LOGINGREENWICHBruce Caldwell awoke on the hardwood floor with a splitting headache. Groaning, he reached instinctively for the back of his head where it had struck the edge of the table the night before. Then the memories came flooding back."Malikha..."His eyes snapped open. Ignoring the dizziness, Bruce forced himself to his feet."Malikha!"Holding his aching head, he searched every room in the house, calling her name over and over. It wasn't until he reached the front door that he realized daylight had already flooded the property. He had been unconscious all night."Damn it..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "Where did that bastard take her?"A sharp throb shot through his skull."My head..."Outside, only his own car remained parked in front of the vacation home.Bruce hurried back inside just long enough to splash cold water on his face. After grabbing his jacket, he climbed into his car
Aidan's hand continued to stroke Malikha's hair while his lips wandered gently from the curve of her jaw to her mouth again and again. He paid no attention to her tears or to the pleas that trembled from her lips. He couldn't bring himself to stop. To him, she was unbearably precious, and every moment with her only intensified the love and desire he had carried for so long."Please... let me go, Aidan..." Malikha sobbed, refusing to stop pleading.Instead of answering, he brushed away her tears with his thumb, caressing her face as though trying to erase every trace of her pain."You belong with me..." he murmured softly, completely consumed by his emotions. "I love you so much, my Babydoll."The overwhelming joy of finally having the woman he loved eclipsed the guilt he should have felt for the wounds he had left on both her body and her heart."Liar..." Malikha whispered between broken sobs. "You're a liar..."A faint smile tugged at Aidan
Aidan kept raining punches down on Bruce while Malikha, frozen in shock and panic, desperately tried to stop his violent outburst."Stop! Please, stop fighting!" she cried, grabbing Aidan's arm.Blinded by rage, Aidan shoved her away with enough force to send her crashing to the floor before turning back and striking Bruce across the face several more times.Seeing Malikha thrown to the ground only fueled Bruce's anger. He immediately fought back, landing a hard punch of his own.The two men exchanged blows until Aidan suddenly drove a powerful kick into Bruce's stomach. Before Bruce could recover, Aidan followed it with a crushing punch that sent him staggering backward.Bruce lost his balance. His head slammed against the sharp edge of a nearby table. His body collapsed onto the floor, motionless.For a moment, the room fell silent except for Aidan's ragged breathing.Chest heaving, he stared at Bruce's unmoving body before kneeling
Bruce carried a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other. Meanwhile, Malikha was relaxing outside, admiring the beautiful flower garden beside the vacation house. After inspecting every room and reviewing the property's interior, Bruce wanted to celebrate by treating her to a drink. He set the bottle down on the small table beside her."Oh, I don't usually drink, Bruce. I tried beer once when I was in France, and I regretted it immediately," Malikha said with an embarrassed smile, politely declining his offer.Bruce laughed at her confession."Really? Why?" he asked, chuckling."I only had one glass, and I got completely drunk. I started acting strangely and couldn't remember a single thing afterward. I have no idea what embarrassing things I did. If Aidan hadn't come to pick me up, I probably would've ended up sleeping on the street." She giggled softly at the memory.The moment Aidan's name slipped from her lips, Bruce's smile
The morning had barely settled into its usual rhythm, yet Glenn Matthews was already in a foul mood.His patience—never particularly abundant to begin with—had finally snapped.The moment he pushed open the door to Aidan's executive office, the sight before him made his blood boil. Once again, Lucy had found another excuse to throw herself at Aidan before he left to pick up Lea, Raphael Augustin's girlfriend.Without bothering to hide his irritation, Glenn strode across the room and slammed a thick stack of documents onto Aidan's desk with enough force to make the polished wood shudder.The sharp bang echoed throughout the office.Lucy, who had been casually perched on the edge of Aidan's desk while chatting with him as he signed several contracts, whipped her head toward Glenn with an irritated frown.Aidan merely glanced up for a brief second before returning to the paperwork in front of him.He didn't scold Glenn.Frankly, he had grown exhausted by Lucy's increasingly shameless beh
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUTBruce’s car arrived after nearly an hour and a half of driving from Noxtrot. The two of them stepped out onto the front grounds of a housing development company called Ranallo Construction & Housing Developer.The scenery surrounding the office was absolutely breathtaking. It was the kind of view Malikha had never imagined she would find so close to a city as crowded as New York.“This is so beautiful,” Malikha said softly as she looked around.Bruce smiled, pleased to see how much she was enjoying the trip. He then led her inside the construction company’s office, a firm that specialized in residential developments and custom housing projects.“This company hires us for exterior and interior design services. Noxtrot has worked with Ranallo Construction on several luxury homes. Now they’ve asked us to design a retirement house project,” Bruce explained proudly.
“I've noticed you've been working late quite often lately. Is something wrong?” Bruce asked casually in the middle of dinner, though his curiosity was anything but casual. For days now, he had been trying to understand the woman sitting across from him.“There’s nothing wrong, Mr. Caldwell. I have
Malikha had no desire to interrupt the conversation between Aidan and his father. More than anything, she wanted to get out of the apartment as quickly as possible."Wait."Aidan's voice suddenly stopped her just as she was about to leave.Malikha had already reached the door
That night, Malikha moved into the guest room, just as Aidan had ordered.Her heart ached from the way he had begun treating her again, reverting to the cold, cruel version of himself she had once known. The misunderstanding had convinced Aidan that she had only ever intended to betray him, and, no
When Arjoona finally arrived, the entire funeral hall immediately fell silent before every mourner rose to their feet. Members of The Seven Wolves and Golden Dragon stood almost instinctively the moment they saw him walking inside. One by one, beginning with James and Shawn, followed by Bryan and







