wear a mask?" Madison asked, crossing her arms, lips curled in that classic rich-girl pout. "I’m not the one with enemies trying to kill me."

I slid the system mask out of its case. "Madison, you don’t understa—"

"Actually," ARIA cut in, her holographic face flickering onto the cabin screen, glowing like a snarky digital angel of death. "Madison needs to understand. Completely. Queen Bee, you were photographed boarding this jet with Charlotte Thompson with a man. That picture will get shared, analyzed, weaponized. The dots connect too easily."

She lied on being photographed and maybe we were being way too paranoid, but paranoid kept you alive than being cocky and blew all your secret identities.

Madison rolled her eyes. "So? People get photographed all the time. It’s called having cheekbones."

"So," ARIA said with patient venom, "when these corporate sharks start piecing the puzzle together, they’ll notice the obvious: Madison Torres was seen with Charlotte Thompson. Madison Torres is dating Peter Carter. Therefore, the man who boarded with you two is Peter Carter and is somehow helping Charlotte. Therefore, Peter Carter becomes a target."

Things were about to go down and enemies tend to cling on the last straws when they go down and when they do, they tend to go nuclear on families.

Madison’s smile cracked, arrogance draining just a touch. "But... I’m a Torres. Nobody’s stupid enough to fuck with my family."

"Granted," ARIA allowed, "most operatives wouldn’t directly target a Torres. But leverage doesn’t have to be direct. They’ll look at connections. They’ll look at his sisters after they confirm he’s your boyfriend. They would like to touch you where it hurts and your ’ordinally’ boyfriend would be a good start. His sisters. His mother. Anyone they can sink their hooks into. The system mask isn’t about protecting you. It’s about protecting everyone Peter loves."

That landed. Madison froze, the weight hitting her like a bucket of ice water straight to the soul. For once, her confidence didn’t look like armor—it looked like a liability.

Her lips pressed into a thin, angry line. Then, finally—"Fine. Give me the fucking mask." She could not let anything touch my family.

I handed Madison the adaptive concealment mask again, watching her fingers glide over the silk-like material like she was auditioning for Vogue’s "How to Survive a Corporate Assassin Apocalypse" edition.

"It’ll look like high-fashion," I said, voice low and amused, "while completely shitting on every facial recognition system on Earth."

"Better safe than sorry, princess," I added, enjoying how she draped it over her head like a royal veil. "These aren’t high school bullies we’re talking about. These people make your most cutthroat classmates look like preschoolers fighting over crayons."

"Time to switch personas," I said, standing, muscles already tingling like electric snakes. "Madison, you know the drill."

"Already on it, babe," she said, adjusting the veil with that effortless grace that made me wonder why God even bothered creating mortals who weren’t her. She wasn’t a passenger; she was my business partner, my partner-in-chaos, and a goddamn lethal combination of style and brains.

The transformation hit me like lightning striking up my spine. Height spiking, muscles bulging, facial features sharpening into something less "high school Peter Carter" and more Greek god myth meets late-night fever dream. Clothes strained, buttons protesting, and I walked back out as Eros incarnate, the cabin lights bending just to flatter me.

Charlotte’s jaw hit the floor with the subtlety of a falling guillotine. "What the actual fuck," she whispered. "That’s... you? How is that even possible?" She knew who Eros was thanks to our contract but had actually never met Eros before.

"System enhancements," I said, voice deep and commanding, carrying the kind of resonance that made people want to follow me into a volcanic pit and thank me for it. "Peter Carter is the mask for my ordinally life that is not so ordinally. Eros is the truth for such games."

Madison, of course, didn’t flinch. She’d seen this show enough times to know when to clap and when to duck. "Charlotte, close your mouth before a fly sets up residence. And yes, your digital savior is basically a supernatural sex god. Try to keep up."

"But how—" Charlotte started.

"Magic," Madison cut in, checking her reflection like royalty reviewing peasants. "The important thing is that I scream ’mystery and elegance’ instead of ’Peter Carter’s girlfriend who posts too many selfies.’"

The veil was pure tech wizardry—adaptive concealment that looked like Dior on steroids and neutered every facial recognition attempt. Madison was now European royalty attending a funeral for mediocrity. Perfect.

"Even I need my upgrades," I said, activating my own system mask. Invisible to the naked eye, a nightmare for any digital spy. "These corporate vultures make the CIA look like high school club losers."

The Gulfstream kissed the tarmac at Miami International like a predator reclaiming its territory. The Florida sun hit the obsidian fuselage, gleaming like someone polished it with stolen diamonds and hubris.

The humid air poured in with the scent of salt, money, and human desire long neglected by incompetent husbands. I inhaled it like a drug.

This was my city now, or at least the first move in what would soon be a full conquest.

My body tingled with the knowledge that I was no longer just Peter Carter—walking, talking, vaguely attractive human. I was a weapon, a pheromone-charged storm with a system on my back and the kind of charisma that could make armies kneel.

At the bottom of the stairs waited a Maybach S680 in obsidian black, sculpted so beautifully it looked like it had been carved by the ghost of Michelangelo on cocaine.

"Holy shit," I muttered, genuinely impressed.

The driver emerged. Immediate ex-military vibe. Late thirties, built like a mythological brick wall, with a stare that could probably crack steel if it were socially acceptable. Suit cost more than our old jet. Full stop.

"Ms. Thompson," he said, voice gravelly with respect, military precision, and just a touch of menace. "Mattew. Driver for the duration of your Miami visit."

Charlotte processed the sight like a mortal trying to interpret a Greek god. "Thank you... for accommodating our... unusual situation."

"Ma’am," Mattew said, opening the door with the kind of efficiency that made me want to buy him a cape, "unusual is our baseline. Discretion and security are mandatory. Everything else is optional."

I smirked. Miami, meet Eros. Your tour guide just arrived.