LOGINArmaniThe engine screamed beneath me.I drove past traffic lights, pedestrians, and speed limits.None of them existed anymore."Boss, slow down!"Jax's voice came through the earpiece. I ignored him.My phone rested on the passenger seat beside me, displaying the live security feed from Drisana's apartment.The front door had already been forced open. The living room was empty. The camera in the hallway flickered.One of the men disappeared toward the bedrooms. The other remained behind, searching drawers.I called her again. Switched off.“Fuck! Pick up the fucking phone!” I slammed my fist against the steering wheel. "Boss!" Jax again."We're three minutes behind you!"Three minutes. Three minutes were enough for everything to go wrong. I pressed harder on the accelerator.The speedometer climbed. One hundred. One forty. One sixty.Please. Please. Please. The tires screamed as I cut across an intersection without slowing. A horn blared somewhere behind me.I didn't look back. T
ArmaniThe warehouse sat at the edge of the harbor, abandoned to everyone except the people who mattered.To the outside world, it was another forgotten building slowly being reclaimed by rust and saltwater.Inside, it was where wars were negotiated.I stepped out of the car before Jax could open the door."You sure you want to do this alone?" he asked."I don't have a choice."He looked toward the warehouse entrance where armed men stood like statues."They searched everyone.""They'll search me too.""They won't like what you're asking.""I didn't come here to be liked."Jax exhaled slowly. "I'll wait outside."I nodded once before walking toward the entrance. Two men immediately blocked my path."Weapons."I removed my pistol first. Then the knife strapped beneath my jacket. Another from my ankle. A third hidden behind my belt buckle.Their brows lifted slightly. One of them chuckled."You always were paranoid."I met his eyes."I've simply lived long enough.”He gestured toward th
DrisanaHis jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might crack."Don't." His voice was low. "I mean it, Drisana."I let out a bitter laugh. "There you go again, threatening me.""I'm warning you.""No…” I shook my head, “…You're trying to save yourself."His eyes searched mine desperately."I don't care what you think about me.""Clearly.""But you need to stop.""I won't.""I can protect you."That made me laugh. "Protect me?"I looked at him like I'd never seen him before."From who?"Silence. My smile disappeared."Exactly."I stepped around him."I'm done listening to you.""Drisana."I didn't stop walking."Drisana."His voice followed me through the hallway. I kept going. I heard his footsteps. Then they stopped. For reasons I couldn't understand, he didn't follow me.The café was nearly empty.It sat at the edge of downtown, tucked between two old brick buildings where hardly anyone paid attention to who came and went.I chose the table furthest from the entrance. My fingers nev
Drisana His jaw clenched so tightly I thought it might crack."Don't." His voice was low. "I mean it, Drisana."I let out a bitter laugh. "There you go again, threatening me.""I'm warning you.""No…” I shook my head, “…You're trying to save yourself."His eyes searched mine desperately."I don't care what you think about me.""Clearly.""But you need to stop.""I won't.""I can protect you."That made me laugh. Actual laugh. "Protect me?"I looked at him like I'd never seen him before."From who?"Silence. My smile disappeared."Exactly."I stepped around him."I'm done listening to you.""Drisana."I didn't stop walking."Drisana."His voice followed me through the hallway. I kept going. I heard his footsteps. Then they stopped. For reasons I couldn't understand, he didn't follow me.The café was nearly empty.It sat at the edge of downtown, tucked between two old brick buildings where hardly anyone paid attention to who came and went.I chose the table furthest from the entrance
DrisanaThe quarterly strategy meeting dragged on, but I barely heard a word anyone was saying.Graphs filled the projector screen while department heads debated budgets and expansion plans. I nodded whenever someone looked in my direction, pretending to follow the conversation.My phone vibrated against the conference table.Unknown Number. I almost ignored it. Instead, I unlocked the screen.“You should've left the ledger alone.”“Destroy the drive.”“This is your only warning.”For a second, my mind went completely blank. The room around me faded. My heart lurched painfully against my ribs.The encrypted files. No one else knew about it.No one except… Armani.My fingers tightened around the phone. The words he'd spoken the night before replayed in my head."Whatever you're thinking of doing...""Don't."I remembered the way he'd looked at me. The way he'd refused to answer my questions. Something inside me shattered. He knew. He'd known all along. He wasn't trying to protect me.
ArmaniThe mansion was unusually quiet the next morning. Sunlight spilled through the dining room windows, illuminating the untouched breakfast spread between us.Drisana arrived a few minutes after I did. The faint redness on her cheek had faded overnight. She didn't look at me. She quietly poured herself a cup of coffee before taking a seat across from me.Neither of us spoke. The silence was hostile.Now and then, I'd glance up from my coffee.She was reading through emails on her tablet, completely unaware that I'd spent half the night trying to erase every trace of what she'd done.My jaw tightened.Stubborn. Reckless. Infuriating.If she had simply talked to me...If she'd trusted me…None of this would've happened.She picked up her handbag. The same handbag. The one carrying the flash drive. My eyes lingered on it for a fraction longer than I intended.She noticed.Her fingers instinctively tightened around the strap. She thought I was watching her.In reality, I was watching
Drisana I froze. I knew that laugh. I knew it too well.Sloane.Rian was still on his knees between my legs, mouth glistening, fingers buried deep inside me. My hand flew up to cover my mouth, trying to muffle the shaky breaths I couldn’t control.Rian went completely still. He looked up at me.“W
DRISANA Carter was calling again. I watched his name light up my screen and let it go dark without touching it. Seventeen missed calls since last night. I had lain in the dark with my phone face up on the pillow, staring at that unanswered text until the light outside my window changed color
ARMANI *Who are you?* Eight months and she picks tonight to ask. Not a random Tuesday. Not after one of those late conversations where something almost real slipped through before one of us pulled it back. Tonight. When her fiancé had brutally thrust inside her best friend in doggy style and h
DRISANA The elevator was taking too long. I shifted my weight and checked my phone again, still nothing from Carter. No be there soon, no running late, no anything. Just two blue ticks that told me he had read both texts and decided I wasn’t worth a reply. It was Sloane who convinced me to com







